REPEAT-O-TYPE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION

Repeat-O-Type Industry Facts

A Discussion about Paper

The following is a submission by of Weber-Valentine Company...originally posted in the Usenet Newsgroup comp.periphs.printers and posted here with his permission.

I have noticed some cofusion on the list when it comes to paper weight. Some times one person will talk about bond and another will think its offset. This can lead to confusion since 53lb bond is 135lb offest.

In order to make the discussions on different paper easier to follow, I have decided to post a short explanation of how weights are derived and a chart of the most popular types and weights.

I hope this helps, If anybody notices a error please let me know.

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GSM: When paper is measured as gsm ( grams per square meter) it makes it very easy to compare any papers. This is, IMHO the best way to measure paper, however it is not a universal standard, I don't even use it all the time.

basis weight: A papers weight is usually expressed as its basis weight. The basis weight is the weight of 500 sheets of a paper of a particular size. Since each type paper(cover, offset, bond, etc..) is expressed in terms of a different basis size, a 20lb. offset and a 20lb. cover are not the same.

The following chart should help. It contains the most common types of papers. All basis sizes will be included with the type of paper.

*NOTE offset is also called BOOK or TEXT*

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This is by no means a complete chart. To find different weights extrapolate as needed.(ie 105gsm is 28lb bond) bond is approximately .2665 gsm

GSM g/m2	Offset 25x38	Bond 17x22	Cover 20x26	Bristol 22½x28½	Index 25½x30½
49	33	13	18	22	27
60	40	16	22	27	33
75	50	20	28	34	42
80	55	22	30	37	45
90	60	24	33	41	50
120	80	32	45	55	67
200	135	53	74	91	110
310	208	82	114	140	170
397	267	105	146	182	220

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Copyright (c) 1997 Repeat-O-Type Mfg. Corp. All rights reserved.
Revised: December 26, 1997.