Best printer paper to print my own stationary

[HyperCamper]

I recently used some Xerox Colotech 90 grams paper. It was a dream! Very smooth writing and not a hint of feathering. Very good paper for writing with FP's.

Edited October 30, 2006 by HyperCamper

[sonia_simone]

Ha, I just scored a half ream of Classic Crest from the designers, we're moving offices and they don't want to schlep it.

 

Sweet.

[Anne-Sophie]

I'm using the 20 pound white paper from office depot 53% recycled.

 

Some of my pen/ink combination are barking a bit on it but so far the workhorses pens/inks are doing fine.

[Margana]

My latest experiments in office paper:

 

I put aside Classic Crest 24# for awhile because I thought it was toothy, but now I'm back to it.  It's just a nice, quietly elegant paper, and not too heavy.  It also comes in a lot of colors.  (Mostly variants of white.)  I'd like to find a sample of the Tarragon color, which I think might be pretty swell with brown ink.  Although I don't know if I need 500 sheets of it.

 

Very luscious but quite thick is Classic Crest 70# Text.  (For some reason text papers use a different weight scale, this would be the equivalent of 28# writing paper.)  I think this is a tiny bit nicer than the HP Laser 32#, which I like but has some bleedthrough for me with wet writers and saturated inks.  Also, the HP "spreads" ink a little, so I don't get as fine a line.  CC Text is a lot more money than HP though, about $32 for 500 sheets.  We happen to have some discontinued letterhead at work that uses it, so I'm using the reverse side for scratch paper and to test ink colors.  Pretty wonderful.

 

Another very good option, maybe my favorite office paper for writing snails, is Strathmore Writing.  I think it's 24#.  High cotton content, acid free, and a bit smoother than Classic Crest Writing.

 

Hi Sonia!

 

Do you prefer the Neenah Crest Classic with the smooth or the super smooth finish?

 

Is this the Strathmore Writing Paper? I would really like to find an off-white paper with matching envelopes. This one could be just the thing and the price listed at LimitedPapers.com makes it reasonably economical, too.

 

Thanks!

 

Margana

Edited October 2, 2006 by Margana

[sonia_simone]

Yep, that's the Strathmore that I use and like--very nice all-purpose paper *if* you don't need ultra smoothness. I use it at work for all of my daily notes. It's reasonably smooth but not a skating rink like the HP 32# Laser.

 

I also just tried a 70# Strathmore that is extremely nice, I don't remember all the details as they are at work. But it will not be so reasonably priced, I'm sure. I'll report more when I'm at my desk with the details I got on the samples.

[a11en]

My comments on HP paper and a >Question< at the end...

 

I've been playing with papers a bit on my search for some for various uses. I first picked up some HP inkjet 24#. Wonderful stuff, really. Takes my PDFs in the inkjet really well, and doesn't have any strange hicups with my FP's. I can't remember any serious feathering, and very little bleedthrough if I remember properly (I'll have to check more if you want me to be absolutely sure- just say the word). It doesn't however feel like an ice-rink. The 24# is nice, better than a lot of papers I come across at work. Easy paper to use everyday, that's for sure.

 

I just got a ream of HP Premium Laser at 32#. The heft of the paper is wonderful. I love the heft. It is definitely a very smooth paper. I wouldn't call it a Triomphe smooth yet, as I haven't tried them side-by-side, but definitely is very smooth. It also has a pretty bright character to it- tends to have a blueish look to it. [bluer tends to look brighter in color temperature anyway I believe]

 

The thing that surprised me with the Premium laser is that my Namiki VP F nib didn't like the paper at all! It skipped and skipped... well, it just didn't really want to lay down much of a line. Now, for my Pelikan m400 F nib, this was completely different. It laid down quite a good line, without difficulty- however, I detect a very slight feather with my Legal Lapis. Which sort of surprised me. Actually, I'm not sure if you could call it a feathering... it's sort of like the ink spreads out a bit on the paper- sort of muddied the lines a slight bit. I have to play more with it. Absolutely little to no bleedthrough even with the nib touching paper for a while... definitely double-sided paper use with this stuff! It's wonderfully heavy.

 

For correspondences, the 32# is great stuff. A good price too, I feel.

 

Question: How do you guys print your lines on the 32# stuff- or your letter head etc.? Do you use a laser printer, or an inkjet? I believe this laser 32# isn't supposed to take inkjet... has this been your experience?

 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!! If you want me to scan a few tests, let me know.

