📄 Paper Weight Calculator
Calculate the total weight of paper by type, size, sheet count & basis weight — metric & imperial
| Size Name | Inches | Millimeters | Area (cm²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | 8.5 x 11 | 216 x 279 | 602.6 |
| Legal | 8.5 x 14 | 216 x 356 | 769.0 |
| Tabloid / Ledger | 11 x 17 | 279 x 432 | 1205.1 |
| A3 | 11.69 x 16.54 | 297 x 420 | 1247.4 |
| A4 | 8.27 x 11.69 | 210 x 297 | 623.7 |
| A5 | 5.83 x 8.27 | 148 x 210 | 310.8 |
| B5 | 6.93 x 9.84 | 176 x 250 | 440.0 |
| Paper Type | GSM | Ream Weight (g) | Ream Weight (lbs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newsprint | 45 gsm | 1,326 g | 2.92 lbs |
| Copy / Multipurpose | 75 gsm | 2,210 g | 4.87 lbs |
| Bond Paper | 90 gsm | 2,653 g | 5.85 lbs |
| Offset / Book | 80 gsm | 2,358 g | 5.20 lbs |
| Photo Paper | 200 gsm | 5,895 g | 13.00 lbs |
| Cardstock | 216 gsm | 6,367 g | 14.04 lbs |
| Bristol Board | 243 gsm | 7,163 g | 15.79 lbs |
| Cover Stock | 271 gsm | 7,988 g | 17.62 lbs |
| Basis Weight (Bond/Writing) | Basis Weight (Cover) | Basis Weight (Index) | GSM Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 lb | — | — | 60 gsm |
| 20 lb | — | — | 75 gsm |
| 24 lb | — | — | 90 gsm |
| 28 lb | — | — | 105 gsm |
| — | 60 lb | — | 163 gsm |
| — | 65 lb | — | 176 gsm |
| — | 80 lb | — | 216 gsm |
| — | 100 lb | — | 271 gsm |
| — | — | 90 lb | 162 gsm |
| — | — | 110 lb | 199 gsm |
The Paper Weight helps set the comparison and sorting of various kinds of paper. That word relates to the thickness and strong quality of the material. Usually one measures it by means of grams per square metre, called gsm, in many parts of the world.
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In United States on the other hand one uses pounds for that.
What Paper Weight Means and How to Choose It
One finds the Paper Weight by taking a sample of set surface and later weighing it. The result shows weight for area. Here, in United States, one marks the paper according to the mass of 500 sheets in the uncut size.
The most common paper kinds come in 17 by 22 inches. For instance, if one packet of 500 sheets of that format weighs 20 pounds, one calls it 20-pound paper. That 17-by-22-inch uncut set one usually cuts in four more little parts.
Here the spot, where everything becomes hardly clear. Various papr kinds, as binding, book and cover, own different basic formats. Hence 20-pound binding paper has truly the same mass as 50-pound text paper.
It is same material, simply called otherwise according to the cases. In book printings one says 50 lb, but for copy sheets it is 20 lb. Also, two paper kinds with same pound mark can differ entirely.
80-pound text paper is the used standard, while 80-pound cover paper becomes cardboard material. Same figures, but totally different.
The mass of a sheet does not always match its thickness. One measures the thickness in thousandths of an inch. Two different 80-pound cover materials could show different thicknesses, one at 0.008 inches and the other at 0.011 inches.
Commonly the standard copy paper has 80 gsm. A piece of 80 gsm A4-paper is exactly 0.1 mm thick. Binding paper reaches masses as 16, 20, 24, 28, 32 and 36 pounds, used for everyday printings, letterheads and writing pads.
In notebooks more helpful material around 80 to 90 gsm works four note and general usage. More heavy kind, for instance 140 gsm, suits for sketch pads or fine writing. In bookmaking, thick paper at 150 or 180 gsm works well for three to four pages in one set with rounded spine.
The right Paper Weight matters a lot for the finish also. The touch is the first thing that reacts when one receives printed material. Right mass can change an average pamphlet into a strong clear experience that seems professional.
It does not deal only about thickness, it concerns the first impressions of the paper quality before reading the first word. The perfect Paper Weight does depend on the kind andpurpose of the piece.
