International Paper Improves Appearance of Paper

International Paper, Memphis, Tenn., recently announced to its North American customers that its entire range of uncoated freesheet papers for imaging, commercial printing, envelopes and forms will be improved to a new standard of whiteness and brightness.

"One of our core strategies is to differentiate our products by using proprietary technologies," said Paul Herbert, senior vice president of printing and communications papers. "We have developed new technology for achieving higher levels of whiteness, which makes much more efficient use of traditional chemicals and additives."

The technology increases the brightness of standard papers from 84 on the GE scale to 92, and the whiteness is increased to CIE levels of 135 and 145 with a high level of color uniformity. "The uniformity of the paper luminosity enables printed text and images to be more striking and pleasing to end-users," Herbert added. "The appearance of IP's value-added papers is also similarly being improved." The company is making product enhancements to its Accent Opaque, DataSpeed,

Hammermill, Postmark and Williamsburg brands.

The patent-pending innovation is the first in International Paper's Vision Innovation Papers (VIP) Technologies series. The company has already notified customers of its plans to launch phases two and three of the series.

For more information, call (901) 419-7156 or visit www.internationalpaper.com.