How thick is a standard piece of paper?
Since a ream of paper contains 500 sheets of paper , we divide 2 inches by 500. This will then give us a value of 0.004 inches (about 0.0102 cm), which is the thickness of a single piece of paper.
The paper weight required for a book is likely to be between 60-90gsm for traditional hardback and soft cover books whilst children's books will be noticeably higher with a GSM of around 120-300gsm, with toddler books generally being printed on thick card stocks.
The firmware assumes 0.1mm. And the piece of printer paper was used as pretty much everyone has it, and it's very often 0.1mm.
You can measure paper thickness using a caliper. A sheet of paper or paperboard is inserted between the caliper's jaws. The jaws are then tightened and the distance between them is measured. Digital calipers are capable of displaying the thickness of a single sheet of paper.
Well, a common simile used for thinness is a sheet of paper (i.e., “paper thin”). But how thin is that? A standard sheet of US writing paper has dimensions of 8.5 x 11 inches (about 22 x 28 cm) in width and height, and (for 20 pound paper) only about 0.004 inches (0.1 mm) in thickness.
Understanding Paper Thickness
90 – 120 GSM paper: The average weight of regular office paper or copy paper. 130 – 250 GSM paper: The weight most commonly used for promotional posters. 260 – 300 GSM paper: Thicker but still bendable card weight which works well for high-end brochures or magazines.
Rag paper contains 100% linen and/or cotton fibre and is therefore the highest quality and most expensive paper. Half-rag paper usually contains 50% rag fibre and 50% cellulose. There are also different grades of inexpensive paper made of 25% rag fibre and 75% cellulose.
It's important to make sure that your copier/printer can handle your desired paper thickness. Standard, desktop printers typically can't handle anything over 80# cover, while a multifunction copier with a bypass tray can usually handle 100+ pounds.
Paper Size | Inches | Millimeters |
---|---|---|
A2 | 16-1/2 x 23-3/8 in | 420 x 594 mm |
A3 | 11-3/4 x 16-1/2 in | 297 x 420 mm |
A4 | 8-1/4 x 11-3/4 in | 210 x 297 mm |
A5 | 5-7/8 x 8-1/4 in | 148 x 210 mm |
So why is A4 paper called A4? A4 is half an A3, or one quarter of A2, but more importantly, it's one sixteenth of A0. A0 has an area of one square metre (but it isn't a square), and every other paper size in the A series is based on A0.
What does A4 paper mean?
The common letter-sized paper used in Europe and in most locations outside of North America. At 8.3 x 11.7" (210x297mm), A4 paper is slightly narrower and a little longer than "A" size 8.5 x 11" paper (216x279mm).
As we mentioned in our previous post. Paper selection is the most important factor for packaging. And the thickness of the paper is key for selecting the correct paper for your packagings. The best way to measure the thickness of a paper is to take a micrometer and make a measurement.

We obtain the thickness of the solid by dividing its volume by its length and its width; that is, we divide 24 cm3 by 4 cm and 3 cm. In this example, the thickness of the solid is 2 cm.
1 sheet of paper is 4/1000 of an inch thick.
Mil is a US engineering term for 1/1000th of an inch (from French mille for one thousand). Thus, 9 mil paper is 0.009 inch or about 0.23 mm thick. Doesn't sound like much, but newspaper and typing paper run about 2.5-3.5 mils.
Photo papers are heavier and thicker than typical multipurpose papers.
card is 0.010 in (0.254 mm) thick (corresponding to a weight of about 250 g/m2), and 12 pt. is 0.012 in (0.3048 mm).
Weight (gsm)
Most printing paper has a gsm between 60 and 120. 80gsm is standard. Anything from 160gsm is considered card. GSM is a good guide to quality.
The most common paper weight today is 20 lb. One rule of thumb to follow is: The heavier the basic weight, the thicker the sheet.
80 gsm is ideal for forms, letters and handouts. Standard home/office printing paper thickness. 90 gsm is widely used as office paper. 90gsm is our lowest white paper thickness, commonly used for black and white printing.
What is thick paper called?
Cardstock: Cardstock printer paper is thicker than ordinary paper. Its thickness and durability mean it's often used to create paper menus, postcards and invitations. Cardstock can be coated or uncoated, depending on the project.
Japanese paper is going to be your highest-quality paper to pick from.
HP Bright White Printer Paper – Best Printer Paper Overall.
The thicker the paper stock is, the higher the weight is going to be. These weights can be between 20 to 140 pounds, depending on the type of material the paper's made from. A nice bond paper has weights between 20 and 80, while card stock, which is heavier, ranges between 50 and 140 pounds.
Not only can you print on cardstock with an inkjet printer, but you can achieve really great results. Many inkjet printers can print on thick card as are versatile enough to print photo lab quality photos and graphics.
Cardstock or Cover paper is thicker than normal writing paper but thinner than paperboard. Cardstock is typically distinguished by its weight.
Simply get a paint brush or foam brush and brush a coat of starch on your paper. After it has dried, flip it over and repeat the process. If you are using spray starch, just spray your paper, flip it over and repeat.
It's thick enough to draw on with pencil, but heavy ink or marker may bleed through. 90-100 gsm – This is the weight of most types of household printer paper. 120-140 gsm – The weight of your average promotional poster.
Use a ruler to measure the length of the paper from top to bottom. Line up the edge of the ruler so that it's flush with the bottom of the piece of paper. Look at where the top of the paper meets the ruler to get the measurement.
The most popular formats of the traditional sizes are the Letter (8.5 × 11 inches), Legal (8.5 × 14 inches) and Tabloid (11 × 17 inches) formats. You more than likely use these formats in your everyday life. Letter is the standard for business and academic documents.
Which is bigger A4 or A5?