 

Cheers!

-Allen

[tankahn]

Question:  How do you guys print your lines on the 32# stuff- or your letter head etc.?  Do you use a laser printer, or an inkjet?

I use a personal laserprinter. They are very cheap nowadays and toners last a long time.

 

You can download freewares or go to web sites that generate ruled lines on PDF to any line height you want. I use the standard 5/16 inch ruled lines. For easier handling, I print them landscape. Fold the papers into halves and bind them using needles and threads or simply staple the middle. For my next project I am going print and get them professionally binded moleskine sized.

Edited October 30, 2006 by tankahn

[a11en]

Thanks for describing this, Tankahn! Since I only have an inkjet, I may have to go with the 24#... but I'm glad I have this ream of 32#, and will likely write a few letters on it!

 

When you get your new book bound, let us all know how it turned out! I'm very interested.

[Samovar]

Bonjour Cloud,

I found some Classic Crest at Nota Bene in Montreal (corner Sherbrooke and Du Parc)

It's 12$ for 50 sheets but the quality is really nice and FP friendly. It's 90 g/square meter paper, the same as Clairefontaine.

 

If you come to Montreal, it's the place for nice paper (hey you are less than 2 hours away!).

 

Samovar

[Ropemaker]

Allen,

I have been using the 32# HP laser paper for a couple of months now and have no problem running it through my inkjet printer.

I actually took the PDF of the cornell variant you so kindly made up and print it on the 32# laser for my really good notes.

My inkjet (Canon Pixma 8500) has absolutely no problem with it, so it might be worthwhile to give your inkjet a shot and see what happens.

Sara

[a11en]

Hi Sara!

 

Thanks for letting me know! I was a bit scared to put the paper into my inkjet because it was mentioned it wasn't made for it on the back of the ream. But, now that you've had success- I'll have to try this also! Thanks for the tip! I really appreciate it!

 

[Now I can print a bit of letter-head on some excellent paper. ] BTW, the Triomphe paper took my ink-jet ink really well also! Just need to change letter-format for the letter head, and it printed no problem.

 

Thanks!!

-Allen

[M4R1N4]

Is this Neenah paper available at regular office stores? (Staples, Office Depot/Max, etc.) and does it come in reams or something smaller? I never heard of it before, but with so many people raving about it I would like to check it out.

 

THANKS!!

[sonia_simone]

Marina, I'm not sure if you can get it in the B&M office stores, but it's available at paper.com.

 

If you PM me you're address I'll send you some sheets of it. I don't know if you can get it in quantities under 500, so you might as well be sure you like it!

[Margana]

Is this Neenah paper available at regular office stores? (Staples, Office Depot/Max, etc.)  and does it come in reams or something smaller?  I never heard of it before, but with so many people raving about it I would like to check it out.

 

THANKS!!

Hi Marina!

 

Great to see you here. Hope you will be able to post more often. You've been missed.

 

Neenah offers sample sheets and swatch books or you can order a ream from Paper.com. I ordered a swatch book because I wanted to see color samples. If I had it to "do over," I'd get the full sheet samples to test more nibs and inks. The swatches are pretty small for serious testing.

[sonia_simone]

Mohawk Papers, by the way, also offers samples at mohawkpaper.com. I just got a bunch of different variants of Superfine Soft White--I'll post a review soon.

[Sidney]

For Neenah and Mohawk paper try the business listings in your telephone book for Xpedx.

[Mary P]

Neenah's Classic Crest

is available at brick and mortar stores in my area but not at the big box office supply stores. I purchased it at The Paper Zone, a small specialty paper store. The Paper Gallery, a chain of specialty paper stores, also carries it in their Tacoma and Puyallup stores.

[cmenice]

My Package reads "HP Premium Choice LaserJet". It is 32 pound stock and has a brightness claim of 98.

I just picked up some of this stuff. It's very good. A lot better than the legal pads I was using. And now I have a blank page so I can draw on them too.

 

This paper is definitely super smooth and my pen does skip sometimes. But it's not often enough that I really even notice.

[nimrod]

Thanks to everyone who posted info. I picked up a ream of the HP Premium Choice and it works pretty well.

[skipwilliams]

I've got two reams of Neehah Classic Crest and Stora 4CC, both of which I love for everyday note-taking with fountain pens. I run them through a laser printer front & back to make the note paper that I punch with my Circa/Rollabind punch. Both are ultra smooth and have caused me zero problems with writing.

 

Skip