There is a reason most offices settle on the same boring paper. Twenty pound weight, letter size, a brightness rating in the low 90s, and a carton that lasts for months. Boring, but boring is the point. The Staples TRU RED Copy & Printer Paper occupies exactly that lane. It is an 8.5 by 11 inch, 20 pound, 92 bright multipurpose sheet sold in a 5,000 sheet carton, and it is designed to do the unglamorous job of being the paper you never think about. I ran two full reams through every machine in my office to find out whether this house brand paper earns its place next to the national brands, and this is the honest record.
Before the details, the standard note. This article contains affiliate links, and if you buy through one of them the site earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. That commission never changes what I test or what I recommend.
Design and Build
The TRU RED carton is plain and purposeful. It holds ten reams of 500 sheets, and each ream is wrapped in the usual white barrier paper with a resealable flap. The carton has a fold out handle on the side, which sounds minor until you try to carry 5,000 sheets from a car to a third floor office. The box is sized to fit standard shelving, and the corners held up through shipping without any crushed reams.
The sheet itself is exactly what a 20 pound multipurpose paper should be. It is thin enough to feed smoothly through any printer, stiff enough to slide through a duplex unit without curling, and smooth enough that toner and ink sit on the surface instead of soaking in unevenly. The 92 brightness gives the white a clean, neutral cast that reads as white rather than gray or yellow, which is the right balance for an office paper that handles everything from memos to color reports.
The cutting is consistent. I measured sheets from four different reams in the same carton and found no meaningful length or width variation, which matters because a single oversized sheet can cause a jam that takes a whole stack down with it. The reams also sit flat, which is a small detail that prevents the wavy edges that happen when paper absorbs humidity.
Key Features
The 20 pound basis weight is the standard for a reason. It is the lightest weight that still prints acceptably on both sides for most documents, and it keeps the cost per sheet low enough that you do not think twice about printing. Heavier paper looks and feels better, but for the bulk of everyday printing, 20 pound is the practical sweet spot.
The 92 brightness rating is the other number worth knowing. Brightness measures how much light the paper reflects, and 92 is comfortably in the range where text looks dark and clean rather than slightly gray, and where color prints look vivid enough for internal reports and school projects. It is not the brightest paper on the shelf, but it does not need to be, because the jobs that demand maximum brightness are rare for this class of paper.
The multipurpose rating covers laser, inkjet, copier, and fax. That means the paper is tuned to handle the dry heat of toner fusing without curling, and the wet ink of inkjets without spreading. It also means you can buy one carton for a home or office full of mixed machines, which is the entire value proposition of a multipurpose sheet. For a current look at the price per sheet, the Amazon listing for the Staples TRU RED Copy & Printer Paper is a useful reference.
Real-World Performance
My first job for this paper was a 300 page double sided report on a laser printer with a duplex unit. The run finished without a single jam or misfeed, and the back of each page showed no visible ghosting of the text printed on the front. At 20 pounds, a heavy ink coverage page will show a faint shadow through the sheet, but for normal text documents the opacity is entirely adequate.
Next I moved to the inkjet side and printed a stack of color flyers with photos and bold backgrounds. The paper took the ink cleanly, colors sat on the surface with good punch for a 20 pound sheet, and there was no visible cockling or warping even on full page color. Inkjet output on this paper dries quickly, which makes it a good match for the mixed use many home offices actually have.
I also fed the paper through a copier and a fax machine, which is where cheaper paper usually misbehaves. The copier duplexed a 50 page document without a complaint, and the fax produced flat pages rather than the curled leading edges I have seen on budget stock. Across roughly 1,000 sheets of testing I experienced no jams that I could blame on the paper.
The honest caveat is the same one that applies to all 20 pound paper. If you print heavy marketing materials, presentations that need to feel substantial, or double sided graphics with dense ink, a 24 pound or heavier paper will look noticeably better. For memos, drafts, forms, school handouts, and internal reports, this paper does the job completely.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Feeds reliably through laser, inkjet, copier, and fax machines
- 92 brightness delivers clean, readable prints
- Double sided printing works well for text documents
- 10 ream carton makes the per sheet cost very low
- Consistent cut and flat reams reduce jams
- Neutral white works for color and black and white
Cons:
- 20 pound weight shows faint ghosting on dense graphics
- Not as stiff or premium feeling as heavier paper
- 92 brightness is good but not top of the line
- House brand availability is tied to Staples channels
How It Compares
To place the TRU RED paper fairly, I compared it against a budget economy brand and a premium 24 pound multipurpose sheet in the same letter size.
| Feature | TRU RED 20 lb | Economy 20 lb | Premium 24 lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis weight | 20 lb | 20 lb | 24 lb |
| Brightness | 92 | 88 or lower | 97 |
| Feed reliability | Very good | Variable | Very good |
| Double sided text | Clean | Acceptable | Excellent |
| Color print quality | Good | Average | Vivid |
| Price per sheet | Low | Very low | Mid range |
Against an economy brand, the TRU RED paper wins on brightness and consistency. Economy paper often sits at 88 brightness or lower, which makes prints look visibly gray, and the cut quality can vary from batch to batch. The TRU RED sheet is noticeably brighter and cuts consistently. Against a premium 24 pound sheet, the TRU RED paper loses on feel, opacity, and color punch, but it also costs roughly a third less per sheet. For a school, a home office, or a busy print room where volume matters more than presentation, the TRU RED paper is the better buy of the three.
Who Should Buy It
Buy this paper if you run a home office, a classroom, or a small business that prints forms, memos, drafts, and reports in volume and wants a low per sheet cost without sacrificing reliability. It is also a sensible choice for families with school age children who burn through reams on homework, art projects, and study guides.
Skip it if you print client facing marketing materials that need a heavier, brighter sheet, or if you want a paper with a premium hand feel for presentations. For everyday office and school printing, the TRU RED carton is dependable and easy on the budget. You can check the current price for the Staples TRU RED paper on Amazon when you are ready to stock up.
How We Test
I tested this paper over two weeks across four machines. I ran a 300 page double sided document through a laser printer, a stack of full page color flyers through an inkjet, a 50 page duplex job through a copier, and a set of test pages through a fax machine. I measured sheet dimensions across four reams, checked the white tone against other papers, and tracked jams and misfeeds over roughly 1,000 sheets of use.
I also left a partial ream open on a humid day to check whether the sheets stayed flat and fed cleanly. For broader guidance on choosing office paper, independent coverage from Wirecutter office supply testing is a solid reference. The Staples TRU RED paper listing on Amazon shows the current price and carton options.
Staples TRU RED Copy & Printer Paper: Questions People Ask
What weight is the Staples TRU RED paper?
It is 20 pound multipurpose stock, the standard office weight that balances cost with dependable double sided printing for everyday documents.
Does this paper work in inkjet and laser printers?
Yes. It is rated for laser, inkjet, copier, and fax, and the 92 brightness surface handles both toner and ink without smearing or curling.
How many sheets are in the carton?
The carton holds ten reams of 500 sheets each for a total of 5,000 sheets, which covers a typical home or small office for several months.
Is this the same as Staples house brand paper?
Yes. TRU RED is the Staples house brand, and this carton is a value driven multipurpose paper that shares the shelf with pricier national brands at a lower cost.
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