Bristol board

For other uses, seeBristol (disambiguation).

Watercolor and graphite on thin off-white gilt-edged Bristol board

French-made Bristol paper packaging

Bristol board(also referred to asBristol paperorsuper white paper) is anuncoated,machine-finishedpaperboard.

History

It is not named after the city ofBristolin the southwest ofEnglandbut rather afterFrederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol,a prolific art collector.

Sizes

Common sizes include22+1⁄2in ×28+1⁄2in (572 mm × 724 mm) and its bulk thickness is 0.006 inches (0.15 mm) or higherandA4, A3, A2 and A1.Bristol board may be rated by the number ofpliesit contains,basis weight,or, in Europe, by itsgrammageof 220 to 250 g/m².It is normally white, but is also made in different colours.

Applications

Bristol paper is used for printing documents,brochures,promotional materials andenvelopes.It is often used for water color painting. It is also used forpaperbackbook or catalog covers,file folders,tags, andtickets.Another use is for scale models; some students use this kind of paper for the walls in their scale models. One-ply Bristol is thin enough to be translucent, and two and three ply bristol are the most popular thicknesses.

Bristol board is commonly used fortechnical drawing,illustrationprojects,comic bookart, and other two-dimensional art forms. It provides two working surfaces, front and back. This quality separates it from illustration board, which has only a front working surface.

The surface texture is eitherplateorvellum.Platefinish is as smooth as glass,and is very good for pen and ink.Vellum(orkid) finish is a medium texture more appropriate to friction-based media, such as crayon, chalks, or charcoal. A third finish,engraversorwedding,may be used for formalengravedwedding invitations.