📄 Paper Roll Weight Calculator
Calculate the exact weight of any paper roll by entering dimensions and paper grade. Supports imperial & metric units.
| Paper Type | GSM | lbs per MSF | kg per 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tissue | 17 | 3.49 | 1.70 |
| Newsprint | 45 | 9.23 | 4.50 |
| Thermal Receipt | 55 | 11.28 | 5.50 |
| Copy / Office | 75 | 15.38 | 7.50 |
| Bond / Writing | 80 | 16.40 | 8.00 |
| Kraft / Wrapping | 90 | 18.45 | 9.00 |
| Label Stock | 100 | 20.51 | 10.00 |
| Poly-Coated | 110 | 22.56 | 11.00 |
| Coated Art | 115 | 23.58 | 11.50 |
| Cardboard/Boxboard | 300 | 61.52 | 30.00 |
| OD (in) | Core ID (in) | Est. Length (ft) | Est. Weight (lbs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3 | ~87 | ~11.5 |
| 8 | 3 | ~177 | ~23.3 |
| 10 | 3 | ~295 | ~38.9 |
| 12 | 3 | ~441 | ~58.2 |
| 16 | 3 | ~825 | ~108.8 |
| 20 | 3 | ~1,326 | ~175.0 |
| 24 | 3 | ~1,942 | ~256.2 |
| 30 | 6 | ~2,980 | ~393.1 |
| Roll Format | Width (in) | Length (ft) | Approx Weight (lbs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| POS Thermal Receipt | 3.15 (80mm) | 164 (50m) | 0.37 |
| Desktop Printer Roll | 8.5 | 150 | 5.8 |
| Wide-Format 24in | 24 | 150 | 29.5 |
| Wide-Format 36in | 36 | 150 | 44.3 |
| Newsprint Press | 60 | 1,000 | 456.0 |
| Kraft Shipping Roll | 18 | 900 | 121.5 |
| Industrial Tissue | 9 | 500 | 12.1 |
| Offset Print Roll | 48 | 2,000 | 1,472 |
When makers, printers and shippers need to track their paper stock, they really want to know only one thing: how much does this roll weigh? The paper roll weight matters a lot because it shows exactly what they work with, and for products as well as for shipping.
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There is a simple method, that has existed for a long time, for that estimate. One squares the diameter of the roll, removes the square of the internal diameter, multiplies by the width of the roll and then adds a set value, that depends on the kind of paper. Like this one gets a rough number about the paper roll weight.
How to Find Paper Roll Weight
The best part? Online tools do all that math instead of you. Simply enter your data and let the program handle the heavy calculations.
Each paper roll is made up of two parts: the paper itself and the plastic roll around which it is rolled. About that core itself? It barely deserves mention.
It weighs about 5 to 7 grams; so it is so light, that it almost does not matter compared with the weight of the paper.
Let me show you an actual sample. Assume that you have a roll with outer diameter of 100 cm, inner diameter of 16 cm and width of 100 cm. Enter a base of 100 grams per square metre and thickness of 200 micrometres, and you find around 382,8 kg of paper.
If you shrink that to something smaller, for instance a roll with only 52 grams per square metre, sudenly you must care about entirely other parts of storage and shipping. Knowing the paper roll weight helps a lot, when one plans how to pack and transport them.
Here is another useful thing, that one can consider: estimate the length of the paper in a roll. For a 500-kilogram roll with 100 cm width, using the same base weight of 100 g/m², one unrolls around 5000 metres of paper.
GSM… Grams per square metre, are the usual unit in the paper industry. It shows how heavy and thick the paper really is, and because it is global, comparing various sheets becomes easy.
The hard part? American labels about weight of paper do not always follow that rule. The number refers to the mass of 500 sheets in there uncut size, usually 17 by 22 inches.
So 20-pound paper means that those 500 sheets in that size weigh exactly 20 pounds. The same paper can be called 50-pound text weight in the context of book printing. Various kinds of paper, cover, index, text, use the same numbering method, but it creates entirely different real masses.
80-pound cover for business cards has no resemblance to 80-pound protective paper. It quite a lot confuses things for anyone.
Most calculators for paper roll weight that deserve their name let you enter base weight, width of the roll, diameter, inner diameter and even choose a certaintype of paper to reach more exact results. Simply remember that those values are only estimates, not absolute truth.
