The great bullet journal pen bleed mystery that drove me nuts

For a solid year, I kept seeing these perfect spreads online with zero ghosting, while my pages looked like a sad ink blot test. I was ready to blame my cheap notebook until I caught my friend, Sarah, making the same mistake I was. We were both pressing down way too hard with our fineliners, like we were trying to carve the paper. She said, 'I just want the lines dark,' and I realized that was the whole problem. The ink was being forced through the fibers instead of sitting on top. I switched to a much lighter touch, barely letting the tip kiss the page, and the difference was night and day. My old Leuchtturm1917 from 2022 looks like two different journals now. Has anyone else had to completely relearn how to hold a pen for this?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamieburns9d ago

Oh man, the paper weight thing got me too. I was using the same light touch but still had bleed on cheaper paper. Turns out the actual GSM, that thickness number, matters way more than the brand name. My old notebook was like 70 GSM and it was a ghost town. Switched to one that's over 100 GSM and the problem just stopped, same pens and everything. It's a hidden spec you have to dig for sometimes.

jessefoster9d ago

My buddy was convinced his fancy new pens were trash because they feathered on everything. He almost returned them, but then he checked the notebook his wife got him as a gift. The thing felt nice but was basically tissue paper, maybe 80 GSM. He dug an old sketchbook out of the closet, the paper felt like cardboard in comparison. Scribbled the same pen on it and it was a perfect, crisp line. He felt so dumb for almost blaming the pens.