Supermarket Reams Of Paper - The Rough And The Smooth

[Eoghan2009]

I am under the impression that photocopy paper has two sides, one smoother and one less smooth (rough). Am I correct in this subjective impression and is there any convention that says that the paper ia always smooth side up when taken out the pack?

 

It does not matter so much for laser printing but a fountain pen is a very different matter...

[A Smug Dill]

It does not matter so much for laser printing but a fountain pen is a very different matter...

 

 

If you have a pack in front of you, can't you just take a sheet from the ream (noting which side was facing the seam of the wrapping paper), write with your pen(s) and ink(s) of choice on both sides, and check whether one side — and, if so, which side — performs better than the other? I think it's foolhardy to generalise across all brands of photocopy paper products looking for some sort of convention, if there is no applicable industry standard for it.

[BaronWulfraed]

I am under the impression that photocopy paper has two sides, one smoother and one less smooth (rough). Am I correct in this subjective impression and is there any convention that says that the paper ia always smooth side up when taken out the pack?

 

It does not matter so much for laser printing but a fountain pen is a very different matter...

I don't recall seeing any reams of paper marked for a "use this side". And "smooth side up when taken out of the pack" presumes on has some standard orientation when removing the paper from the wrapper.

 

However, in the 80s, some paper stocks were sold marked for long grain or short grain. These were supposed to be matched to the feed path of the relevant copier/printer (does it feed narrow edge first and "roll" top to bottom, or does it feed wide edge and roll left to right).

 

https://printingpartners.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/paper-grain-direction/

Edited August 7, 2020 by BaronWulfraed

[A Smug Dill]

I don't recall seeing any reams of paper marked for a "use this side".

I certainly have, although it's not on every (ream of A4 printer/photocopier paper) product of every brand.

 

And "smooth side up when taken out of the pack" presumes on has some standard orientation when removing the paper from the wrapper.

Not exactly. Where such guidance is given, there are usually markings on the wrapping paper indicated which surface of the paper in the ream should be used first. Do a web search for: paper ream "this side first" and you'll see many mentions and examples. On some packaging — and I think that is the convention, in the US market — for such guidance where given is to print an arrow on the wrapping paper with explanatory text to that effect on/alongside it), whereas in Australia I've seen words printed along the seam of the wrapping around the ream indicated that side is to be used first.

 

However, in the 80s, some paper stocks were sold marked for long grain or short grain. These were supposed to be matched to the feed path of the relevant copier/printer (does it feed narrow edge first and "roll" top to bottom, or does it feed wide edge and roll left to right).

I was looking into ordering Tomoe River paper in bulk (thank heavens I didn't!) about 18 months ago, and one of the things I was asked to specify was the direction of the grain I wanted; but that's a different issue.

Edited August 7, 2020 by A Smug Dill

[Fermata]

Good quality paper often has an arrow on the wrapper indicating which way up.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Parkette

[dennis_f]

I don't recall seeing any reams of paper marked for a "use this side". And "smooth side up when taken out of the pack" presumes on has some standard orientation when removing the paper from the wrapper.

 

 

 

In the early 2000s certain brands produced one-sided laser printer paper (Hp was one, if I'm not mistaken). In those cases, the side you were not supposed to print on was tinted a pale green tone (the correct side was white, of course).

 

I haven't seen any paper like that in over a decade, though. And even when it was produced, I think it was rare.

 

As for differences in quality between the front and back of a page of standard copy paper, I've often noticed that this is the case. Usually I notice that one side may be more or less smooth than the other side, or more or less absorbent. Sometimes there's a marked difference in feathering or the relative ease with which the pen moves across the page. But I've never noticed that the difference is so great that the lower quality side should be avoided.

 

As for identifying which side is which: when I do notice that one side is better or worse than the other side, I usually also find that all the sheets are stacked in the same way, such that if the "top" side is better quality, all of the tops of all the remaining sheets will be of the same quality.

[Inkysloth]

Most machine made paper is calendered at the end of the process - a process where the paper is passed through heated rollers that compress and polish the surface. The paper is produced in a continuous broad stream, the fibres mostly aligning along the length of the roll rather than across the width. The calendering rolls can produce different degrees of smoothness / texture on both sides. Theres no standard international guide on whether paper of a given description (e.g. laserjet paper) is identical on both sides of not.

[inkstainedruth]

On cheap printer paper I haven't seen the notes about which end to have "up" when going through a printer. But on the good 92 bright, 24 lb. paper I buy at Sam's Club it does (I like the better quality paper for when I'm doing some types of artwork).

Of course, I also will write on the backs of envelopes, scrap paper, etc. Even with my best FPs. Because, well, pens.... If I'm making a shopping list, I don't care if it bleeds through. A little annoyed by the horrible quality of checks these days (seriously, I've had worse spread and bleed through on checks than on the envelopes I'm mailing them in... ).

I have a bunch of cheap composition books for fiction and poetry writing -- but for fiction I actually do better with printer paper on a clipboard -- easier to write small, make arrows to add in stuff I've forgotten to say, write in the margins, etc. For that I use sugarcane paper, if I can find it. That's a lot more expensive per ream than regular printer paper (even the good quality stuff, which I think is either HP or Xerox). So that does NOT get wasted by running it through the printer. I used to like the stuff I could get at (of all places) Walgreen's -- but they stopped carrying it ; current ream is stuff I got at Kinkos, which I don't think is quite as good, but isn't too bad, IMO, for writing on.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth