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BRIGHTNESS is the measurement
of how much white light a paper reflects, expressed as a percentage. No
paper reflects 100 percent of the light striking it, but some come close.
Premium coated and uncoated white papers and some laser papers are rated
as high as 97 percent. Paper for business forms falls somewhere in the
80s--about as low as the lowest rating for any printed product would be.
(At the opposite end of the brightness scale are items like brown paper
bags, which have a brightness rating of around 20.)
Brightness
affects readability: too little means low contrast and a dull appearance;
too much produces glare and eyestrain. Generally speaking, papers for
products like books and technical manuals are less bright than papers
for magazines and advertising brochures.
OPACITY
determines how visible images from the underside of the sheet will be
on the side being looked at. A paper should have enough opacity to prevent
unwanted images from showing through. Like brightness, opacity is expressed
as a percentage, and most printing papers fall within the 80 to 98 percent
range (although swatchbooks and price books usually don't present these
ratings--select with care).
Mills
sometimes add fillers and chemicals to certain papers to increase their
opacity. These papers then are marketed as "opaque" grades. Another way
to get better opacity is to specify a paper with a higher basis. However,
heavier paper costs more to buy and can add to the cost of binding and
postage.
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