Paper Recommendation Needed

[Peruvian]

Hello,

 

I am in the process of ordering notepads with my firm's logo and contact info printed on them. Needless to say, I need the best fountain pen-friendly and quick drying paper.

 

Your recommendations on the type of paper I should seek, as well as potential places where to order the notepads from will be immensely appreciated.

 

Thank you

[FOUR X FOUR]

Lotta good stuff. TWSBI makes a good notebook.. Most but not all Moleskine are bad. MS with plain, heavy stock paper is fine for fountain pens.. Rhodia is an excellent choice. Did I say excellent choice.. Exacompta is made in France. Exacto pat is a top shelf paper.. Clairfontane is another top shelf paper.. Black n' Red is probably the cheapest of the fountain pen friendly paper. You can get it in several sizes.. And finally my favorite Tomoe River.

[FOUR X FOUR]

.😄

[macaddicted]

I assume you want pads and not books. Some questions:

 

Where are you going to get them made?

 

What size are the pads?

 

What colors are in the art/type you are going to order?

 

What art is going to be included? Logo and business info? Ad copy? Lines or grid?

 

Finally, what color paper do you want?

 

The problem for us here is we get our paper retail, typically in letter or A5 sizes. There's a whole world of paper that doesn't exist at the local office supply barn store. So my questions are the ones I'd usually start with when I worked for print shops.

[Oldtimer]

I find the notebooks at Franklin-Cristoph the best and most elegant. I don't know who makes them.

[Peruvian]

I assume you want pads and not books. Some questions:

 

Where are you going to get them made?

 

What size are the pads?

 

What colors are in the art/type you are going to order?

 

What art is going to be included? Logo and business info? Ad copy? Lines or grid?

 

Finally, what color paper do you want?

 

The problem for us here is we get our paper retail, typically in letter or A5 sizes. There's a whole world of paper that doesn't exist at the local office supply barn store. So my questions are the ones I'd usually start with when I worked for print shops.

 

 

Hi Macaddicted,

 

You are correct, I want pads which I guess are glue-binded for easy tearing. I thought of having Vista Print make them, and the size is 5 x 8.5 it only has navy blue and black as the colors, on white, blank (no lines) paper. Vista Print only has one type of paper: Acid-free, 28 lb. weight. Vellum finish, 92 brightness; which I do not know if it's fountain pen friendly or not (they said yes, but I have the feeling they are not 100% sure.)

 

One of the features I wanted to add was rounded corners, but they can not do that.

 

Thank you

[macaddicted]

Hi Macaddicted,

 

You are correct, I want pads which I guess are glue-binded for easy tearing. I thought of having Vista Print make them, and the size is 5 x 8.5 it only has navy blue and black as the colors, on white, blank (no lines) paper. Vista Print only has one type of paper: Acid-free, 28 lb. weight. Vellum finish, 92 brightness; which I do not know if it's fountain pen friendly or not (they said yes, but I have the feeling they are not 100% sure.)

 

One of the features I wanted to add was rounded corners, but they can not do that.

 

Thank you

Ask them to send you a sample pad. They might charge you a bit but it's better than getting pads you hate.

 

If you decide to have them produced locally pretty much any print shop can do it. It will be more (to very much more) expensive. The best way to cut down per pad cost is to order more pads. There are all sorts of fixed costs, from preparing your art to preparing and cleaning the press. The upside is you get the exact design you want with the colors and paper you want.

 

Places like Vista Print print many jobs together, which, with production savings, is why they can offer their items for so much less. But they typically use four color process, which means the blue you mentioned is made up of a mix of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. It never looks as good as when you print with a solid blue ink, but then savings.

 

So, to make a quick example, if you are printing pads for your use 25 to 50 sheets per pad is typical (pads you intend to give away are typically 10 or 25 sheets). That gives you 20 to 40 pads per 500 letter sized sheets. If you don't use Vista you should plan on at least 1000, though 2000 sheets would be better for cost-per-pad.

 

Sorry if this is a bit abrupt, but I can ramble on about this stuff. I didn't want to turn it into a tl;dr.

[T4TEXAS]

I checked a Vista business card and it is fp friendly. Dries within 5 sec. But do ask them to send you a sample of the pad stock.

[Runnin_Ute]

I think the sample pad idea is good. I have gotten freebie pads from places I did business with or worked. Some had fountain pen friendly paper, others didn't. (more didn't)

[inkypete]

If you have a printer in mind ask them for samples of stock to try out. Explain you need at least an 80gsm stock and that it has to be wet ink friendly. Often copy papers, especially those made for inkjet printers, can be very good. Instead of using Vista Print develop a relationship with a local printer and let them do the work for you - they will quickly learn what you need.

[pepsiplease69]

Maybe you can contact Steve Curnow, a well respected bookbinder and a regular at our bay area pen clubs.

[Peruvian]

Maybe you can contact Steve Curnow, a well respected bookbinder and a regular at our bay area pen clubs.

 

 

Yes Ali, I have contacted him already. He could do loose sheets, as opposed to glue-bind. I may end up going with him, though.

 

Thanks for the heads up.