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Through a rich collection of 'how-to' videos and insightful tips, we guide you through maximizing the potential of your color printing projects. Our commitment is rooted in a foundation built since our establishment in 1972, focusing on customer satisfaction and innovation.
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The American Convention is to identify paper weight by manufacturing origin: The way in which we identify paper here in the USA frustrates many people. In the US, the given names of paper come from the paper-manufacturing process. After reading this article you'll be able to differentiate paper by types, thickness, weight, application, finishing, and use . You will be able to compare how paper in the USA is identified as opposed to elsewhere.
You will be able to answer questions such as "How is a 20# (pound) copy bond paper different from a 60# offset paper?" Please feel free to bookmark this page for future reference.
The International Conventions compares the weight of a square unit of paper: Most of the world utilizes the metric system which is based on a simple concept that makes it easier to identify and compare papers.
Even though synthetic papers are not made out of the traditional paper pulp, in the last few years, especially during and after the pandemic, a new substrate has been finding a relevant place in business.
As it is now possible to extrude plastic and provide it with properties that allow printing and writing on it, and as the demand of materials that can be sanitized has grown, the field of synthetic papers has grown significantly.
The printing technology now allows us, print providers, to print on these substrates very efficiently.
Find more information about Synthetic Papers by Clicking Here
We will start by analyzing the weight of the paper, which creates the most headaches to our clients. We'll talk about paper production, finishing and brightness as well so that you have a broad knowledge about paper in the printing industry
U.S. Basis Weight is defined as the weight of 500 sheets of paper in its basic production size (parent size), before any cuts take place. Find the Chart of Paper Manufacturing Sizes on this same page.
There are several stages in the manufacturing process with 'finishing' being the last one. Wood chips get transformed into pulp, rollers calender the paper and determine the thickness of the paper. During the production and finishing processes, the softness is determined. For glossy or satin paper, a coating gets added to complete the process. Therefore different machines in different widths produce different types of paper. The end product at the mill is a roll that gets trimmed into flat sheets comprising what is known as the parent size.
The way to obtain different sizes of paper is by cutting the parent size into fractions. The typical way is to cut the mother sheet in half.
The U.S. Standard System changes the proportions of the sheet of paper once it is cut in half making it difficult to size up or down
The International Systems for paper weight and sizes is designed so that cutting paper in half still keeps the same proportions. That system is known as ISO "A"
Offset uncoated papers are commodity papers available in large volumes. Over the years a change in formulations made it alkaline as opposed to acidic, which gives it better archival properties. Their internal bonding is good, with high surface strength and dimensional stability.
The finishes of offset papers are
Coated papers are made like offset papers but have a clay coating added on their surface before calendering. The coating creates a gloss or sheen on the paper's surface. This coating holds ink better and helps get a smaller dot that in turn produces a better printing quality. The clay often accounts for as much as half of the weight of the paper. Therefore the quality of the clay determines how bright, printable and strong the paper will be (resistance to tear, shear, etc)
The calendering process produces the following types of finishes
The quality is determined by the brightness, smoothness, mechanical properties (resistance, shear, etc) and stability of thickness among others. Paper is rated from 1 to 5, 1 is the highest quality. 5 is the lowest quality
Paper brightness is a very important property in the paper. For certain applications, users usually assign a higher quality to paper that looks whiter with a shade of blue. Brightness measures how much of the blue light in the spectrum reflects on the paper. The scale goes from 0 to100. Brightness 100 is a very white bluish-tone paper. Uncoated paper: Some premium uncoated papers (made just out of pulp) have very high brightness. Coated paper: The coating used is clay. Their brightness values are in the low-mid 90's for a good quality paper. Thick cardstock: It is usually a lower-brightness product.
This writing grade historically called Bond papers are designed for letterhead, corporate identity, and home or office printers. They perform well for handwriting. These can be done with a watermark or can have cotton fiber to provide an elegant feel and mechanical strength.
These are premium uncoated papers that are available in amazing colors and finishes. Some text papers are lighter, while Cover papers are thick and nice for covers, brochures, and business cards.
Because paper mills produce with different technologies, similar end-use paper could have come from parent-sheets with different sizes. Here is a list of equivalent grades, produced in different mills. The column on the right side, identified as METRIC is the favorite in countries that have adopted the International system. That system provides the weigh of a certain size expressed in grams, regardless of the method of production.
There is so much more to paper that can be said and reviewed. We have published specific articles where we talk about coating, and finishing. Please visit our Printing 101 Academy to find more technical, marketing and other great articles!
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Date Published: 2020-03-01 // Updated: 2024-12-18
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