Best weight paper for double-sided printing?

rgard · Sep 4, 2009

Hi All,

I'm about to do a DIY printing of some of my pdfs and would like to know what is the best weight of paper for printing the pages double-sided.

Also, does it make a difference for the weight if printing with a laser printer or inkjet printer?

Thanks,
Rich

JediSoth · Sep 4, 2009

rgard said:
Hi All,

I'm about to do a DIY printing of some of my pdfs and would like to know what is the best weight of paper for printing the pages double-sided.

Also, does it make a difference for the weight if printing with a laser printer or inkjet printer?

Thanks,
Rich

It makes a huge difference. When double-sided printing on an inkjet, I would go no less than a bright white (92 brightness at the minimum) 24 lb. bond.

Laser printers don't have the bleed through inkjets do, so you can get away with 20 lb. bond (which is standard copier paper). I would still seek out a brighter paper, though, 92 brightness mininum. The brighter paper will make the text and graphics pop more and show through the other side less. I'd still do 24 lb. on the laser, though. I think it just feels better.

Of course, depending on how many pages you're doing and how you're going to bind it, you may want to go with a lighter weight paper in the laser, like 20 lb., because it'll make a thinner, lighter book. But, for inkjet, yeah, paper thickness make a huge difference, especially if you're using multi-purpose paper instead of inkjet paper.

My personal choices are:
Inkjet printing: Hammermill ultra-bright white (I think it's like 106 brightness) Inkjet paper, 24 lb.
Laser printing: Hammermill bright white laser paper (92 brightness, 24 lb.) -- though, for character sheets, I find 20 lb. copier/multi-purpose paper works just fine.

rgard · Sep 4, 2009

JediSoth, great, thanks!

Klaus · Sep 4, 2009

JediSoth said:
It makes a huge difference. When double-sided printing on an inkjet, I would go no less than a bright white (92 brightness at the minimum) 24 lb. bond.

Laser printers don't have the bleed through inkjets do, so you can get away with 20 lb. bond (which is standard copier paper). I would still seek out a brighter paper, though, 92 brightness mininum. The brighter paper will make the text and graphics pop more and show through the other side less. I'd still do 24 lb. on the laser, though. I think it just feels better.

Of course, depending on how many pages you're doing and how you're going to bind it, you may want to go with a lighter weight paper in the laser, like 20 lb., because it'll make a thinner, lighter book. But, for inkjet, yeah, paper thickness make a huge difference, especially if you're using multi-purpose paper instead of inkjet paper.

My personal choices are:
Inkjet printing: Hammermill ultra-bright white (I think it's like 106 brightness) Inkjet paper, 24 lb.
Laser printing: Hammermill bright white laser paper (92 brightness, 24 lb.) -- though, for character sheets, I find 20 lb. copier/multi-purpose paper works just fine.

Say that again, but in Metric, please!

kevtar · Sep 4, 2009

try Kinkos or other print shop

60 # offset is a good option too. You can get it from any paper supplier or quick printer.

tvknight415 · Sep 4, 2009

Another vote for 24 lb paper. Also, I would recommend getting some heavy cardstock and using that to print the covers.

Marius Delphus · Sep 4, 2009

20 lb. paper is roughly 75 g/m².
24 lb. paper is roughly 90 g/m².
60 lb. offset is roughly 225 g/m². [EDIT: oops, make that about 90]

AFAICT, brightness values roughly match ISO standard, with a variance of about 2 points (the ISO number should be 1-2 points higher than the "US" number).

[EDIT] I like printing my character sheets on 24 lb. bond. It feels nice and seems to withstand erasure better than cheap 20 lb. office paper... though I do have a series of character sheets with cellophane tape over the frequently-erased blanks. [/EDIT]

Doug Sundseth · Sep 5, 2009

Note for those not familiar with paper industry weights:

The weight noted (basis weight) refers to a ream (bundle of 500 sheets) of the standard size. This standard size depends on what type of paper you are talking about. The result is that 20# bond is not the same weight as 20# offset or 20# cover stock.

For more information, see this page. Yes, this is another case where metric is quite a bit easier for the layman to understand.

Klaus · Sep 5, 2009

Doug Sundseth said:
Note for those not familiar with paper industry weights:

The weight noted (basis weight) refers to a ream (bundle of 500 sheets) of the standard size. This standard size depends on what type of paper you are talking about. The result is that 20# bond is not the same weight as 20# offset or 20# cover stock.

For more information, see this page. Yes, this is another case where metric is quite a bit easier for the layman to understand.

Indeed, the Metric paper weight system notes how much a 1 meter x 1 meter square of said paper would weigh.

Doc_Klueless · Sep 5, 2009

Myself, I tend to use 28# paper (for example: Boise HD

Presentation Laser Paper 28 lb. ). Of course, I'm a bit strange about paper. I never print on anything less than 24#. I just like the feel. Plus, I don't print that much stuff. If I printed reams and reams all the time, I'd use 20# for that.

So, to recap: 28# for things I want to use that will last a long time, look good and feel good.