Have you ever walked into an office supply store and wondered about the incredible variety of paper available? There’s 36 x 500 bond paper, engineering bond paper, inkjet plotter paper rolls, vinyl paper rolls. What does it all mean?

Plotter Paper

Plotter paper is used for plotter machines, which print vector graphics. The first of these was invented in 1952, and they are primarily used by architects and building designers. There’s so much of this paper around because there’s such a need for it. Today’s engineering offices use an average of 3,500 square feet of printed paper every month.
Plotter paper rolls are described with numbers that indicate their width in inches. This means that 36 x 500 bond paper, for example, is 36 inches wide. This is a very common size for plotter papers, though many others are available.

What Does the “Bond” in 36 x 500 Bond Paper Mean?

Bond paper is just a very high quality of bond paper. It’s particularly useful for copying and printing because it is so strong and rigid. Bond paper is typically used for plotter paper, but also for stationary and letterheads, or anything else that needs to showcase the quality and be reasonably durable.

How Do You Choose the Right Kind of 36 x 500 Bond Paper or Other Plotter Paper?

It depends upon the application it’s being used for. Something labeled 36 x 500 bond paper is usually made of vellum if not otherwise specified, and can be used for inkjet printing. Translucent bond paper is normally used for printing sample blueprints, as it costs less. Glossy plotter paper is often chosen for presentations, as it has high contrast and the lines printed on it look sharp. Glossy paper is best for laster jet printing and pen plotters, but doesn’t look as well when inkjet printers are used.

What is Paper Brightness?

For normal use, all white paper can seem the same. But that roll of 36 x 500 bond paper will be labeled with a specific brightness on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 the brightest. The higher the number, the more the paper reflects blue light and appears bright to the human eye. Most Photo paper, for example, has a brightness of around 90, while bond paper is typically somewhere in the 80s. The brightness of a paper greatly affects the way images and colors will appear on it.

Paper is crucial to everything we do. We couldn’t get along without it! The next time you an engineering paper roll, you’ll know a bit more about what it all those terms mean!