Paper Weight & Grammage

Bond Paper (Basis Weight: Bond, standardized under TAPPI T 410) is a traditional North American paper weight grade defined as the weight in pounds (lbs) of a 500-sheet ream of uncut master sheets measuring 17 × 22 inches. Standard 20 lb and 24 lb Bond are the dominant office copy papers across the US and Canada.

Cover Paper (Basis Weight: Cover / Cardstock, standardized under TAPPI T 410) is a heavy North American paperboard grade defined as the weight in pounds of a 500-sheet ream of uncut master sheets measuring 20 × 26 inches. It is standard for paperback book covers, business cards, presentation folders, and retail packaging.

GSM (Grams per Square Meter / g/m², standardized under ISO 536) is the universal metric measure of paper areal density. Defining the exact physical weight in grams of a 1-square-meter (A0) sheet, it provides a linear, universal scale that eliminates the confusion of different paper grades and sheet sizes.

Paper Caliper (measured in Points / pt / mils / microns, standardized under TAPPI T 411 and ISO 534) is the direct measurement of paper thickness using a precision motorized micrometer under standardized mechanical pressure. In North American commercial packaging and business card production, 1 Point equals one-thousandth of an inch (0.001 in / 25.4 µm).

Text Paper (Basis Weight: Text / Book / Offset, standardized under TAPPI T 410) is a North American commercial printing paper grade defined as the weight in pounds of a 500-sheet ream of uncut master sheets measuring 25 × 38 inches. It is standard for commercial book interiors, magazines, brochures, and marketing collateral.