Paper GSM Guide: Which Weight Should You Print On?

GSM stands for grams per square meter — the higher the number, the thicker and heavier the sheet. Standard office paper sits around 75-80 GSM; anything above 100 GSM starts to feel closer to cardstock.

For everyday notes and draft assignments, 65 GSM Eco is the most economical choice and perfectly readable for personal reference. It's thin enough that show-through can be visible with dense text on both sides, so it's best paired with single-sided printing if that matters to you.

75 GSM Standard is the safest default for anything you're submitting — assignments, project reports, coaching notes. It's opaque enough to avoid bleed-through even with duplex printing and color diagrams, and it's what most university submission guidelines implicitly assume when they don't specify a weight.

85 GSM Plus adds a noticeably more premium feel, useful for cover pages or documents you want to visually stand out, like a portfolio or a report going to an external reviewer.

100 GSM Premium is thesis-grade — the standard weight for final dissertation and thesis submissions, especially when paired with hard binding. If your university specifies a minimum weight for the final copy, it's almost always in this range.