Paper Comparison - A little bit about paper...

Today I am going to start a mini series on Paper Comparisons.  This all started a couple months ago when a few people and I were talking about papers we use for making cards and such.  Since that chat I have gotten many e-mails asking about cardstock for stamping so I figured it was a good time to experiment a bit.

I did some digging around to answer 2 of the most asked questions...

What does the pounds mean at the end of the cardstock - ex: 80lbs., 110lbs, etc.

The poundage found on various papers has to do with how thick/heavy a predetermined stack of that type of paper.  This gets a bit confusing because different types of papers are weighted differently.  Text weight papers are weighted differently than index or cardstocks so the pound numbers don't really cross over.  For example 80# Text papers and 80# cardstock have the same poundage designation but the cardstock is almost twice as thick as the text paper.  It's like comparing apples to oranges.

You can use this poundage though when choosing various papers - just remember the higher the pounds the heavier the paper is per sheet.

Once I got to digging around I found this really cool chart which kind of helps put the various weights and types of paper into better perspective.

Paper Weight Comparison Chart (lightest to heaviest)

(Source: Chansen Printing)

#'s	gsm	Paper Stock
16lb	60.2 g/m2	Bond/Writing/Ledger
40lb	60.2 g/m2	Book/Text/Offset
20lb	75.2 g/m2	Bond/Writing/Ledger
50lb	75.2 g/m2	Book/Text/Offset
24lb	90.3 g/m2	Bond/Writing/Ledger
60lb	90.3 g/m2	Book/Text/Offset
80lb	104 g/m2	Book/Text/Offset
28lb	105.4 g/m2	Bond/Writing/Ledger
70lb	105.4 g/m2	Book/Text/Offset
40lb	109.1 g/m2	Cover
50lb	135.5 g/m2	Cover
60lb	161.8 g/m2	Cover
100lb	161.8 g/m2	Tag
90lb	161.8 g/m2	Index
65lb	176.8 g/m2	Cover
110lb	199.4 g/m2	Index
80lb	218.2 g/m2	Cover
90lb	244.6 g/m2	Cover
140lb	252.1 g/m2	Index
100lb	270.9 g/m2	Cover
170lb	308.5 g/m2	Index
220lb	385.1 g/m2	Index

What is the difference between Index and Cover/Cardstock?

Index stock is heavier than text but not as heavy as cover/cardstock.  But that's not to say that it's not as good, it's just made differently.  

What type of paper do I use?

Usually Georgia Pacific 110lb (I think it's Index but it says cardstock on the paper).  It's inexpensive, good for all round use and I can buy it locally ~ either at Wal-Mart or a couple different office stores.