Ream

A ream is the standard unit count for sheet paper sales: 500 sheets in the modern definition, though historically variable (480 or 516 sheets depending on grade and region).

500 sheets is the contemporary standard for nearly all sheet paper sold in North America. Older usage included 480 (a 'short ream') and 516 (a 'printer's ream'), but those are essentially historical at this point.

Parent sheet sizes vary by grade family. A bond-paper ream is 17×22 in.; a cover-paper ream is 20×26 in.; an index ream is 25.5×30.5 in. Those parent sheets are what 'ream weight' refers to in the definition of basis weight.

Pricing in $/ream is common for office and printing papers, alongside per-sheet, per-pound, and per-CWT pricing. Mixing units across a quote from the same supplier is an easy source of confusion.

Related terms

Basis weightBasis weight is the standard measure of paper weight in the U.S., expressed in pounds per 3,000 square feet of a grade's parent sheet. Elsewhere it is reported as grams per square metre (gsm).

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