Plume145
February 16th, 2015, 01:25 PM
Hi all! I'm looking for paper that's fountain pen friendly, but also printable in a bog-standard home inkjet. The idea is to have a staple paper that I can reach for without thinking about suitability - eg to make notes on a printed document. Right now I have a lot of specialized paper that's great for what it does, but sucks at everything else, and it would be nice to supplement that with a jack-of-all-trades :-) Can you guys recommend something please?
Here's what I need:
a) A4 (or Letter, failing that)
b) great with FPs: smooth (don't care how long it takes to dry) and heavy-ish - at least 80gsm, around 90-100 is better.
c) inkjet printable (doesn't have to be flawless printing, this is where I compromise, not on FP-friendliness)
d) white (so I can use it for ink reviews) Not TOO blinding, if possible, but obviously not ivory or cream either.
e) headache-free logistics: cheap enough and easy enough to come by that I'm not second-guessing each and every sheet (you know: 'are these meeting notes/to-dos/writing ideas worthy of this precious sheet of [insert expensive or hard-to-find paper]?')
This is what e) means for me:
- easy to come by = I can get it online. Local offerings where I am are unreliable: choice is limited, ever-changing, and subject to frequent shortages. I'm not in North America though, so the store has to ship to the EU without being begged or charging eye-watering sums for postage (Goulet-style). Note: if they're newbies at posting overseas, I don't mind holding their hand the first few times! I've been doing this since 2008 for vendors from all over the world, with items ranging from handmade goods to yard-sale types to business sellers, so I'm used to it :-)
- cheap is a bit more relative because I'm always having to factor in the cost of shipping. But as a starting point, let's stay under $10/100 sheets. However, feel free to suggest as much as twice that - depending on how and what they charge for shipping and what else they stock that I could buy, a 100-pack priced at $15 before shipping could well end up costing less overall than one priced $5 :-)
EXAMPLE: I know many FP people love papers they can get at Staples, but that's out because they don't ship (I know, boo hiss). The fabled HP paper won't work because it's for lasers, not inkjets. Tomoe River may be printable, but it's far too thin. Etc.
Any ideas? (Virtual cookies to be had! Or pictures of kittehs)
Here's what I need:
a) A4 (or Letter, failing that)
b) great with FPs: smooth (don't care how long it takes to dry) and heavy-ish - at least 80gsm, around 90-100 is better.
c) inkjet printable (doesn't have to be flawless printing, this is where I compromise, not on FP-friendliness)
d) white (so I can use it for ink reviews) Not TOO blinding, if possible, but obviously not ivory or cream either.
e) headache-free logistics: cheap enough and easy enough to come by that I'm not second-guessing each and every sheet (you know: 'are these meeting notes/to-dos/writing ideas worthy of this precious sheet of [insert expensive or hard-to-find paper]?')
This is what e) means for me:
- easy to come by = I can get it online. Local offerings where I am are unreliable: choice is limited, ever-changing, and subject to frequent shortages. I'm not in North America though, so the store has to ship to the EU without being begged or charging eye-watering sums for postage (Goulet-style). Note: if they're newbies at posting overseas, I don't mind holding their hand the first few times! I've been doing this since 2008 for vendors from all over the world, with items ranging from handmade goods to yard-sale types to business sellers, so I'm used to it :-)
- cheap is a bit more relative because I'm always having to factor in the cost of shipping. But as a starting point, let's stay under $10/100 sheets. However, feel free to suggest as much as twice that - depending on how and what they charge for shipping and what else they stock that I could buy, a 100-pack priced at $15 before shipping could well end up costing less overall than one priced $5 :-)
EXAMPLE: I know many FP people love papers they can get at Staples, but that's out because they don't ship (I know, boo hiss). The fabled HP paper won't work because it's for lasers, not inkjets. Tomoe River may be printable, but it's far too thin. Etc.
Any ideas? (Virtual cookies to be had! Or pictures of kittehs)