Paper size and weight conversions

In North America, the default paper size is "Letter" size while outside North America, the default paper size is A4.

ISO 216 - Standard Metric Paper Sizes
Standard North American Sizes
Paper weights

There are two terms commonly used to describe paper weight:
• Basis Weight
 The basis weight of a paper is based on the weight of 500 sheets,
 measured in pounds, in that paper's basic sheet size. Note that the "basic sheet size" is not the same 
for all types of paper which makes comparisons of weight between different papers difficult.
• Caliper 
Caliper refers to the thickness of a sheet of paper measured with a micrometer and expressed
 in thousandth of an inch. Paper caliper should not vary more than +/- 5% to 7% 
within a sheet. Generally, there is a relation between caliper and basis weight in that 
the greater the caliper (the thicker the paper), the greater the paper weight. But not always.

Darker colored boxes represent the
most common paper weights for that category.This Table was compiled by Micro Format, Inc., Wheeing IL. Used with permission.

The Wayback View - German printshop advertising - circa 1926

German culture is noted (outside of Germany) for its engineering excellence and its lack of humor. These examples of printshop advertising posters fall into another category - graphic design excellence.

(My very rough translations)

Good print advertising and offset book printing.

Rough poster prints
The offset printing chosen by professionals. Offset papers and cartons.
Imitated but not equalled.

If your advertising needs are putting on the squeeze - we can help.

The paper problem - no specifications

Typically paper - the most used printing substrate - accounts for some 30-50 percent of the overall print project cost. And despite the fact that it is also often the most expensive component of the final presswork it's surprising that there are no published standards, specifications or trade customs in the paper industry.

The assignment of a particular grade to a quality category and the establishment of sales policies are made by each paper mill based on its own internal evaluation of its products relative to those of its competitors. 

That makes direct, objective, competitive comparisons between different papers virtually impossible. 


The color of paper is identified using adjectives like "cream","natural", "white", etc. rather than objective definitions such as the CIEL*a*b* coordinates that printers use. Again, there are no specifications or tolerances provided by mills as to the consistency of a specific paper color either through the stack, roll, or when the same brand is supplied by mills located in different regions.

The brightness of the sheet is one common measure of distinction. It is measured by comparing the amount of light reflected by the paper surface to the amount of the same light reflected by the surface of magnesium oxide established as the standard of 100%. A common term used in quoting the measure is “G.E. brightness,” although G.E. no longer manufactures the measuring instrument. "Brightness" is also not a measurement that printers or buyers can measure themselves. Even though variation is part of every manufacturing process, there are no defined tolerances for paper brightness.

There are no specifications or tolerances or even notification of optical brightener agent content. This has become a major issue as the mills have mostly switched from clay fillers to calcium carbonate. This problem has resulted in the fact that papers today, for the most part, no longer meet the ISO 12647 specification. Papers with optical brighteners are impossible to visually match between printing technologies which can cause severe disconnects between proof and presswork as well as greater color shifting as presswork and proof are viewed under different lighting conditions.

"Caliper" defines the thickness of paper, measured in thousandths of an inch, which can also be expressed as a point size - e.g. If the caliper of a paper measures .009 inches it is a "9 point" stock. As paper caliper varies, presswork color may also vary. But again there are no defined tolerances for paper caliper either through the stack, roll, or across the width or length of the sheet.
If the sheet metal used in car manufacturing was specified and toleranced with the same technical rigor as a sheet of paper is for print manufacturing - the cars would likely be undrivable.

Aurasma - Augmented reality that might replace QR codes?

After becoming very popular in Asia and Europe, QR codes are just beginning to gain popularity in North America (for more on QR codes click HERE). However a new technology that recognizes images captured by a smart phone or tablet device can do many of the things QR codes can do - without the QR code itself. In this report by the BBC note how the Aurasma technology brings printed materials to life.

A report from the BBC on the Aurasma technology, a 15 second ad precedes the 2 minute video.

A demonstration of Blippar augmented reality which also uses image recognition to bring interactivity to print.
Of course walking around holding out your smart phone as demonstrated in the video may not be a smart idea in some cities.

