Brightness of the papers was determined using a uv-vis spectrophotometer (UV-2550, Shimadzu, Japan) at the wavelength of 457 nm, following ISO 2470 standard. Papers based on fully bleached softwood pulps were used as reference samples. These pulps were supplied by Södra (Sweden), and the papers are obtained through the same hot-pressing method described before. Transmittance and haze were measured using an integrating sphere,equipped with a high brightness light source, whose spectrum spanned the UV to near-IR wavelengths(170−2100 nm; EQ-99 from Energetiq Technology Inc.).