Grades of Paper
There are five basic grades of paper:
Bond
Usually reserved for letterheads, business forms and
quick printing jobs.
Offset or uncoated book
Probably the most common sheet for offset printing,
offering a smooth, uncoated look.
Coated book
A glossy sheet that yields vivid colors and
excellent reproduction.
Text
A high-quality sheet with a lot of texture. It gives
soft, gentle colors and a look of class.
Cover
Used for book covers, postcards and business cards.
It is available as a coated or uncoated sheet.
Within each grade there are other distinctions -
based on brightness, opacity and fiber content. For
instance, there are matte, premium and ultra gloss
finishes to coated paper. In uncoated book, there is
#1 Offset, #3 Offset, Opaque and Lightweights. Text
papers are distinguished by finishes like
smooth/vellum, felt/embossed, laid and linen.
Basic Weight
Getting more specific, people identify papers in
terms of their basic weights. Since coated papers
are more compressed (calendared), you can't
necessarily keep the same weight when switching
grades. For instance, you may go from a 60# uncoated
to a 70# coated sheet to keep the same thickness.
That's why papers are usually referred to by weight
and grade.
What is basic weight, exactly? It is the weight of
500 sheets of paper cut to a standard size. So, 500
sheets of 25" x 38" 60# offset weighs 60 lbs. The
standard size for bond is 17" x 22"; for text,
offset and coated 25" x 38"; and for cover, 20" x
26". That's why two similar sheets of different
grades may have very different basic weights; for
instance, 24# bond and 50# offset.
Different grades cover different ranges of weight:
Bond
Usually 16# for forms, 20# for copying and 24# for
stationery.
Text
Ranges in weight from 60# to 100#, but the most
common weights are 70# and 80#.
Offset
Usually a 50# to 70# stock.
Coated book
Generally goes from 30# to 70# for web, 50# to 110#
for sheetfed.
Cover
Comes in 60#, 65#, 80# or 100# weights.
Recycled Papers
Our national waste disposal challenge has led to the
increasing use of recycled papers. Paper companies
have answered this increasing demand with offerings
in all paper grades. While recycled sheets still
command a premium over virgin stock, they are more
widely available than in previous years. At this
time, there are still differences in definitions
associated with recycled papers, and concerned
buyers need to consult the EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency) guidelines, State of Texas and
federal definitions and paper company literature to
make informed judgments.
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