Paper Weight Conversion Chart – Not Just for Books.
The paper weight conversion chart below is available for anyone who needs to know the equivalency of GSM to the stock’s Basis Weight, or the other way around.
Unlike other articles on Star Print Brokers that offer paper weight with the self-publisher in mind, we often have questions from others. Namely: graphic designers, office workers, and even these working in paper stores and all kinds of businesses that have a need to understand paper weight.
So this is for you! Please bookmark this page and visit often!
Here are a few basics
Basis Weight is used in the US. The weight is in pounds (#) of a ream of paper, which is 500 sheets. The paper stock can be different types, and different weights. But, the weight is based on a ream.
Metric System is standard in Asia and Europe. It uses grammage which is the weight of one square meter of paper. Grammage measures by Grams per Square Meter (GSM.)
The grades of Paper have different purposes
The paper grades you will find on the paper weight conversion chart are as follows: Book, Bond, Cover, Index, Tag, and Bristol. Lightweight papers such as onionskin and Bible papers are other grades of papers not listed here. There are also other papers in common use for newspapers and magazines. This list does not include everything!
The Paper Weight Conversion Chart of Equivalent Weights
First of all, a ream equals of 500 sheets of stock. The USA basis weight measures in pounds (#) is in bold. The Asia and European grammage (gsm) equivalent on this paper weight conversion chart is in bold and red.
We have two other articles that you might like to bookmark
In conclusion, if you cannot find what you are looking for on the chart, check out our other two articles. We provide a lot of information, but please remember that our business in printing book in Asia, and we are a USA company in Bellevue, Washington.