What Is The Difference Between 24 lb and 60 lb Paper?

Last updated on July 16th, 2021 at 01:49 pm

Beyond slight subtleties, there is no difference between 24 lb paper and 60 lb paper. They’re the same thickness, same texture, and same weight. Either paper type can be used for the same thing and interchangeable when you order printing.

They’re two different names and numbers for the same sheet of paper. Both 24 lb and 60 lb paper are very popular as office copy paper. It is the second most popular color copies and black and white copies paper behind 20 lb bond (which is cheaper).

Why the different numbers and names if they’re the same paper?

Here’s the long answer: 24 lb and 60 lb paper are called different things because the paper producers use two different manufacturing techniques to make them. Technically, their full names are: 24 lb bond and 60 lb uncoated text.

For all intents and purposes, you (the end user) will use them exactly the same; the prints look the same. However, they’re still technically different and have very subtle differences that you wouldn’t notice (unless pointed out).

Bond paper is manufactured exclusively to be uncoated sheets. While text weight paper is manufactured to be uncoated or coated. You will never find a glossy or a matte “bond” sheet. However, the uncoated text shares a lot of the same manufacturing processes as the matte and glossy “text” sheets.

What’s the significance of the numbers in 24 lb and 60 lb paper?

Just to reiterate: yes, a thousand sheets of 24 lb bond and a thousand sheets 60 lb uncoated text would weigh the same amount. But you need to translate the numbers (24 lb to 60 lb) whenever you order the one type of paper or the other.

This is because of the idea of basis weights. The reason why they have different numbers is that bond paper and text paper are measured using different stacks of paper.

To get “24 lb bond”, they measure 500 sheets of 17×22” bond. To get “60 lb uncoated text”, they measure 500 sheets of the larger 25×38” uncoated text. Since the stack used to measure text weight paper is larger, of course its number is higher!

When to order 60 lb paper?

Printivity offers 60 lb uncoated text for almost all of their products. Choose 60 lb uncoated text when you need to keep the cost low but have a thicker paper type than 50 lb uncoated text. It is the perfect paper type for manuals, journals, or other booklet printing that need to be written on, or for brochures to pass out at your trade show.

Call Printivity’s customer service department at 1-877-649-5463 to find out if 60 lb uncoated text is the right choice for your next project!