Use right paper for mailing letters.

Today, I received a letter that was smeared and looked nasty. Toner had rubbed off the page onto another page inside the envelope. It was a professional letter that had been sent through the US Postal Service.

It's not the mail man's fault. I am sure the letter looked fine when it was put into the envelope. The sender had printed it on a laser printer. We all do that. I have seen this before.

So what happened here? The sender printed the letter on a type of paper called Classic-Laid. Classic-Laid is made by Neenah Paper, a world class manufacturer of premium papers. But this paper is too rough for toner to properly stick to it.

Toner will smear if not printed on the appropriate paper surface, and then subjected to the machinery in the postal service. Printed materials delivered by the postal service arrive with ghosting or mirror images of the text visible on the page.

When preparing printed materials for mailing:

• Use 24 lb (90 g/m2) paper.

• Avoid rough paper; select paper with a smoothness from 100 to 150 Sheffield points.

• Fold sheets with the text facing outward.

• Meter envelopes or use precanceled stamps.

• Place envelopes in trays and deliver to the post office; do not drop envelopes into mailboxes.

Neenah Paper also makes a laser printer friendly finish called Classic-Laid Imaging.