Recycled paper is good because it’s made of reused materials, which prevents sending materials to landfill.

But you should have in mind that recycled fibres, since they have already been used and have gone through multiple industrial processing, are weaker than virgin fibres. This means that the paper obtained with recycled fibres won’t perform as well as a virgin paper, as well as require new fibres to be continuously be added to the process.

And you can deduce that fibres can’t be recycled forever.
The older they get, the less they perform, and in order to obtain a high performance paper, the more virgin fibres you need to add to the process to keep balance. Recycled fibres should be used in less demanding papers, like packaging and tissue for example.

The major difference between copiers and laser printers is the way the image information is transmitted. Laser printers transmission happens through a laser beam that passes the information directly to a receptor. Copiers work through a set of lights and lenses that adjust during the process in order to pass the right information to the printing drum. Simply put, copiers scan in order to print, whereas laser printers receive the input in digital form. When we use the word printer, we also mean copier. Nowadays, most people print rather than copy.

“...COPIERS SCAN IN ORDER TO PRINT, WHEREAS LASER PRINTERS RECEIVE THE INPUT IN DIGITAL FORM."

A paper can jam if is not rigid enough (if it’s “floppy”): compare it with Navigator paper by placing both over the edge of a table to see which one is the floppiest, and therefore more likely to jam.

if a paper has been out of its wrap for a long time, it will have absorbed humidity from the atmosphere: when it is printed, the water will evaporate more from the hotter side, which will cause it to curl and jam. This is especially the case on a Monday morning, when paper has been in a cold, damp environment and is then passed through a hot printer without having a chance to warm up. If a printer has used rough, low quality paper in the past, it will cause the pick-up rollers to be worn out, meaning that any good and smooth paper like Navigator may have feeding issues.

To get around this, either use a cotton bud to clean the rollers or have the printer serviced by a professional technician.

Grammage or grammes per square metre is the weight of a sheet of paper. Whilst it is the normal way paper is described, printers and copiers cannot measure it: what matters to them is the thickness of a sheet (measured in microns). a good quality sheet can be thicker but have the same weight as a lower quality sheet, leading to the situation where a 70g.m^-2 sheet can be thicker than an 80g.m^-2 one.

One good way of checking thickness is to compare two reams of paper side by side, and see which one is higher: that is the thicker one. It may happen that a printer that cannot cope with a very flimsy 80g.m^-2 sheet will quite happily print a 70g.m^-2 one. Moreover, there are ecological benefits to using lower grammage papers: lower use of raw materials (10/80 = a saving of 12.5% when 70g.m^-2 and 80g.m^-2 are compared) and a reduction in waste generated.

Well, depends on what your purpose is. Important characteristics usually are brightness, opacity and roughness. For instance, the brighter the paper, the better contrast of colors. The more opaque the paper, the more it’s fitted for duplex printing (printing on both sides). The smoother the paper, the easier it is to handle and write on. But all the characteristics really depend on the use you’ll give to the paper. Grammage, for example, is also another important aspect. The higher the grammage, the more professional your work looks (Think of handing out a business card printed on a regular 75g.m^-2 sheet of paper. Not the same thing, right?).

“...ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS REALLY DEPEND ON THE USE YOU’LL GIVE TO THE PAPER.”

Colour printing requires a good quality, smooth, ultra-white paper, because if you use a regular paper, the result is mottled and poor quality. Formation of the paper is also an important attribute, since it defines the uniformity of the surface of the paper. The more uniform the paper is, the best your printouts will look.

You can specify the printer to print in higher quality printing modes, but this makes it use more toner, thus making your work more expensive. It’s more cost effective to use a good quality paper. In fact, paper only accounts for some 8-15% of the final printed cost: it’s like putting a two-carat diamond on a brass ring: definitely not worth it! Ultra white paper such as Navigator (it is 169 on the cie scale) means that colours have a much greater contrast and therefore look much better.

Whiteness is provided by 3 factors: whiteners (which in Navigator’s case is Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleach), by the quality of the filler, a chalk-like substance which fits between the wood fibres to add opacity, which is called PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate) and the use of Optical Brightening Agents, which absorb light from part of the invisible spectrum (UV) and emit light visible blue/white range of the spectrum, resulting in a whiter paper.

Navigator’s filler (pcc) is produced on-site from the pulp production byproducts and allows higher quality and whiteness, along with cost reduction and efficiency.

