Chapter 2 Handling Paper

1.3 Selecting the Right Paper

Laser printing is a process involving laser light, electrostatic dis- charge, toner, and heat. In addition, as the paper passes through the printer it undergoes considerable sliding, bending, and twisting motions. A high-quality printing paper matching the print- er’s requirements withstands all these stresses, enabling the printer to turn out clean, crisp printed copies consistently.

Remember that all paper is not the same. Some of the factors to consider when selecting paper for the printer are as follows:

Condition of the Paper

Avoid using paper that is bent at the edges, curled, dirty, torn, embossed, or contaminated with lint, clay, or paper shreds.

Use of paper in these conditions can lead to illegible printing, misfeeding, and paper jams, and can shorten the life of the printer. In particular, avoid using paper with a surface coating or other surface treatment. The paper should have as smooth and even a surface as possible.

Composition

Do not use paper that has been coated or surface-treated and contains plastic or carbon. The heat of fusing can cause such paper to give off harmful fumes.

Bond paper should contain at least 80 % pulp. Not more than 20 % of the total paper content should consist of cotton or other fibers.

Paper Size

Cassettes and an MP tray are available for the paper sizes listed in the table below. The dimensional tolerances are ±0.7

mm(±0.0276 inches) for the length and width. The angle at the corners must be 90° ±0.2°.

MP tray

Size

Monarch

3-7/8 ⋅ 7-1/2 inches

Business

4-1/8 ⋅ 9-1/2 inches

 

 

Commercial 9

3-7/8 ⋅ 8-7/8 inches

 

 

Commercial 6-3/4

3-5/8 ⋅ 6-1/2 inches

 

 

International DL

11 ⋅ 22 cm

 

 

International C5

16.2 ⋅ 22.9 cm

 

 

ISO A6

105 ⋅ 148 mm

 

 

JIS B6

128 ⋅ 182 mm

 

 

International B5

17.6 ⋅ 25 cm

 

 

Executive

7-1/4 ⋅ 10-1/2 inches

 

 

International C4

229 ⋅ 324 mm

 

 

Oficio II

8-1/2 ⋅ 13 inches

 

 

Hagaki

100 ⋅ 148 mm

 

 

Oufuku Hagaki

148 ⋅ 200 mm

 

 

Youkei 2

114 ⋅ 162 mm

 

 

Youkei 4

105 ⋅ 235 mm

 

 

8K

273 ⋅ 394 mm

 

 

16K

197 ⋅ 273 mm

Table 2-2

Cassette or MP tray

Size

Ledger

11 ⋅ 17 inches

Legal

8-1/2 ⋅ 14 inches

 

 

Letter

8-1/2 ⋅ 11 inches

 

 

Statement

5-1/2 ⋅ 8-1/2 inches

 

 

Folio

210 ⋅ 330 mm

 

 

ISO A3

297 ⋅ 420 mm

 

 

ISO A4

210 ⋅ 297 mm

 

 

ISO A5

148 ⋅ 210 mm

 

 

JIS B4

257 ⋅ 364 mm

 

 

JIS B5

182 ⋅ 257 mm

Table 2-3

Paper with other sizes (custom sizes) can also be fed from the MP tray. The minimum size paper for manual feed is 88 ⋅ 148

mm(3-1/2 ⋅ 5-13/16 inches), fed lengthwise. The maximum size is 297 ⋅ 450 mm (11-11/16 ⋅ 17-3/4 inches).

Smoothness

The paper should have a smooth, uncoated surface. Paper with a rough or sandy surface can cause voids in the printed output. Paper that is too smooth, however, can cause multiple feeding and fogging problems. (Fogging is a gray background effect.)

Basis Weight

Basis weight is the weight of a standard quantity of paper. In the traditional system, the standard quantity is a ream consisting of 500 sheets measuring 17 ⋅ 22 inches each. In the metric system the standard quantity is 1 square meter.

Paper that is too light or too heavy can cause misfeeding, jams, and premature wear of the printer. Uneven paper weight can cause multiple feeds, print defects, poor toner fus- ing, blurring, and other print quality problems. The proper weight is 60 to 105 g/m2 for the paper cassette, and 60 to 200 g/m2 for the MP tray.

Thickness (Caliper)

Thick paper is referred to as high-caliper paper and thin paper as low-caliper paper. The paper used with the printer should be neither extremely thick nor extremely thin. If you are having problems with paper jams, multiple feeds, and faint printing, the paper you are using may be too thin. If you are having problems with paper jams and blurred printing, the paper may be too thick. The proper thickness is 0.086 to 0.110 mm (3.4 to 4.3 mils).

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