While several mobile printers offer A5 printing facilities, many standard home printers offer A5 prints, as it is half the size of A4, allowing two A5 prints to be printed on one sheet of A4.
The A3 size print measures 29.7 x 42.0cm, 11.69 x 16.53 inches, if mounted 40.6 x 50.8cm, 15.98 x 20 inches. The A4 size print measures 21.0 x 29.7cm, 8.27 x 11.69 inches, if mounted 30.3 x 40.6cm, 11.93 x 15.98 inches.
A4 Paper Size vs Letter What's the Difference? The difference is minimal, but important: A4 is a little taller, while Letter is a little wider. Those of you from North America will be familiar with an entirely different set of paper formats to the rest of the world.
Paper Size | Dimensions |
---|---|
Legal Wide | 14 x 8.5 inches |
A3 | 297 x 420 mm |
A4 | 210 x 297 mm |
A4 Wide | 297 x 210 mm |
A4 paper is something we're all familiar with in Australia – we use it in our printers, our photocopiers -but what you may be surprised to learn is that A4 is actually part of an official metric standard. In fact, this was set in 1975 when it was based on a German standard that goes all the way back to 1922.
The ISO 216 standard, which includes the commonly used A4 size, is the international standard for paper size. It is used across the world except in North America and parts of Central and South America, where North American paper sizes such as "Letter" and "Legal" are used.
The larger the size of paper the smaller the number - A10 is the smallest and A0 size is the largest. ISO 216 specifies the international standard of paper sizes which is used in most countries worldwide apart from Mexico, Dominican Republic, USA and Canada.
A6 is half the size of A5 and quarter the size of A4. It is often used in card form rather than paper, and is the size of many: invitation cards.
Thus, a screw gauge is an instrument that can accurately measure the thickness of a paper.
For this example, we will say that the average thickness of common copy paper is 100 microns.
What unit is used to measure the thickness of a book?
millimeter (mm) – a metric unit commonly used to express the length of very small objects like keys, and thickness of small objects like notebook.
The thickness of an object is defined as the smallest of three descriptive measurements: height, width and length. If you're dealing with a rectangular prism, and if its volume and the area of one side are provided, you can use those two measurements to calculate its thickness.
There are about 170 sheets of paper per inch. In a tightly packed box you will have about 200 sheets of paper per inch.
If you're looking for a general estimate, you can use a ruler and a stack of paper to measure and calculate the thickness. Since this isn't very precise, try using a digital caliper on a single sheet instead. If a digital measurement isn't an option, use a manual micrometer or caliper for more accuracy.
80-sheet book block: 8 mm (0.32 inches) 100-sheet book block: 10 mm (0.40 inches)
It varies not only from one person to another but also from one strand to another. Your hair strands could measure anything between 0.04mm to 0.12mm depending on a wide variety of variables. For example, if you pluck a hair strand from the crown of your head and one from the fringes, you're likely to see a variation.
0.001 international inches (1 international inch is equal to 1,000 thou) 0.0254 mm, or 25.4 μm (1 millimetre is about 39.37 thou)
# Folds | Thickness (mm) |
---|---|
39 | 54,975,581,389 |
40 | 109,951,162,778 |
41 | 219,902,325,555 |
42 | 439,804,651,110 |
42 folds will get you to the Moon. 81 folds and your paper will be 127,786 light-years, almost as thick as the Andromeda Galaxy. At 103 folds, you will get outside of the observable Universe, which is estimated at 93 billion light-years in diameter.
Is 80lb or 100lb paper thicker?
The rule of thumb difference between 80 lb and 100 lb paper is that 80 lb paper feels thinner and lighter than 100 lb paper.
0.022'' thick – This is the thickness of a standard cereal box. It is thin and flimsy but cuts like butter. 0.032'' thick – This is about the thickness of a credit card. It has more rigidness to it than a cereal box but still is fairly bendable and will cut easily.
The scrapbook paper is usually 0.004 inches thick. Every kind of paper—be it scrapbook paper, tissue paper, or origami paper—has its thickness and weight that determine its quality.
With just over 100 folds, the thickness of the paper would be equal to 93 billion light-years. The reason for this is exponential growth.
In fact, if you had a sheet of paper, and folded it in half 50 times, how thick would it be? The answer is about 100 million kilometres, which is about two thirds of the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
So a standard piece of paper can indeed only be folded seven times. However, if we had an 8.5 x 11 in. sheet of paper that was a quarter as thick as normal, using this equation, we could fold it nine times. If you take a roll of toilet paper and roll it out into one long line you can fold it even more.
Forget your origami skills, folding an A4 piece of paper more than seven times is theoretically impossible. Challenge accepted! Trying to fold an ordinary sheet of A4 paper suggests that even eight times is impossible: the number of layers doubles each time, and the paper rapidly gets too thick and too small to fold.
A bill can be folded forward and back 4,000 times before it reaches the end of its lifespan.
It's commonly accepted that you cannot fold a single sheet of paper in half more than 7 times, no matter what paper finish, size, or basis weight you're using, for two main reasons: Every time you fold your sheet, you reduce your total surface area by half, so eventually you simply run out of surface area to fold.
Greeting Card Paper GSM
The weight range for greeting card printing is between 250 to 400 gsm paper. Usually, 350 gsm card stock is considered the best paper weight for printing greeting cards.
How many lbs is normal paper?
In general, fine business papers, printer papers and personal stationery range in weight from 20 lb. to 32 lb. The most common paper weight today is 20 lb. One rule of thumb to follow is: The heavier the basic weight, the thicker the sheet.
24lb bond paper is slightly thicker than 20lb bond, and it can fit in a standard printing machine. With 24lb bond paper, you will be able to create letters, stationery, and other printed materials for your business. Certain printed materials, such as leaflets and brochures, need to be printed on higher weight paper.