Paper! Paper! Paper!

I use the same paper as tikhindi mentioned. It works well. As I mentioned yesterday, it is on the thick side. Nice to work with but albums get thick fast.

I'd like to point out that almost any self printed "acid-free" paper is probably better than the lower end pre-printed pages. I tested pages from Minkus New World Wide album and an older Harris United States Liberty album. Both tested acidic. I don't know if they use acid-free paper on their more complete albums.

My first two jobs were at copy/print shops. Only recently have I discovered just how much leftover paper I still have stashed around the house!

I have been using Strathmore Bright White Wove cotton paper for years as a backing for things in my paper/ephemera collection. I have yet to see any obvious negative effects.

If you decide to go with cotton based paper, look at the label to see what style the paper is made in. There is wove, which looks very uniform. Laid paper has lines almost like watermarks that can be very obvious. And linen looks... well... a lot like linen!

You know, with all this discussion of Harris Liberty paper coming up acidic, and the fact that there's no way that that a $39.00 Mystic Heirloom album has archival paper in it, I am really wishing that some of these album publishers would follow Bill Steiner's example and sell their supplements, and whole albums as downloadable PDFs you can print out on the paper of your choice.

If one has time than can use AlbumEasy program.
Make out your page temples and print Page.It get converted to PDF.
guess time consuming. But you can make much easily than Publisher.
I started making some for India Collection.

tikithindi

Has anyone tested the Mystic Heirloom album pages to see where it stands in terms of archival quality? I assume it is acid-free paper, as most papers commercially available today meet that standard. Archival quality, though, is another matter.

I have not tested it, but at that price point, I would assume its just acid free. I did buy a pack of Mystic blank pages. If someone has a way to test it, I would be happy to donate a few pages to the cause. Or if someone could tell me how to do the testing, I'll see what I can do.

I figure between acid-free paper and Scott mounts, does one really need any more protection?

I've just started mounting my growing collection of covers into an album (3 ring binder really). Wanted something heavier.
I found a 65lb white cardstock paper called Recollections (with a heart over the i, how sweet!) at Micheal's the craft and art supply store with stores in Canada and the US (sorry I know this doesn't help you international folks). The paper is nice and stiff and acid and lignin free. Inexpensive as well.
They also have acid and lignin free clear photo corners, just perfect for my project. The paper also goes through my printer just fine for adding information about the covers.

Yes, 65lb has a nice "permanent" feeling. I have recently noticed the color from a few of my hinged Norwegian definitives transferred to the facing page. It is not a really big deal since the facing page is blank, but I do wonder if it has anything to do with the paper or if this is typical for these stamps. I'm pretty sure the stamps were thoroughly dry when I put them in, and it doesn't appear to be centered around the area where the moistened hinge would be attached.

I have tried several different papers for printing stamp pages. I tried card stock (too thick), then for a long time I have been using cover stock but the surface seems to have a 'soft' finish so the print is not as crisp as I would like. I tried a package of Brilliant #1 from collectorssupplyhouse.com and really like it. It is thinner than the coverstock with a hard smooth finish that gives really sharp looking pages. I took a piece of this to a local print shop today to see if they could match it and they gave me Domtar index paper which feels the same and is half the price through them. Here is the label if it is any help to anyone looking for it.

I use the exact same with many countries in albums. As mentioned before it does use up binders quick but has a nice feel to it.

One thing I have noticed lately is that more and more collections that are being auctioned have these type pages instead of purchased albums. It is becoming very evident that people are opting to make their own albums than purchasing company printed ones.

Just getting to the point of printing up some of my own album sheets as well. I messed with a few programs but seems for me that Microsoft Powerpoint works pretty good. The paper I used was 110lb card stock only because I found a fairly cheep one time source. It barley runs through my printer but on a thickness scale it may be overkill. And I agree that it might fill a binder fast. Recently I picked up some 28lb HP Paper for a steal price of $2.00 a ream. Seems to be thick enough where I don't have to worry about seeing whats printed on the reverse side. And it runs great through the printer but I would not probably go any thinner than that for an album. Of course it says it is safe. But the idea of going through a print shop to get blank paper intrigues me. I should try it next time I am looking for paper.

This is the stuff I settled on:

http://www.southworth.com/product/?group=51&ID=18

Southworth 100% Cotton White Business Paper 32 lb.

They have it at my local Staples. A little pricey at $30.00 for a box of 250 sheets at Staples. I'm trying to track down an online source that might be cheaper.

I also use http://www.stampalbums.com/, the Bill Steiner's PDF pages to print out "Deep Blue", my name for the classical world wide 1840-1940 era album.

I initially tried Staples 67 lb cover stock, but found it too stiff and bulky.

I now use Wausau 70 lb Exact "Cream", which has the look and feel of the Scott Specialty album paper. And it is only $12 for 500 sheets.


"Deep Blue" album using Bill Steiner's PDF pages and 70 lb Wausau paper

Of course it is "acid free", as most decent paper is today. I print out a lot of sheets as this is a WW album, and I'm not convinced I really need the more expensive "archival" paper.

I see pages like that and I wonder if I made a mistake going with black mounts instead of clear...

If we are talking about archival quality we might as well go this far. Does anybody know that the ink that comes out of our printers is acid free...