PAPER CALCULATOR
Pricing
Convert standard price types.

Confused by paper pricing? Our Pricing Calculator lets you easily determine convert standard price types. Simply fill in your individual data below, then click "Calculate".

Note: specify all dimensions in inches (using decimal fractions) and weight in pounds.

Input Variables
Select a paper type and enter the M Weight:
Paper Type:
M Weight:   (in lbs)
Next, enter a value for one pricing method:
Price per CWT:
Price per MSF:
Price per MSH:

More Information

Terms & Definitions

$ / CWT:
Price per hundredweight (100 lbs)
$ / MSH:
Price per 1,000 sheets (2 reams) of paper
$ / MSF:
Price per 1,000 ft² of paper
M Weight:
The weight of 1,000 sheets (2 reams) of paper
Basis Size:
The standard sheet size from which the basis weight of a given grade of paper is determined.
Basis Area:
the total square footage for a ream of paper cut to the Basis Size for the paper type


Example

1) Find the price per MSF for Book paper with an M Weight of 70 and price of $84 ⁄ CWT.
2) Find the price per MSH for Cover paper with an M Weight of 160 and price of $67 ⁄ CWT.

Formula - Convert $ ⁄ CWT to $ ⁄ MSH:
($ ⁄ CWT) × (M Weight) = $ ⁄ MSH
100    


Formula - Convert $ ⁄ CWT to $ ⁄ MSF:
($ ⁄ CWT) × (M Weight) × 5 = $ ⁄ MSF
(Basis Area)    

To determine Price per thousand square inches ($ ⁄ MSI), divide the $ ⁄ MSF value by 144)



Formula - Convert $ ⁄ MSH to $ ⁄ CWT:
($ ⁄ MSH) × 100 = $ ⁄ CWT
(M Weight)    


Formula - Convert $ ⁄ MSF to $ ⁄ CWT:
($ ⁄ MSF) × 5 = $ ⁄ CWT
(M Weight) × (Basis Area)    


Equations:

Example 1: $ ⁄ MSF for Book paper, M Weight = 70, Price = $ ⁄ CWT = $84:

($84) × (70) × 5 = $8.91 ⁄ MSF
(3,299)    


Example 2: $ ⁄ MSH for Cover paper, M Weight = 160, Price = $67 ⁄ CWT:

($67) × (160) = $107.20 ⁄ MSH
100    
Basis Sizes and Areas
Paper Type Basis Size Basis Area¹
Book / Offset25" x 38"3,299 ft²
Cover20" x 26"1,806 ft²
Bond17" x 22"1,299 ft²
Tag / Newsprint24" x 36"3,000 ft²
Bristol22.5" x 28.5"2,227 ft²
Index25.5" x 30.5"2,701 ft²

¹Note: the Basis Area is the total square footage for a ream of paper cut to the Basis Size for the paper type.





Fun Facts

What is "CWT"?¹

The hundredweight or centum weight (abbreviated CWT) is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound (lb). The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:

The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which is equal to 50.802345 kg. This is the definition used in the imperial system The short hundredweight is defined as 100 lb, which is equal to 45.359237 kg. This is the definition used in the US customary system. This is also the usual hundredweight in Canada. The short hundredweight is also called a cental (plural: centum), especially in places which normally use the long hundredweight.

Under both conventions, there are twenty hundredweight in a ton, the long ton being 2,240 lb and the short ton being 2,000 lb.

The long and short hundredweight are both descended from the French avoirdupois weight system, which became established in England in Late Medieval times. British custom came to widely use the stone weight, which is 14 pounds, and wished for the hundredweight to be a whole number of stones (and 100 is not a multiple of 14). The stone was not one of the avoirdupois units in Medieval France, and never became customary in the British American colonies or the USA. In 1824 in the UK, new weights and measures legislation made it illegal for merchants to use the word hundredweight in the sense of a hundred pounds - a merchant could be sued for fraud for doing so. In 1879, the hundred pound weight was re-legalized for trade in the UK under the name "cental", in response to legislative pressure from UK merchants who were importing corn and tobacco from the USA.

¹Source: Wikipedia