Reference

Paper Testing Standards

BIS, ISO, and TAPPI standards for paper and board testing — grammage, caliper, strength, optical properties, and more. Reference for quality labs, buyers, and mill managers.

BIS / ISISOTAPPI

BIS

BIS Standards

Bureau of Indian Standards

Standard	Title	Parameter	Notes
IS 1060	Paper and Board — Vocabulary	Terminology	Indian vocabulary standard for paper, board, and pulp.
IS 1397	Grammage of Paper and Board	GSM	Method for determining mass per unit area (g/m²).
IS 1543	Thickness (Caliper) of Paper and Board	Caliper	Micrometer method under specified pressure (100 kPa).
IS 6474	Bursting Strength — Paper	Burst	Mullen hydraulic bursting test. Result in kPa.
IS 6474 (Pt. 2)	Bursting Strength — Board	Burst (board)	Higher range Mullen test for heavy boards and corrugated.
IS 6475	Tensile Strength and Elongation	Tensile	Tensile breaking force (N/15mm) and stretch (%) in MD and CD.
IS 6476	Internal Bond Strength (Z-direction)	Internal bond	Scott Bond method. Important for coated grades and boards.
IS 6477	Water Absorption — Cobb Test	Absorbency	Weight of water absorbed in 60 s (g/m²). Critical for packaging grades.
IS 6478	Air Permeance (Gurley)	Porosity	Seconds for 100 mL air to pass through. Lower = more porous.
IS 6479	Folding Endurance	Fold	Number of double folds before failure. Schopper or MIT method.
IS 6480	Tear Resistance (Elmendorf)	Tear	Force (mN) to propagate a tear. Pendulum method, MD and CD.
IS 6481	Opacity	Opacity	Printing opacity. Key for show-through in book and writing papers.
IS 6482	Brightness (R457)	Brightness	Blue reflectance at 457 nm. Also known as ISO brightness.
IS 6483	Smoothness (Bekk)	Smoothness	Seconds for air to leak between glass plate and paper surface. Higher = smoother.
IS 6484	pH of Aqueous Extract	pH	Cold extraction pH. Indicates acidity/alkalinity of sizing agents.
IS 7273	Writing and Printing Paper — Specification	W&P spec	Grade specification standard for Indian writing and printing papers.
IS 14492	Moisture Content	Moisture	Oven drying method. Standard conditioning: 50% RH, 23°C per IS 1060.

ISO

ISO Standards

International Organization for Standardization

Standard	Title	Parameter	Notes
ISO 536	Grammage Determination	GSM	Fundamental standard for mass per unit area measurement.
ISO 534	Thickness and Apparent Density	Caliper	Thickness measurement under 100 kPa; calculates apparent density.
ISO 187	Standard Atmosphere for Conditioning	Conditioning	50 ± 2% RH, 23 ± 1°C. All physical tests require pre-conditioning.
ISO 4046	Paper, Board, Pulps — Vocabulary	Terminology	International vocabulary. Companion to IS 1060 for global trade.
ISO 2758	Bursting Strength — Paper	Burst	Hydraulic method. Equivalent to IS 6474.
ISO 2759	Bursting Strength — Board	Burst (board)	Higher-pressure Mullen test for heavy boards.
ISO 1924-1	Tensile Properties — Const. Rate of Loading	Tensile	Breaking force (N/m) and elongation at break.
ISO 1924-2	Tensile Properties — Const. Rate of Elongation	Tensile	Modern CRE method. Generally preferred over CRL for accuracy.
ISO 1974	Tear Resistance (Elmendorf)	Tear	Tearing resistance in mN. MD and CD measured separately.
ISO 5626	Folding Endurance (Schopper)	Fold	Double folds to failure under tension. Key for banknote and map papers.
ISO 2469	Diffuse Reflectance Factor	Optical basis	Measurement geometry for brightness/opacity. Basis for ISO 2470 and 2471.
ISO 2470-1	Brightness (D65 illuminant)	Brightness	Current international standard. Replaces older R457 (TAPPI) in global specs.
ISO 2471	Opacity (Printing Opacity)	Opacity	Ratio of reflectance with black backing to reflectance with white backing.
ISO 9416	Light Scattering and Absorption Coefficients	Optical	Kubelka-Munk parameters. Used to model brightness/opacity trade-offs.
ISO 5267-1	Drainability — Schopper-Riegler	Freeness (°SR)	Freeness of pulp. Higher °SR = more refined. European standard.
ISO 5267-2	Drainability — Canadian Std Freeness	Freeness (CSF)	Freeness of pulp 0–900 mL. Higher CSF = less refined. North American standard.
ISO 302	Kappa Number of Pulp	Kappa	Residual lignin content in pulp after cooking. Guides bleaching sequence.
ISO 5351	Viscosity of Pulp (CED)	Viscosity	Degree of polymerization of cellulose. Indicates fibre degradation.

TAPPI

TAPPI Standards

Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry

Standard	Title	Parameter	Notes
TAPPI T410	Grammage of Paper and Paperboard	GSM	US equivalent of ISO 536. Used in North American trade specs.
TAPPI T411	Thickness (Caliper) of Paper	Caliper	US caliper standard. Pressure 50 kPa (vs ISO 100 kPa) — gives higher readings.
TAPPI T403	Bursting Strength of Paper	Burst	US Mullen test. Results comparable to ISO 2758 but not identical.
TAPPI T414	Internal Tearing Resistance	Tear	Elmendorf pendulum tear. Widely cited in US packaging specs.
TAPPI T452	Brightness of Pulp, Paper and Paperboard (R457)	Brightness (R457)	The original R457 brightness. Still used in North America. Note: ISO 2470 D65 values are ~1–3 points higher.
TAPPI T494	Tensile Properties (CRE)	Tensile	Breaking length and stretch. Equivalent of ISO 1924-2 in US specs.
TAPPI T441	Water Absorptiveness — Cobb	Absorbency	Cobb 60 test. Matches IS 6477 / ISO 535 in method.
TAPPI T425	Opacity of Paper	Opacity	C/2° geometry. US opacity standard for printing and writing papers.
TAPPI T498	Internal Bond (Scott Bond)	Internal bond	Critical for laminates, coated grades, and corrugated medium.
TAPPI T511	Folding Endurance (MIT)	Fold	MIT method under tension. Used for documents, currency, maps.

BIS vs ISO vs TAPPI — Key differences

• Brightness: ISO 2470 (D65) values are ~1–3 points higher than TAPPI T452 (R457). Specify which when quoting.
• Caliper: TAPPI T411 uses 50 kPa vs ISO/BIS 100 kPa — TAPPI values are slightly higher for the same sheet.
• Indian exports: Most mills report both BIS (IS) codes and ISO equivalents. Buyers in Europe/Middle East expect ISO citations.
• Conditioning: All physical tests require pre-conditioning to ISO 187 / IS 1060 (50% RH, 23°C, minimum 4 hours) for valid comparison.

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