Whiteness is a measure of light reflectance across all wavelengths of the visible spectrum. It is commonly measured through the CIE Whiteness index, developed by France-based International Commission on Illumination. This index refers to measurements made under D65 illumination (standard outdoor daylight). Perfect natural whiteness would be CIE 100, but it is possible to reach higher CIE values by adding fluorescent agents such as Optical Brightening Agents (OBA). That’s why Navigator has a whiteness of 169 cie. The higher the value, the whiter the paper.

“THIS INDEX REFERS TO MEASUREMENTS MADE UNDER D65 ILLUMINATION...”

The filler used to produce Navigator is star-shaped, which makes it lighter for the same surface area and also enables it to better stick to the paper fibres, meaning that the paper is less likely to dust.

Furthermore, Navigator undergoes a surface treatment to prevent the fibre and/or filler particles to be released from the surface of the sheet. This also makes Navigator a higher quality paper.

Navigator paper is extremely smooth because of the final stage of its manufacturing process. At the end of the production line, the paper goes through a calander, which is a set of rolls that induce heat and pressure upon the sheet. This process allows the paper to get a more even surface, making it smoother. The calander process controls the thickness/smoothness ratio. The characteristics of the eucalyptus globulus fibres and the unique combination with our tailor-made pcc allow us to have a high smoothness level, while maintaining a high bulk index (thickness/grammage).

The fibres used in Navigator paper are virgin fibres, so they are at full performance capacity. Recycled fibres have already undergone several recycling processes and their cell walls are worn off, meaning they won’t perform as well and this paper will have less quality, namely in stiffness and bulk. Typically, fibres can be recycled 5-7 times, maximum. Also, Navigator paper benefits from special surface treatment which minimizes dusting and consequently increases your printer’s lifespan, unlike recycled papers.

“THE FIBRES USED IN NAVIGATOR PAPER ARE VIRGIN FIBRES...”

They reduce energy costs and chemicals’ consumption since they are more efficient, but they also have better quality control sensors and increase paper uniformity. This efficiency impacts paper quality because it guarantees the exact usage of chemicals and correct process parameters, resulting in the best quality paper. modern paper machines are designed to achieve the best paper characteristics. As they are controlled by a sophisticated process control system, the paper that they produce is very stable and with optimized characteristics. This allows to control fibres direction (Machine Direction - MD; Cross-machine Direction - CD) in order to get an homogeneous paper.

A good runnability is ensured by several paper attributes. For small printers, the most important are stiffness and thickness. A paper which is too stiff won’t move easily through the printer rolls. Normally stiffer papers will run better trough laser printers. Thickness is also an important aspect because average printers are not prepared to run many different paper thicknesses. They are prepared for standard thickness so if you try printing on a thicker paper you might have problems. Other important characteristics are the paper curl and friction coefficients, which for larger printers makes more difference than for smaller ones.

“FOR SMALL PRINTERS, THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS ARE STIFFNESS AND THICKNESS.”

Paper should be handled carefully and kept away from dust and moisture. In order to avoid runnability problems, paper shouldn’t be left in the printer or copier feeding trays during the weekend. It should be kept inside its original wrapper, re-sealed, with sheets taken out only when required. You can check out more tips on how to better handle paper on our “Navigator Printing tips” factsheet.

Virgin fibres are at full performance capacity. Office paper is one of the products of the paper industry that requires good performance fibres (for high speed printing and colour reproduction), as opposed to, for example, tissue and packaging paper. These papers can use recycled fibres with no impact on their products, but on office paper, recycled fibres have a severe impact on performance. That’s why uncoated office paper is a good entry point for virgin fibre (also because paper fibres cannot be recycled indefinitely and new fibres are always necessary).

Curl occurs because of the temperature paper undergoes while being printed (and is seriously impact by moisture levels of the paper). When paper curls, its flat surface is affected and so is its runnability, because its shape will notfollow the printer’s rolls so easily, causing paper jams. Also, the curlier the paper, the more time is spent organizing the printouts because sheets don’t stack in a uniform pile, making the whole process more time consuming.

“ALSO, THE CURLIER THEPAPER,THE MORE TIME IS SPENT ORGANIZING THE PRINTOUTS...”

