Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper or super white paper) is an uncoated, machine-finished

paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 Inch#Equivalents, points) than paper and has certain superior ...

History

It is not named after the city of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in the southwest of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

but rather after

Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, (1 August 1730 – 8 July 1803), was an 18th-century Church of England, Anglican prelate. Elected Bishop of Cloyne in 1767 and Translation (ecclesiastical), translated to the see of Derry in 1 ...

, a prolific art collector.

Sizes

Common sizes include and its bulk thickness is or higher and A4, A3, A2 and A1.Goldline pads included in product listings
/ref> Bristol board may be rated by the number of plies it contains,

basis weight Grammage and basis weight, in the pulp and paper industry, are the area density of a paper product, that is, its mass per unit of area. Two ways of expressing the area density of a paper product are commonly used: * Expressed in grams (g) per ...

, or, in Europe, by its

grammage Grammage and basis weight, in the pulp and paper industry, are the area density of a paper product, that is, its mass per unit of area. Two ways of expressing the area density of a paper product are commonly used: * Expressed in grams (g) per s ...

of 220 to 250 g/m². It is normally white, but is also made in different colours.

Applications

Bristol paper is used for printing documents,

brochures A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...

, promotional materials and

envelopes An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sho ...

. It is often used for water color painting. It is also used for

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

book or catalog covers, file folders, tags, and

tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery, Lottery ticket * Parking violation, Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Ticket system, Toll ticket, a slip of paper use ...

. Another use is for scale models; some students use this kind of paper for the walls in their scale models. One-ply Bristol is thin enough to be translucent, and two and three ply bristol are the most popular thicknesses. Bristol board is commonly used for

technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and discipline of composing drawings that visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essential for communicating ideas in industry and engineering. ...

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

projects,

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

art, and other two-dimensional art forms. It provides two working surfaces, front and back. This quality separates it from illustration board, which has only a front working surface. The surface texture is either plate or vellum. ''Plate'' finish is as smooth as glass, and is very good for pen and ink. ''Vellum'' (or ''kid'') finish is a medium texture more appropriate to friction-based media, such as crayon, chalks, or charcoal. A third finish, ''engravers'' or ''wedding'', may be used for formal

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an inta ...

wedding invitations.

References

Visual arts materials Paper {{art-stub