Strathmore 500 Series Bristol | 2-Ply Plate Surface | 15 Sheets

The Strathmore 500 Series Bristol Plate Pad is the professional-grade smooth-surface paper that technical illustrators, comic inkers, and precision artists reach for when the work demands a flawless surface. The 500 Series sits at the top of Strathmore's line — over 125 years of paper-making tradition distilled into a sheet you can trust with your most serious work.

The plate finish is the distinguishing feature of this pad. Unlike the vellum surface, which has gentle tooth for dry-media blending, the plate finish delivers an exceptionally smooth, almost polished surface that lets ink, marker, and fine-line pen work glide without feathering or bleeding. Technical pen lines stay crisp, brush strokes hold clean edges, and marker colors lay down flat without the broken texture that tooth-heavy papers introduce. For comic book inking, calligraphy, precision illustration, and any work where line quality matters more than tonal blending, plate is the correct choice.

The 2-ply weight gives you a substantial sheet that handles aggressive erasing, multiple medium layers, and repeated ink applications without buckling or tearing. Comic and graphic novel artists particularly favor 500 Series plate for its ability to hold pencil roughs, take ink cleanly over them, and stand up to the mechanical abuse of multi-stage workflows. The surface is equally suited to mechanical drafting, airbrush work, and fine-line pen illustration.

The paper is acid-free, which means your finished work stays bright and stable for decades rather than yellowing the way cheaper papers do. Tape-bound construction holds sheets flat during work and releases them cleanly when you finish a piece.

Note: plate surface is designed for ink, marker, and fine-line media. If you work primarily in pencil, charcoal, or sketching sticks where tonal blending matters, the vellum finish is the better choice. Neither plate nor vellum Bristol is suited to traditional watercolor techniques.

Key Features

• 500 Series professional-grade paper from Strathmore's top-tier line.
• Plate (smooth) surface delivers flawless line quality for ink, marker, and fine-line work.
• 2-ply weight withstands aggressive erasing and multiple medium applications.
• Ideal for comic and graphic novel inking, technical illustration, calligraphy, airbrush, mechanical drafting.
• Acid-free paper resists yellowing and keeps work archival.
• Tape-bound pad holds sheets flat for working and releases cleanly.
• 11 x 14 inch sheets for full-page illustration and professional work.

Product Details