This International Standard specifies a method of determining the water absorptiveness of sized paper and board, including corrugated fibreboard, under standard conditions. It may not be suitable for paper of grammage less than 50 g/m² or embossed paper. It is not suitable for porous papers such as newsprint or unsized papers such as blotting paper or other papers having a relatively high water absorptiveness for which ISO 8787^[2] is more suitable.

This method is not intended to be used for precise evaluation of the writing properties of paper although it does give a general indication of suitability for use with aqueous inks.