A ream of paper is a package enclosed of 500 sheets of paper cut into the same size, with the same style and quality. Often times, consumers purchase paper in reams so that printers may work in continuous and big volumes. A ream of paper is also used as a unit of measurement in calculating the weight of paper, which is in reference to its density. The weight is usually written alongside the pound symbol (#). It is often found at the end cap of paper ream which becomes useful when customers are selecting paper.
Historically speaking, a ream of paper used to contain 480 sheets. Some even contained 516 sheets of paper to make up for potential wastages in printing companies. Finally, a ream of paper was reduced to exactly a standard of 500 sheets to reduce further confusion.
However, there are still “short reams’ available in the market today which contains 480 sheets. These are more common with specialty, unique or fine quality papers. Make sure to check the label if you are purchasing a short ream of paper of not. Bulk printing using short reams may cause unexpected shortage problems in the long run.
As mentioned, a ream of paper is used to measure paper density. A 20# means that a stack of 500 pieces of 17 x 22 inches sheets weigh 20 pounds or 9 kilograms. Some types of paper use different base sizes. In countries that make use of the metric system, they use one square meter as the basis size of a ream when determining weight regardless of the paper quality. Weight of papers may then vary as the weight of the paper is only determined after it has been cut.
Weights of papers are an important concern for some offices and of personal use as some papers will not work in certain printers. Nowadays, companies offer bases styles in a number of weights in order for them to choose the weight of the ream of paper they require.