BOPP vs PP vs HM book cover: which film is which, and which to buy

BOPP is the glossy, crisp film we use for clear and printed covers. PP is softer, with a slightly milky look, and it carries our see-through fluorescent colours. HM is the stiff, solid-coloured film the trade sells as a "synthetic book cover". None of the three is the best for every book. Pick the film by the job the cover has to do: show the book, colour it, or hide it.

At Jagannath Polymers Pvt Ltd (JPPL), we make notebook covers in all three films in our own plant. So I have no reason to push one over the other. Our four best sellers (Student JPPL, Unique, Floura and Clear) include all three films, which tells you the market itself has not picked a single winner.

What is the difference between BOPP, PP and HM?

BOPP and PP are the same plastic, polypropylene. The difference is in how the film is made.

HM is a different plastic altogether, a type of polyethylene.

What is BOPP film?

BOPP is polypropylene film that has been stretched in two directions during manufacture, along its length and across its width. The online packaging glossary of Verpact, the Dutch packaging producers' organisation (checked November 2026), defines it the same way: polypropylene "stretched in two directions, especially for films".

On a book, that shows as a glossy, crisp cover. This is why we use BOPP for the designs where the look matters most:

1. Clear, our plain transparent cover, which keeps the school's printed front in full view.
2. Classic, cartoon prints on clear BOPP, so the book still shows between the prints.
3. Combo, multicolour prints on coloured BOPP.
4. Lining, a fine line pattern for older students and office registers.

If the name sounds familiar, it is because the same film family is used for packing tape. Our clear stationery tape is BOPP too, with our own water-based acrylic adhesive on it.

What is PP film?

When the trade says "PP cover", it means polypropylene film that has not gone through the BOPP stretching. Next to BOPP it looks softer and slightly milky, even in the natural shade.

We use PP in three places:

1. Floura, our natural and fluorescent design. The colours are see-through, so a child gets a pink maths book and a blue science book, and the printed front still shows faintly.
2. Standard rolls, the market roll sold by the kilo. Every Standard roll is PP, in 11, 13, 14 and 16 inch. The 11 and 13 inch rolls come in natural, fluorescent, jute brown, orange brown and multicolour print. The 14 and 16 inch rolls are natural only.
3. Supreme, our wide covers in 16 and 19 inch, which use the Floura film.

So if a retailer wants a wide cover, or you want to buy by weight, the answer is PP. Our Standard rolls and wide covers pages have the full size lists.

What is HM film?

HM is short for HM-HDPE, high molecular weight high-density polyethylene. It is a stiff, crisp film, and we make it in solid colours: orange, pink, blue, brown, white and green as standard, other colours to order.

The market calls it a synthetic book cover. It is the plastic version of the brown and orange paper cover many of us grew up with, so it hides the book completely. Our HM designs are sold on thickness, which makes the choice easy to explain at the counter:

1. Star, 50 micron.
2. Vidhyarthi, 55 micron.
3. Student, 60 micron.
4. Student JPPL, 70 micron, our best seller, which carries the JPPL name.
5. Unique, 75 micron, with an embossed lining.
6. China, a plain HM cover in packs of 3 m and 4 m rolls. China is only the name of the design. We make it ourselves.

The synthetic book covers page shows each one with its box.

Which film should I choose?

Start from the look your retailers' customers ask for at the counter. The film follows from that.

A shop that stocks one design from each film covers almost every customer who walks in. So I would advise any distributor to carry all three films. If I had godown space for only three designs, I would take Clear, Floura and Student JPPL, one from each film. For the clear-versus-coloured question that parents argue about, see brown or transparent cover for school.

How can I tell the three films apart?

Most rolls in the market do not print the film name. You can still tell them apart in a minute.

1. Hold it to the light. BOPP is glossy and sharp. PP looks softer, a little milky. HM in a solid colour blocks the light and hides whatever is behind it.
2. Feel it. BOPP and HM both feel crisp. PP feels softer in the hand.
3. Do a small tear test. Make a 1 cm cut at the edge of a scrap piece with scissors, then pull. Do the same with the other films. You will feel how each one behaves once it is nicked, and that is how a cover will behave when a child catches a corner.
4. Read the box or packet. A maker who knows the film will tell you, on the box or on request. If the seller cannot say what the film is, I would be careful about what else they cannot say.

Is one film stronger than the others?

Thickness matters as much as the film. A 75 micron HM cover and a 50 micron HM cover are the same plastic, but they do not feel the same on a book. Every cover we make is 50 micron or thicker. That is the floor India's plastic rules set for plastic sheet, and our micron guide explains the rule and how to check the number yourself.

I will be honest about one gap in our range.

Our BOPP designs come only in 14 inch, in the boxed Super Delux and the cheaper Delux packs. If a retailer wants a glossy BOPP cover for registers, we cannot offer it today. Our wide covers are PP.

Where JPPL fits

JPPL is a family-run packaging maker in Jaipur, founded in 1995 and manufacturing since 1997. Notebook covers are one of our main products, and we sell them mostly to stationery distributors and wholesale dealers. The full range, by design and series, is on our notebook covers page.

Tell us which covers your retailers sell most and which orders you lose today. I will be happy to suggest a mix of the three films that fits your market.