So. Lovely weather we're having. It's nice to read outside isn't it? A book on the beach, or a newspaper in the park. Or a glossy magazine by the river.

But... The sun + white paper = glare! It's actually really rather hard to read outside in the sun. Obviously printed matter is designed for the highest visibility, hence black text on bright white. But what I really want on days like this is a book or magazine printed on a muted off-white, or a pale blue or yellow. It can't be hard to do. Special 'summer editions' of popular books should be made and marketed for us all to read in the sun.
-- iivix, Jun 15 2004

<UK centric>Cheap paperbacks, which constitute much holiday reading, are printed on fairly coarse, off-colour paper. And you can get almost all of the Penguin Popular Classics catalogue on such paper for about £1.50 ea. </UK centric>

I've been informed (by a librarian and an American) that the majority of books in the states are published on expensive, shiny white paper that is milled by hairless orphans. Perhaps it'd be better to use cheaper (or perhaps even recycled) paper.
-- calum, Jun 15 2004


Perhaps white printing on black paper? Fortunately, I'm one of the lucky ones who need reading glasses to read anything smaller than a billboard. So, sunreaders are great.
-- ldischler, Jun 15 2004


If you're sitting under a tree, the book is shaded. Duh.
-- DrCurry, Jun 15 2004


Sunglasses.
-- waugsqueke, Jun 15 2004


...which is why he said, "OR I could just sit under a tree."
-- WordUp, Jun 16 2004


Duh!
-- iivix, Jun 16 2004


You could always have photo-reactive paper that 'tans' to an appropriate shade when exposed to sunlight, then fade back to normal in the shade.
-- oneoffdave, Jun 16 2004


//photo-reactive paper//

Yep, I like that...

Thinking about it, there are actually two issues here:

1) The brightness of the paper colourwise

2) The glossiness of the paper

So perhaps there could be some way of making super-mat paper that absorbed light such that even if it was quite white it wouldn't create glare?
-- iivix, Jun 16 2004



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