Ten years ago it was easy to choose the paper for your printer because there weren’t all that many choices. Today there are plenty of choices, which can make it a bit confusing for those who are new to buying or just aren’t sure what will achieve the best result.
Choosing the Right Size
When buying printing paper you need to think about the size that you are going to use most often. If you buy bulk printer paper you want to choose the size that you use most often. For most people this is 8.5” by 11”, but if you are buying paper for legal use you might find that you have to purchase the legal size paper to fulfill your needs. Generally speaking, if you are printing out papers and non-legal documents you’ll be dealing with the standard size mentioned above. If you are unsure, take a ruler and measure the paper that you currently work with. Knowing what size printer paper you need to work with is the first step in choosing the right printer paper for all of your needs.
Choosing Paper for Every Day Use
When you begin shopping for bulk printer paper you will soon find that they come in different weights. If you are not familiar with the terms used in paper goods you might think this is how many pounds of paper you are getting, but that is not what the weight indicates. In paper when the weight is mentioned it is related to how thick each sheet of paper is. If you are using the printer for things that don’t necessarily have to be presented in the most professional or high quality way, such as drafts of items, things that will end up in a filing cabinet or business memos you can go with a 20 pound paper. This is the standard weight of paper that is a multi-purpose paper.
Choosing Paper for Special Occasion Use
If you need a bit nicer paper for something such as a resume or a document that you will be sending as a representation of yourself or your company or something of this nature you will want to choose a heavier weight paper. You can start with a weight that is in the range of 24 pounds but you can go all the way up to 40 pound paper if there is a need. If you’ll be sending out invitations you’ll want to start around 40 as this is more like card stock. Shop around a bit and feel the different weight papers to see what you like. When you know what you like, you can buy bulk printer paper in the weights that you like and will use the most.
Brands: Important or Not?
When you first get your printer, you may start off with a sample of the printer paper that is made my the manufacturer of your printer. You may assume that this is the paper that you need to use, but you should know that all paper is essentially the same. As long as you know the color and the weight of the paper you’ll find that buying paper doesn’t have to be limited to a specific brand.
After establishing your specific preferences and needs, you can buy just about any brand of paper and be satisfied with it. When you pay for a specific brand you are usually going to pay more than you have to because you are paying for the name. When purchasing paper, especially when you are purchasing bulk paper printer, you just need to check and double check the color and the weight of the paper. Brand will become less and less important to you the more experience you have buying.
Saving Money on Printing Paper
If you always, or almost always, use the same weight and color of printing paper you would be well advised to buy bulk printing paper. The reason for this is that like anything else, when you buy in large quantities, you can save a lot of money. Printing paper is by no means cheap, so you should try to save where you can. Buying in bulk may mean buying 10 packages of paper instead of just one or it could mean buying several boxes of paper at a time. Regardless, when you buy in bulk you are going to save.
Of course, it won’t make sense to buy bulk printer paper that you don’t need, so you need to be sure when you are shopping for bulk deals that you are shopping for the right weight, color, and size. In some instances you will need to order quite a bit of paper, but you will use it eventually, making the big purchase more than worth your while.
You can buy bulk printer paper in a lot of different places. If you visit your local office supply shop you will definitely find that they have all of the bulk paper that you could need. Some office supply shops will have limited number of weights and colors offered in bulk, but it is worth checking out how much you can get. If they do not have what you need on hand, they will usually be able to order the bulk paper for you and have it in the store in just a few days.
You can also order bulk printer paper online. When shopping online you can find some great deals, but before ordering be sure to check what your shipping costs may be. Many online dealers have great shipping rates, but if you are not careful your good deal will turn into an awful deal because shipping for big boxes of paper can get quite expensive very quickly. Check out online sites like Staples® (http://www.staples.com) where office supplies are sold, and Office Max® (http://www.officemax.com) where bulk printing paper can be purchased.
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