A4 Writing Paper - Are Inkjet Papers Fountain Per Friendly?

[Eoghan2009]

A couple of years ago I got a printer to cut down A3 sheets to A4. The paper was (apparently) Xerox Colotech and took ink really well.

 

Is there a good alternative and am I correct in assuming that what's good for an inkjet is good for a fountain pen.

 

At £3 for 500 sheets of 80g paper, the benchmark starts pretty low. How much would you be willing to pay for good quality A4 paper specifically for a fountain pen? I paid £15 for 500 sheets A4 160g colotech.

[SallyLyn]

Humm. I always thought Laser jet paper most FP friendly.

HP paper often preferred -24lbs ok, 32lbs the best and in between, in between.

 

I have a laser jet and just grab paper from it. It’s a Costco item so may not be anything available.

Xerox brand, ColorLok 24lb/90g, 96 bright. Called Mulitipurpose for laser and inkjet, etc. Seems to work well for my purposes. Don’t remember price for the 800 sheet package.

 

Now that I’ve said that hopefully others will jump in with better information.

[OCArt]

I initially followed what I assumed to be logic and bought expensive ink-jet paper to use for writing. What a mistake! I soon found out that inkjet paper is designed to be very absorbent and feathers way too much with fountain pen ink. Conversely, laser papers work great with fountain pens. Who would've thought?

[JakobS]

Inkjet paper that is made from sugar cane fibers I have found to be pretty good at taking fountain pen ink. Generally it's sold as a copy paper for inkjet/laser/copier use.

[Runnin_Ute]

Generally speaking something like HP (Hewlett-Packard) labelled LaserJet 24 lb/90 gsm or higher is best. (or equivalent with other brands if HP not available) Like OCArt mentioned, InkJet papers are made to absorb the ink quickly, which isn't really what you want in a fountain pen friendly paper because of the feathering/bleeding issues. Turns a F line into a BB....

[Tweel]

am I correct in assuming that what's good for an inkjet is good for a fountain pen.

 

You can't really assume either way -- it varies on a case-by-case basis. Inkjet paper can be pretty bad with fountain pens, but on the other hand one of the best writing papers I've had was some IBM brand inkjet paper. Unfortunately by the time I discovered this, IBM was out of the paper business and I couldn't find another ream.