A premium paper means guarantee. Premium papers have better quality, which means you’ll be able to work efficiently without worrying about paper jams or curl effects. The printing quality is optimized, the paper jams are minimized and costs are reduced. Our premium paper is suited for suited for all kinds of applications, no matter what you want to print, you’ll always get superb results.

The cost of a ream of paper is not the only cost that you should consider: you should think of the cost of the toner (see Printing in Colour) and the cost of the printer (electricity, maintenance and depreciation). Using poor quality paper may imply more costly maintenance (see Runnability & Jamming). When you use a standard quality paper instead of Navigator, you should also consider the impact of time lost solving printing jams (can be up to 3 minutes per paper jam).

Not to mention the frustration caused by jams or the loss of productivity: imagine leaving a printer to print for a half-hour job and it jams after five minutes...

Consider also the target audience. When service companies print a report or presentation for customers, that is usually the only “physical evidence” of the work they charge for, which often runs into hundreds of euros for hours for solicitors, accountants or lawyers.

The cost of paper itself is just a tiny fraction of the global printing cost, yet the recipient forms a good subconscious impression of the report due simply to the quality of the paper: how much value can you place on that? It is very likely that a more expensive paper is cheaper in the long run, without taking into account the positive subliminal messages it sends.

“...A MORE EXPENSIVE PAPER BECOMES CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...”

As technology improves, printing equipment is consistently adapted to allow different types of paper to be used while ensuring good results. Nevertheless, printing speeds also increased and, more than ever, colour printing is a reality for most applications. And, as you know, printing in colour is more demanding of paper quality – ink absorption, waviness, ink drying time, among other factors.

Altogether, this means that paper quality needs to be adapted to the printer you have, the application you do and the purpose of the document (internal/ external).

These factors should influence your choice of paper to use.

Any uncoated paper (without “plastic” coating as found in photo papers and magazines) can be used for printing in inkjet printers. However, results vary massively: because inkjet is a liquid technology, it affects the paper more than (dry) toner used in laser printing. We therefore recommend that a higher grammage paper with a better quality is used, such as Navigator Expression 90g.m^-2 and above, which resists waviness in the sheet and prevents show-through. Besides, you will be able to print in lower quality settings, therefore saving ink.

When you consider that inkjet ink is five times more expensive per litre than vintage champagne, it is definitely not worth using cheap paper for it.

When paper is printed, it tends to curl due to the higher heat applied on one side rather than the other. If you try to print on the reverse side, it may jam. A higher quality paper such as Navigator will resist curling and can therefore be used for duplex printing (the more toner or inkjet coverage, the higher the weight of Navigator paper should be). Good paper opacity is also very important for double sided printing. As Navigator has high opacity, the print will be greatly legible on both sides, not being shaded by the opposite side.

Printing on both sides gives a better look to reports and presentations and reduces the number of sheets used: even if you use Navigator Colour Documents 120g.m^-2, you are only using the equivalent of 60g paper printed on one side only. This is both economically and environmentally friendly.

“...A MORE EXPENSIVE PAPER BECOMES CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...”

The rougher the paper, the more it will damage the rolls of the printer. When the rolls of the printer lose their original shape, the printing process won’t run as smoothly as expected and may lead to paper jams. Thus, a smoother paper will preserve your printer, the printer will stay in good shape for a longer period of time and you won’t need to pay for new pieces of equipment so often. Since Navigator paper is approximately 1/3 less abrasive when compared with a typical office paper with ~200 ml/min bendtsen roughness, you can count on up to 50% increased lifetime of your equipment when using our brand.

Yes, Navigator paper is suited for any type of equipment. Actually, it is tested daily in the most demanding and well-known machine manufacturers, like Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Kyocera, Lexmark, OKI, Ricoh, Tektronix and Xerox. Furthermore, Navigator is tested by the most recognized laboratory in the World, BLI, which provides independent certification for the high performance levels of Navigator, 99,99% paper jam free.

“...NAVIGATOR PAPER IS SUITED FOR ALL TYPES OF EQUIPMENT.”

When printing, people usually define the printing cost based on how much they paid for a ream of paper. tcp is the correct way to think about printing costs. The price of paper has in fact to be considered, but there are other factors, such as energy, ink/toner, paper wasted because printing didn’t go well or time needed to solve printing jams, in order to get the Total Cost of Printing and better understand how much is spent in your printouts.

“TCP IS THE CORRECT WAY TO THINK ABOUT PRINTING COSTS.”

