A book paper (or publishing paper) is a
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
that is designed specifically for the
publication
To publish is to make content available to the general public.[Berne Convention, articl ...](_blank)
of printed
book
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
s.
Traditionally, book papers are off-white or low-white papers (easier to read), are opaque to minimise the show-through of text from one side of the page to the other, and are (usually) made to tighter
caliper or thickness specifications, particularly for case-bound books. Typically, books papers are light-weight papers 60 to 90 g/m
2 and often specified by their caliper/substance ratios (volume basis). For example, a bulky 80 g/m
2 paper may have a caliper of 120 micrometres (0.12 mm) which would be Volume 15 (120×10/80), whereas a low bulk 80 g/m
2 may have a caliper of 88 micrometres, giving a volume 11. This volume basis then allows the calculation of a book's PPI (printed pages per inch), which is an important factor for the design of
book jackets and the
binding of the finished book.
Different paper qualities can be used as book paper depending on the type of book.
Machine-finished coated papers,
woodfree uncoated papers,
coated fine papers, and
special fine papers are common paper grades.
Standard page sizes for book paper can vary depending on the book's genre (ex: sci-fi, horror,) and target audience (ex: children, teens, adults).
References
Paper
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