Explain printer paper to me.

[Aulirophile]

Why does brightness matter?

110 lb card stock seems to be the de facto "this is the thickest most printers can handle without screwing anything up." Is that true?

Is there a good source for people who sell over 110 lb card stock? Amazon doesn't really have any that I saw.

Is brightness the sole reason that some paper feels really smooth and crisp and some feels almost gritty? I know glossy isn't the difference because this wasn't glossy paper.

Reliable brands would also be awesome. Who knew finding good info on this could be so difficult? So many contradicting sites/reviews.

[dak]

Let me tell you about my reams

[earthfell]

i worked for a print shop for 2 years. brightness is just... er, how white it is (for white paper). If you are in a very brightly lit room, paper with high brightness will be annoying to look at. i personally dont like bright paper because i find it distracting.

im not sure if brightness is related to smoothness... i dont remember ever making that correlation. laser paper (very smooth, bright white paper for laser printers) is very smooth and has a nice texture, and its not bright enough to be annoying.

and here is a thing you should know. theres good quality paper, and shit paper. over my two years at the print shop, i watched the laser paper go from awesome to shit and cheap feeling, and it was made from the same company and the exact same brand. the company changed something in how they manufactured the paper. so if you feel paper and it just comes off as crap, its just cheap shitty quality paper, dont buy it. the company in question is Hammermill. they had the best laser paper, but now not so much. maybe it was just a temporary thing, not sure. their cardstock is still excellent, however.

110lb is thick, like what business cards are printed on, can you run thicker? and if so, why? yes, it is the defacto thickest paper. any thicker and the paper will jam inside the printer, causing very costly damage over time. the rollers inside just cant bend it through.

[CyrusReij]

Originally Posted by Aulirophile

Why does brightness matter?

110 lb card stock seems to be the de facto "this is the thickest most printers can handle without screwing anything up." Is that true?

Is there a good source for people who sell over 110 lb card stock? Amazon doesn't really have any that I saw.

Is brightness the sole reason that some paper feels really smooth and crisp and some feels almost gritty? I know glossy isn't the difference because this wasn't glossy paper.

Reliable brands would also be awesome. Who knew finding good info on this could be so difficult? So many contradicting sites/reviews.

I've worked at what was Kinko's for 5 years now (make all the jokes you'd like) so I guess I am as qualified as anyone to answer this. Sorry if this is a bit much to read, but wiki sums the weight part up nicely

Paper density - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by Wiki

In countries that use United States paper sizes, a less direct measure known as basis weight is used in addition to or instead of grammage. The basis weight of paper is the density of paper expressed in terms of the mass of a ream of given dimensions and a sheet count. In the US system, the weight is specified in avoirdupois pounds and the sheet count of a paper ream is usually 500 sheets. However, the mass specified is not the mass of the ream that is sold to the customer. Instead, it is the mass of the uncut "basis ream" in which the sheets have some larger size. Often, this is a size used during the manufacturing process before the paper was cut to the dimensions in which it is sold. So, to compute the mass per area, one must know

* the mass of the basis ream,
* the number of sheets in that ream, and
* the dimensions of an "uncut" sheet in that ream.

The standard dimensions and sheet count of a ream vary according to the type of paper. These "uncut" basis sizes are not normally labelled on the product, are not formally standardized, and therefore have to be guessed or inferred somehow from trading practice. Historically, this convention is the product of pragmatic considerations such as the size of a sheet mold.

By using the same basis sheet size for the same type of paper, consumers can easily compare papers of differing brands. 20 pound bond paper is always lighter and thinner than 32 pound bond, no matter what its cut size. And 20 pound bond letter size and 20 pound bond legal size papers are the same weight paper having different cut size.

However, a sheet of common copy paper that has a basis weight of 20 pounds does not have the same mass as the same size sheet of coarse paper (newsprint). In the former case, the standard ream is 500 sheets of 17 by 22-inch (560 mm) paper, and in the latter, 500 sheets of 24 by 36-inch (910 mm) paper.

If necessary just read the bold. The tl;dr is, you can have two 110lb cardstocks that are different thicknesses, the proper way to tell thickness is g/m2 (its meters squared, I don't know how to superscript, sue me). But yes it is probably the best you are going to be able to get from a regular laser printer. There is indeed MUCH heavier, but you need an offset press or some other nonstandard equipment to be able to print on it.

A paper's finish determines how smooth it is. Papers with no finish, just like wood, are very coarse. It just so happens that you only usually find a finish on rather bright papers, the ones we use nowadays I think are 98 brightness (100 is max). As far as reliable brands, we used to use Hammermill but as was stated, their paper went to shit, so we just use their cardstock, I honestly don't remember what brand we use for our regular paper at the moment, but since you seem to be looking for cardstock, Hammermill's 100lb laser cardstock (has a nice finish, and is my favorite, god I'm gay) prints really nice.

[simeon]

Originally Posted by CyrusReij

I've worked at what was Kinko's for 5 years now (make all the jokes you'd like) so I guess I am as qualified as anyone to answer this. Sorry if this is a bit much to read, but wiki sums the weight part up nicely

Paper density - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


If necessary just read the bold. The tl;dr is, you can have two 110lb cardstocks that are different thicknesses, the proper way to tell thickness is g/m2 (its meters squared, I don't know how to superscript, sue me). But yes it is probably the best you are going to be able to get from a regular laser printer. There is indeed MUCH heavier, but you need an offset press or some other nonstandard equipment to be able to print on it.

A paper's finish determines how smooth it is. Papers with no finish, just like wood, are very coarse. It just so happens that you only usually find a finish on rather bright papers, the ones we use nowadays I think are 98 brightness (100 is max). As far as reliable brands, we used to use Hammermill but as was stated, their paper went to shit, so we just use their cardstock, I honestly don't remember what brand we use for our regular paper at the moment, but since you seem to be looking for cardstock, Hammermill's 100lb laser cardstock (has a nice finish, and is my favorite, god I'm gay) prints really nice.

When Pam Beasley talks about paper, do you automatically get hard?

[Rune]

So anybody have a recommendation for laser printer paper that's not too expensive but is good quality? I just bought a new laser printer and heard that cheap paper will really screw it up and make my life hell.

samsung ML-1630 if it matters
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG ML Series ML-1630 Personal Up to 17 ppm Monochrome Laser Printer - Printer - Laser Printers $90