Dusting is the white powderfound in printers.This happens when printers run lower quality papers, which cause problems that jeopardize the proper functioning of the equipment. To avoid this, dust needs to be removed regularly to enable printers to function well. Because Navigator incorporates excellent filler, as well as having a special surface treatment, it is able to minimize dusting, meaning printers and copiers using it need to be serviced less often.

“DUSTING IS THE WHITE POWDER FOUND IN PRINTERS.”

Yes, different applications require different kinds of paper. For example, if you are looking to print some emails or copy drafts, you should use a lower grammage, such as Navigator Eco-Logical, since it implies cost and environmental benefits. If you are looking to print something colourful that is meant to impress, Navigator Colour Documents would be a better option.

For more tips about how to choose the right paper, you can visit our website.

You can, for example, use paper with a lower grammage. This way, you can have the same amount of paper sheets to print and copy, without necessarily reducing your overall printing volume. Navigator Eco-Logical 75 g.m^-2would be a good choice.

“...USE PAPER WITH A LOWER GRAMMAGE. THIS WAY, YOU CAN HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF PAPER...”

The use of colour documents has major impact in business and is greatly preferred by end-users. Usually people agree that colour is more effective in helping consumers notice mail and thus will be more likely to read it. Also, colour increases the general value of the piece and people take it more seriously. It helps enhance the company’s reputation and products, since colour and well-designed documents are associated with quality.

When looking on the opposite side of your printed work, the more you can see the printout through the paper, the more show-through there is.

Print-through happens when you’re able to see ink on the opposite side of your sheets.

These aspects are very important when there’s the need to print double-side, since the more show-through and print-through there is the less clear your work becomes.

“...VERY IMPORTANT WHEN THERE’S THE NEED TO PRINT DOUBLE-SIDE...”

Navigator characteristics make it a less stressful paper because since it has the best quality in the market you’ll avoid technical problems, such as paper jams and interventions on the equipment. You’ll also be able to optimize your paper and ink consumption because with fewer technical problems and better paper properties you’ll have less paper waste and better printing quality. Navigator paper is 99,99% jam free and it can achieve 7% improved printing quality or toner consumption savings when compared with standard brands in the market.

“...SINCE IT HAS THE BEST QUALITY IN THE MARKET YOU’LL AVOID TECHNICAL PROBLEMS, SUCH AS PAPER JAMS AND INTERVENTIONS ON THE EQUIPMENT.”

Printing quality is valued by all office paper users and is especially important for external communications when using colour. This is measured through the optical density of a printed document, which led Navigator to develop an improved surface which would provide the best possible printing quality. By improving toner adhesion and ink absorption, Navigator maximizes print results - more printed sheets with the same cartridge or a better printing quality. But the type of fibre and production equipment used to manufacture Navigator play a big role in achieving the quality levels end-users require

“TCP IS THE CORRECT WAY TO THINK ABOUT PRINTING COSTS.”

Navigator paper jams once, at most, every 10.000 sheets, as opposed to 5 jams of other office papers, on average. Taking into consideration that a paper jam can take up to 3 minutes to solve, depending on the type of printing equipment or photocopier used, this can translate into a potential gain in productivity.

Because of that, Navigator’s performance is certified.

The BLI seal certifies that our paper successfully completed demanding quality tests that confirm its high working performance and that no problems with image quality, misfeeding, multi-sheet feeding, curl, dust accumulation or puckering were found.

Before awarding this certification, BLI carried out a series of thorough tests on Navigator paper, using a wide range of state-of-the-art office reproduction equipment (namely photocopiers, printers, faxes and multifunctional devices) from various manufacturers.

Thickness is important from 2 points of view. One is because a lighter paper has less impact on your wallet and on the environment since it needs fewer raw materials to be produced and generates less waste.The other is associated with image. A thicker paper gives a more professional look to your work, so whether you’re handing out reports and other important documents to your boss or wanting to communicate externally with business cards or marketing and sales materials, a good quality paper enhances your image and makes you and your business look better in the eyes of your audience.

“A THICKER PAPER GIVES A MORE PROFESSIONAL LOOK TO YOUR WORK...”

Navigator alone gives you high printing quality but you can still improve it with the printing settings you use. For instance, to improve results you should define the settings on your printer to high printing quality or vivid colour (definition depends on printer brand and model), so you achieve the best colour output.