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Basis weight

The US way of describing paper weight in pounds. The number depends on the paper grade, so 80 lb cover is much heavier than 80 lb text.

Also called: lb paper, pound weight, bond weight

The grade changes the base size

Basis weight is the mass in pounds of 500 sheets at a paper grade’s basic uncut size. Bond uses 17 × 22 inch sheets; cover uses 20 × 26 inch sheets. Those sheets differ in area, so equal pound numbers do not mean equal paper weight.

For example, 20 lb bond works out to about 75 gsm: divide 20 pounds, converted to grams, by the area of 500 basic sheets in square meters. The finished Letter sheet is much smaller than the basic sheet used for this calculation.

Compare in GSM

GSM is grams per square meter and uses the same area for every grade. Keep the grade name with a pound label, and check the manufacturer’s GSM when comparing papers. Mass per area does not by itself specify thickness.

Where this comes from

Tools that use this

Everyday Measure · everydaymeasure.com/glossary/basis-weight/