After reading review after review of HP 32# Premium I decided I had better go out and get some. I was sick of feathering and bleed through.

After going through about 20 pages of the ream I have decided that I just don't like it that much. Yes, it's smooth, and yes, the line definition is good, but it's HEAVY, and I find that the line is much wider than it should be. I usually use Japanese notebooks for writing my lab notes, and it's very well behaved, thinner paper, yet the line is representative of nib size. When I write on my HP paper I can actually see the line spreading out seconds after I write.

I have to say it's still the best loose leaf I have, and I use it for letter writing and especially for doing pen and ink tests and reviews here, but overall I am a bit disappointed. I have read a few posts about the line thickness problem but they seem few and far between. So why don't more people care about it? What is it with the HP 32#?

Neill

I have never had the 32# Premium Choice have the nib spread you are talking about. My F's and XF's seem true on this paper. Fountain Pens are pretty funny that way, every nib, ink, and paper combination behaves differently.

Hope you find a good loose-leaf that works better for you!

I too have never experienced the problem you've had. In fact, last night I was marvelling again at how nice my Safari with an XF nib wrote on it, I don't use that pen often enough.

I've never had any problem with ink spreading on HP 32# paper, but paper manufacturers are often changing paper and selling it under the same label. So - who knows? - maybe HP 32# is not what it used to be. I'm still using a ream I bought a year or more ago.

My only complaint about 32# is that it's so heavy you can't use a guide sheet under it because the lines don't show through. Recently I bought some HP 24# "Bright White Inkjet" paper. It's my new favorite. No feathering or bleed through at all, but I can see enough of my guide sheet to keep my lines straight.

Judybug

Thanks for the review.

I just got some Neenah Classic paper (I got linen texture), 24#. Very nice stuff, smooth, no bleed or feather or spreading.

I like the HP32, very smooth, no bleeding or feathering, but it is very heavy. I might try some of the examples listed above. I found a paper place down the road that carries Neenah & might try some of their paper.

I find some of the Neenah papers quite nice, but they can be "sided", one side will remain true to nib width (the side from which the water mark reads correctly), while the other side will spread a bit, but maintain good line definition.

I wonder if the HP is sided as well, and the OP is using the wrong side?

Dan

The box does say "Print this side first" but I actually get less spreading on the opposite side. I'm not saying HP 32# is bad paper, I just don't find it great for its cost/performance/weight. Mind it sells for a lot more here than in the USA, I think.

I do have to say that ink looks stellar on it.

I now am wondering if we're talking about two different products? My "HP Premium Choice Laserjet" paper does not come in a box (500 sheets wrapped in plastic), nor does it have an indication anywhere on the packaging of which side to print first.

http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/Sta...productId=12658

I have seen some "InkJet" products, like this one:
http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p1_...es_10051_SEARCH

... that are not only sided, but have a special coating for inkjet printers. This coating is designed to catch the inkjet spray and absorb it so it doesn't run, pool, or smear. This coating may be bad for Fountain Pens; I have had the coating on HP "Inkjet" papers actually clog the nibs in the F or XF pens that I typically use.

I shy away from coated papers or "inkjet" papers for my own personal use.

Sorry I said box, but it's just wrapped in plastic. It's not inkjet paper, it's the Premium choice laser. I'll double check when I go home but I'm sure it has a blue arrow on the plastic with "print this side first" written on it."

I use Staples 28# "Heavyweight Printing Paper" for my loose leaf. It is smooth and fairly heavy, the line is representative of nib size (on all the pens I have tried on it, and that number is currently at 20 different pens and climbing), and a small variety of Noodlers, Private Reserve, Pilot, Montblanc and Waterman inks.

I print my planner pages on it, write letters, use it for notes, have printed some lined sheets and graph sheets. I highly reccommend it, and it is very resonably priced.

Amen Griffin2020. And if you just want to try it out, what I did was take the "master sheet"
for my handwriting practice sheet to staples to their copy center. They usually load the
machines there with I think 18 lb. They'll give you 22 or the 28 if you ask for it. I did and
ran about 40 pages of practice grid off at .08 each. I DO like it but if I didn't I wouldn't have
been stuck with a whole ton of it. Plus, I even lightened up the lines on my practice paper
where I like it better than before.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

So I checked my package and there is a big blue arrow, but the middle is missing so I can't tell if anything was written there or not. Looking at it I wonder if that's just where it says "open here" or something. I may be getting mixed up with some xerox premium paper that I recently bought, which definitely says "print this side first" (to prevent paper curl, I assume, as both sides are printable and it's not coated paper).

It sounds like Staples and Office Depots are a lot better in the US than here. I have been around to several and they have all refused to do anything with my paper- cut it, bind it, whatever. They only want to use their generic stuff. They suggested I contact a printing company instead. Oh well!

And don't get me wrong, it's good paper, I just don't enjoy it as much as I do the thin and light Japanese papers that I've been using.

Neill

I am in the "I dont like it" camp as well. Having expressed that before I have been soundly trounced for my "unAmerican" belief. The weight is a real putoff, not really paper and not really cardboard. Not really good for anything perhaps. The 28# is ok though. Still the Japanese paper like Apica is so superior I wonder why there is a disussion about the issue.
After trying several of the recommendations on this board I settled on Ampad Gold Fiber. Richard Binder recommends it so cant be bad. As it works out it is good with my Pelikan bleeder and great with my Waterman fine Kulture. It comes in grid as well as lines. White, yellow and cream. Small, medium, coil journal, leather cover journal, planner, full legal pad formats. But the deciding factor is that I can buy it at Walmart when I get groceries at about $2 a pad. I dont see how that can be beat.

Criticizing 32-pound paper because it is thick and somewhat heavy is like criticizing beer because it tastes like beer instead of like fine wine. 32-pound paper, by definition, is going to be a thick and heavy paper. If you don't like thick and heavy papers, don't buy it.

I happen to like 32-pound paper for some uses but not for others. At home, I keep two reams of paper available at all times: the 32-pound HP Laserjet and 24-pound paper from either Hammermill or Georgia Pacific. At work I use 20-pound no-name paper, because that's all I can find in the supply room, but I find the 20-pound paper to be a tad too thin.

I've never experienced spreading with HP 32, Hammermill 24, or Georgia Pacific 24.

I get a slightly broader line on the HP paper with certain inks, but most are about the same. The weight is appreciated for me because I use it in my circa notebooks and it stands up to abuse much better than lesser papers. It's not "as good" for letter writing in that sense - makes most of my snails cost 59c instead of 42c. Or I could write less... naaaaaah.

I've yet to find the perfect paper. I do like the lightweight Japanese papers but don't like the sizes they usually come in (smallish) and would like to find one that I can print my own lines on like I can the HP paper.