Units of paper quantity

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Various measures of paper quantity have been and are in use. All are in U.S. Customary units. In the metric system, reams and bundles do not exist.

Writing paper measurements

25 sheets = 1 quire

500 sheets = 20 quires = 1 ream

1,000 sheets = 40 quires = 2 reams = 1 bundle

5,000 sheets = 200 quires = 10 reams = 5 bundles = 1 bale

'Short' paper measurements

24 sheets = 1 'short' quire

480 sheets = 20 'short' quires = 1 'short' ream

960 sheets = 40 'short' quires = 2 'short' reams = 1 'short' bundle

4,800 sheets = 200 'short' quires = 10 'short' reams = 5 'short' bundles = 1 'short' bale

Posters and printing measurements

516 sheets (= 21½ 'short' quires) = 1 printer's ream

1,032 sheets = 2 printer's reams = 1 printer's bundle

5,070 sheets = 5 printer's bundles = 1 printer's bale

Quire

A quire of paper is today used as a measure of paper quantity. The usual meaning is a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper of the same size and quality. It might also be thought of as 1/20 of a ream.

It originally had other meanings:

A quire (also called a "gathering") was in the Middle Ages most often formed of 4 folded sheets of vellum or parchment, i.e. 8 leaves, 16 pages. The terms "quaternion" (or sometimes quaternum) designate such a quire. A quire made of a single folded sheet (i.e. 2 leaves, 4 pages) is a "bifolium" (plural "bifolia"); a "binion" is a quire of two sheets (i.e. 4 leaves, 8 pages); and a "quinion" is five sheets (10 leaves, 20 pages).

The current word "quire" was derived when quaternum was shortened to "quair" or "guaer" in common usage. Afterwards, when bookmaking switched to using paper and it became possible to easily stitch 5 to 7 sheets at a time, the association of "quaire" with "four" was quickly lost.

It also became the name for any booklet small enough to be made from a single quire of paper. Simon Winchester, in The Surgeon of Crowthorne, cites a specific number, defining quire as "a booklet eight pages thick."

In blankbook binding, quire is a term indicating 80 pages.

Ream

A ream of paper is a quantity of sheets of the same size and quality. Formerly it was 480 sheets, 20 quires, for common sizes such as letter-size paper (8.5 by 11 inches (22 cm × 28 cm)). A printer's ream was 516 sheets, perhaps to allow for wastage. As part of international standardization, this quantity was changed to 500 sheets. The old value of 480 sheets is now known as a short ream. The ream is probably the most widely available size for personal or household use, as sold at retail vendors for example.

Bale

A paper bale is a quantity of sheets of paper, currently standardized as 5,000 sheets. A bale consists of 10 reams or 200 quires.

See also

• Paper density

External links

• ream at A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
• ream at The Online Quantinary, yet see quire at the same site for historical evidence of 500-sheet reams as early as 1590.