I'm looking for standard legal pads to use in portfolios. Can I get a few recommendations for quality pads? I'm using Levenger pads now and like them, but would like to try something new. If they were less expensive than Levenger paper, that would be a plus, but not a prerequisite.

Jon, why not hack a Circa notebook into a legal pad like I did? I blogged about it. Click my signature below to see the post. My guess is that if you were to use really small rings, you might be able to make something that'd work out reasonably well. That way, you could use whatever paper you wanted to, with whatever template you wanted to use.

Just a suggestion...take it with appropriate measures of salt.

Otherwise, I've used Ampad Gold Fibre with decent results. Be aware that sometimes they'll feather quite a bit.

Ryan,

That's a good idea and I'll probably try it.

Looking forward to hearing about your results!

Levenger's Freeleaf leather clipboard is also a decent solution. It holds up to 20 pages with a magnetic clip and works for both lefties and righties.

http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PROD...d=2430|Link=Txt

Black N Red

A legal-sized Clairefontaine---best paper that I have ever tried. Rhodia is very good, too, and also comes in legal size.

Ampad Gold Fiber for standard pads, or Rhodia if you want something a little more exotic.

In addition to the Ampad Gold Fiber, I've also had good luck with Tops Docket Diamond Pads (though not lesser Tops pads). Since I only tried them when the local office supply warehouse was having a closeout sale, I don't know their retail price, but I'd guess it is comparable to the Ampad.

But I'll reiterate earlier suggestions of the Circa/Rollabind system. I work in an office where cheap legal pads are gratis, but I strongly prefer to print my own layout on HP #32 Premium Choice LaserJet Paper (you can use the wizards at incompetech or simply use MS Word and the tables function to get exactly the line spacing and layout that works best for you), then punch and bind it with Rolla tools. Although I started out using a Levenger portfolio to hold the notebook, I discovered that I preferred to fold back the cover, so I switched to the Levenger leather covers that are part of the Circa system. It works great for me, and because I'm using the super-heavy HP paper, I can use both sides of a page. Because the paper is fastened at the side, flipping to the back of a page is easy.

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Cambridge Wireless Pads
Ampad Gold Fiber
Clairefontaine Writing Pads (high quality, and therefore more expensive, but worth it)

Several days ago I purchased a package of 500 sheets of 32 lb. premium laser ink-jet paper. It was $17.00 at Staples. I xeroxed a few lined sheets and the result was paper that is horrible with fountain pens and lines that I can actually feel and therefore won't drag a fountain pen nib over.
I love writing on tracing paper because it is as smooth as silk but this hp paper is the pits. It's worse than the sound of fingernails scratcing across a blackboard....

That's interesting, mine is smooth. How are the sheets without the xeroxed lines? Could it be from the xeroxing?

You can feel the lines because that's the burned-in toner. That's how photocopiers work. Depending on the type of copier, paper that's gone through one can be changed from the heat or toner. How does the paper work for you without having gone through a copier?

Is there a legal sized Clairefontaine?

I believe that both Rhodia and Clairfontaine have tablets that are approximately legal-sized. Keep in mind that these are European manufacturers, so their paper sizes are not going to be a perfect match for the American 8.5 x 11 and 8.5 x 14 inches that we are used to.

Rhodia definitely makes a pad that is roughly legal-sized and available in yellow. I'm using one for notes these days and it's nice. The lines seem more narrowly-spaced than college rule, too, which I sort of like...

Clairefontaine's "Pupitre" pad is a letter-sized legal pad that I really like, but they are more expensive than Rhodia and are the brilliant white one expects from this company. They work fairly well in portfolios, too...


Good luck!

Office Depot pads paper is good and cheap the package,

Julio