When ink is applied to a paper surface from a smooth plate the area which becomes coated is well known to depend on the thickness of the ink film on the plate. A simple, two-parameter relation has been found which describes this dependence, and it has been shown that this effect provides a convenient method of determining the topography of the surface of a paper. A treatment has been developed whereby the frequency distribution of the depth of depression in a paper surface can be determined by measuring the areas covered with ink when films of different thicknesses are applied. The area coated may be measured directly or found by observation of the diffuse reflectance of the printed paper: an equation is derived whereby the distribution of depression can be calculated to a reasonable accuracy from measurements of the diffuse reflectance. Typical distribution curves obtained by this method show maxima near the shallow end - at about 0.2 μm for coated papers and at about 1 μm for newspapers.