These are great ruled white writing pads. I use them at work and buy my own supply for home use. My experience is that roller-ball and gel ink does not smear on the white bleached surface. These notepads are reasonably priced certainly so if bought in 12-packs. The narrow ruling is not for everyone. If you like to write big or do not want the descenders and ascenders of your writing to overlap * I would suggest using the wide-ruled variety instead. * For example the lower part of letter "y" and the upper part of letter "l" immediately below on the next line.