Things that make me go Grrrrrrrrrrr...

I don't know if this is a design issue, a labeling issue, a legal issue, or?
Here's an example of a label that makes me go Grrrrrrrrrrr:

A can of Campbell's soup (yum, yum):

Ah, it contains 540mL of soup:

Grrrrrrrrrrr! The ingredients are listed based on 250mL:

Why aren't the ingredients listed based on 540mL (the can contents) or even 270mL (half a can)?
For some reason most soups, not just Campell's, suffer the same ingredient measurement mismatch.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!

At least the label is printed using FM screening. :-)

The Wayback View – When I grow up I want to be a printer

I wonder how many of today's print shop owners began their careers as the result of presents discovered under the Christmas Tree or given as a reward for achieving yet another birthday.

Yes it's true...Popeye was not just a sailor but a printer as well!
Each kit came with rubber stamps and an ink pad.
The rubber stamps could be used to print in the appropriate cartoon image in the Popeye strip.

Even Pinocchio got into the printer's game.
A Colorforms toy from 1962.

If you were a very lucky boy - the ghost of Benjamin Franklin would be there in spirit as you printed out scores of cards and tickets.
Ben Franklin printer no. 24x, manufactured by Fulton Specialty Co., Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA.
As a printer you could expect the loving gaze of scores of womenfolk admiring your prowess on the press.

But as a printer
Even though you had all the pieces
Every job was a challenge of filling out the blanks.

Ahhh...the promise of fortunes made in printing:

U.S. Postal Service uses wrong art - printer gets the blame

Why is it that the printer is always blamed when there's an artwork mistake?

Recently the U.S. Postal Service released this new 44 cent stamp:
honoring Liberty Enlightening the World, better known as the Statue of Liberty. The U.S. Postal Service issued a press release about the new stamp stating: "The statue, located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, was designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi."

Unfortunately, that is not the statue featured on the stamp. Instead it is a half size replica located in front of he New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada.
Liberty lighting the way in Las Vegas.
The original on the left and the replica 2,600 miles away in Las Vegas.
The original press release (now updated) makes no mention of the statue shown on the stamp being the Las Vegas replica rather than the New York original.

Unfortunately Time magazine referred to the Post Office error in these words: "Even the Post Office didn't pick up on the printing error" and "perhaps the original message of the stamp has been lost in the misprint" (Click HERE for the full Time magazine story).

It seems that the printer always gets the blame when things go wrong.

Errol H. R. Etienne - April 28, 1941 - April 22, 2011

I first met Errol Etienne when he had a graphic design studio in Montréal, Québec. My wife was his "mechanical man" and prepared all his camera-ready artwork. He was a profound influence in my attitude towards the graphic arts as he epitomized the complete commercial artist excelling at design, illustration, photography, and typography.
A few pages from "Brown Things" a self promotion book written and illustrated by Errol and screen printed on handmade Japanese paper.
Étienne was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1941, but spent most of his childhood in Québec, Canada. At the age of 27, in 1968, he graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California.
The "Incredible Fuzzy Wonder Book" a small promotional book featuring various moustachioed celebrities including Errol and partner Jim Carpenter produced during his brief Toronto stay.
In the mid-seventies he moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he did business under the name of the "Frog and Bison" "Frog" being a reference to his years in Montréal, Quebec, and "Bison" for a former associate in Montana. At that time Errol also operated a studio/gallery, the "Frog and Swan" with artist/calligrapher Robin Arkell. Errol embodied no-compromise professionalism: "I don't let people make changes in my work because it's so personal. I know production and what the job needs, and the only thing that's important is the end product. How you get to that is the problem because the only standard is that it must be excellent. There is really is no excuse for a mediocre final product."

Errol's career veered off track in the early 1980s due to illness and it wasn’t until after a liver transplant in 1994 that he could return to his craft, but found the need to work differently in a different market. “When I came out there were computers and everything had changed for graphic designers.” So Errol gave up graphic design work and with his wife Jan became a vagabond and worked in a “mobile studio,” a GMC motorhome that took them across the country, painting, meeting with collectors and selling his work at private shows and small town markets.
"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly."