Paper, one of the four ancient inventions, plays an extremely important role in people's daily lives. Ink, brush, paper, and inkstone, the four treasures of the study, have faded out of people's sight due to their usage habits. Nowadays, they can be seen in museums or among collectors. After all, in today's fast-paced life, the brush writing method is no longer mainstream. I can't help but wonder, in today's world where digital information is being promoted everywhere, will paper disappear with the development of the times?

There are many types and uses of paper, and it is difficult for us to write them clearly in just one article. Since this article is about the story between printers, it will only cover a few common types encountered in daily office and daily life. Below we will guide you one by one.

1. Copy paper

In daily printing, A4 sized photocopy paper is the most common. Its size is 210mm * 297mm. Of course, in addition to A4, the commonly used paper sizes for office printing include A3, B4, B5, and other sizes. Its thickness is generally around 60g/㎡ to 80g/㎡. It looks thin, but paper is actually composed of multiple layers. When printing text or images on it, different layers will play different roles, thereby achieving the text or image we see.

In papermaking, finished paper is processed from single or multiple layers of pulp through multiple processes such as bleaching, pressing, and drying. Pulp raw materials can be divided into two types: whole wood pulp and straw pulp. Of course, in practical use, the copying effect of wood pulp paper is better than that of straw pulp paper. Here, it is necessary to distinguish the difference between the terms printing paper and photocopy paper. The paper used for inkjet or laser printers for printing or copying is called copy paper, and printing paper is the type with holes on both sides and stacked one by one, usually used for needle printers.

Copy paper used for printers is different from writing paper. In order to avoid paper adhesion during printing output, it is necessary to perform anti-static treatment. The selection of laser printers is actually quite simple. It's not wrong to choose a high selling one directly on JD.com. Like the HP LaserJet Pro M104W black and white laser printer, the price is only around a thousand yuan. But facing the dazzling array of various brands of photocopy paper, what kind of photocopy paper has clearer text printing and more delicate image copying?

For printing paper, factors such as paper whiteness, smoothness, uniformity, stiffness, density, humidity, and paper cutting are important components that affect actual use. The higher the whiteness and glossiness, the better the printing quality. Of course, for text printing, it is important to avoid overly smooth paper, as the mirror reflection of smooth paper can make the eyes feel more fatigued during actual reading. In addition, paper that is damp or has a high moisture content can affect the quality of photocopying due to its reduced insulation performance. During the printing process, paper is prone to wrinkling and causing paper jams. Additionally, due to its high humidity, it is prone to ink immersion, resulting in shallow handwriting and other issues.

Some small and micro enterprises, in order to save paper costs, choose to purchase paper with low prices and various indicators that are not qualified. Little do they know that these unqualified printing papers can cause irreparable damage to the toner cartridges in laser printers. I think this approach is not worth the loss. The price of paper consumables itself is not very high, but consumables such as toner cartridges are quite expensive. Therefore, to save costs, do not use crooked ideas, but start from the right path.

When consumers choose photocopy paper, they need to pay attention to the following points: 1. The appearance is flat, delicate, and the paper is uniform. Paper does not necessarily look whiter, excessive whiteness can cause significant harm to the eyes. Therefore, a soft white is the best. 2. Touching the smoothness of the paper can greatly avoid paper jams in actual printing work with appropriate roughness. 3. The hardness of paper. The fillers in paper can have a significant impact on its hardness.

2. Photo paper

In addition to the commonly used A4 office paper, let's talk about the photo paper we often use to print photos. However, what should we pay attention to when it comes to photo paper? Although I am not a crazy photographer, I often capture moments of life. The photos stored in electronic devices are not satisfying enough, but they always have more emotions for the photos actually developed. So to achieve satisfactory photo printing quality, it's not just about choosing a user-friendly photo printer, you can also choose Canon's latest TS308 inkjet printer. You also need to choose a cheap and high-quality photo paper.

The first impression that photo paper gives people is smoothness. As a writer who always likes to get stuck in details, before writing this article, I thought about why photos are made so smooth. The images on photos are particularly prone to wear and tear, so why not make them rougher? After reviewing the information, I realized that I was wrong and added the same photo output on regular A4 paper and professional photo paper, but the actual quality is vastly different. So, to print high-quality photos, the photo paper still needs to be smooth enough.

The broad classification of photographic paper includes three types: traditional silver salt printing paper, inkjet printing paper, and printing paper. For inkjet printers, commonly used photo paper sizes are 4 * 6 and 3 * 5 inches. Generally speaking, photographic paper is composed of four to five different substrates. According to the actual usage effect, photo paper is divided into different levels such as ordinary photo paper, glossy photo paper, and glossy photo paper.

How to choose photo paper?

1. The whiteness, scratches, and smoothness of the photo paper. It is preferable for the photo paper to have no black spots, burrs, bumps, or potholes.

2. The flatness of the photo paper, and the placement of a single sheet of photo paper should not have any warping at the corners. If warping occurs, it can cause printer paper jams and affect print quality.

3. The flexibility, density, breathability and other indicators of photographic paper. These factors are also important factors that affect the quality of photos.

3. Pressure-sensitive paper

For our common express delivery orders, pressure-sensitive paper is used. The working principle is that the needle of the printer strikes the surface of the paper, forming text or patterns.

This type of paper plays an important role in printing various bills, invoices, etc., as it will produce marks when subjected to certain external forces on the upper and lower layers. The carbonless copy paper used for bills can function as copy paper without the need for wax coating. When multiple pages of carbonless copy paper are stacked together, multiple copies of the document can be copied directly by printing or writing with a pen. Not only is it convenient and clean, but it can also be made into perforated blank computer printing paper, achieving efficient and continuous printing replication.

4. Thermal paper

The receipt receipts we receive when shopping in supermarkets or dining in restaurants belong to the type of thermal paper. The principle of thermal paper is that when the paper is heated, colorless dye and color developer react chemically to produce color. Therefore, when the thermal paper is printed on a thermal printer, the graphics and text are displayed. Due to the variety of colorless dyes used, the color of the displayed handwriting varies, including blue, magenta, black, and so on. Not only is the cost low, but it also works efficiently.

In addition, nowadays express stickers are gradually shifting from three or four copies to quick and easy to use labels, using thermal paper of adhesive type. The waybill consists of two parts. The upper part can be removed and kept by the courier, while the lower part can be left for the user. This type of label paper uses face paper (printed content) and backing paper (Gracin release paper). In actual use, the upper part of the Grassin base paper is pasted on the packaging box, and the dough paper is pasted on the base paper. The surface of the base paper is coated with silicone oil, so the dough paper can be easily torn off. The lower part, on the other hand, uses another adhesive to prevent the surface from peeling off.