US to UK & International Paper Weights

Having given an explanation of paper weights used internationally (ISO 536) and in the US this page covers conversions between weights and stock types used in the US and the weights used internationally. Below are tables for each stock type covering the commonly found weights within each stock type and its grammage equivalent.

Bond Stock Paper - gsm Conversions

Basis Weight Grammage
13lb 49gsm
16lb 61gsm
20lb 75gsm
24lb 90gsm
28lb 105gsm
32lb 120gsm
36lb 135gsm
40lb 151gsm

Standard office paper in the USA is 20lb Bond Letter Size, which is equivalent to 75gsm paper. This makes it very similar to the 80gsm A4 paper that is most common in the UK and the rest of Europe.

24lb and 28lb Bond stock is very similar to the 90gsm and 110gsm paper often used by lawyers and accountants in the UK for formal correspondance.

Cover Stock - gsm Equivalents

Basis Weight Grammage
50lb 135gsm
60lb 163gsm
65lb 176gsm
80lb 216gsm
90lb 243gsm
100lb 271gsm
110lb 298gsm
130lb 352gsm
160lb 433gsm

Cover stock is also known as Card stock and covers light card at the 50lb and 60lb end of the scale through to extremely heavyweight card at the 160lb end.

Index Stock - gsm Conversions

Basis Weight Grammage
90lb 163gsm
110lb 203gsm
140lb 252gsm
170lb 328gsm
220lb 398gsm

Newsprint Stock - gsm Conversions

Basis Weight Grammage
22lb 36gsm
28lb 46gsm
30lb 49gsm
32lb 52gsm
34lb 55gsm
35lb 57gsm

Note how 22lb Newsprint stock is a considerably lighter grade of paper than 20lb Bond, this is due to the uncut sheet size for Newsprint being significantly larger than that of Bond.

Book Stock - gsm Conversions

Basis Weight Grammage
30lb 44gsm
40lb 59gsm
45lb 67gsm
50lb 74gsm
60lb 89gsm
70lb 104gsm
80lb 118gsm
90lb 133gsm
100lb 148gsm
120lb 178gsm