The Right Paper For The Right Job

How smooth is smooth? The measure that mills use to determine smoothness is called a sheffield. The lower the sheffield, the smoother the paper—and the smoother the paper, the sharper the image. Most black-and-white copiers target 160 sheffield, while laser and color copy paper are 50 to 100. Coated papers are even smoother than the sleekest laser and color copy papers, but there's a trade-off: These super-slick papers tend to cause jams in copiers. To get the same print quality without the performance issues of coated paper, manufacturers are now making paper that runs as low as 30 sheffield.