Tony M Jan 12, 2015:

Yes, Anne Of course, 'cartridge paper' is so named because that would have been what it was originally used for; but there has long since been a divergence between the two types of paper and the origin of the name.

Anne Rémond (asker) Jan 12, 2015:

Papier à cartouche D'après mes recherches, "papier à cartouche" ne fonctionne que dans le contexte des munitions. Et si l'on va sur des sites de loisirs créatifs, on ne trouve aucune trace de papier à cartouche...

Tony M Jan 7, 2015:

cartridge paper Is thicker and stiffer than writing paper, and usually has a fairly smooth surface; it is the sort of paper typically used for technical drawings, back in the days when those were done with a pencil and rule! Its smooth surface is ideal for drawing with pencils (and as your context suggests also, felt-tip pens; peronally, I don't care for it for use with pastels, but each to their own!
Watercolour paper tends to be slightly thicker, possibly rougher, and more absorbent, making it ideal for use with watercolour paints, which need to be able to soak in to create their besst effect; they would tend to almost just run off the surface of cartridge paper.
'papier Canson' is pretty close, but that's what I think we used at school to call 'drawing paper' — it was possibly slightly less smooth than proper cartridge paper, though I think the differneces I observed empirically may have been more differences between specific individual products than actual generic ones.
'papier calque' usually refers to some kind of (more or less) translucent tracing paper.

Emmanuella Jan 7, 2015:

Une piste éventuelle cf. fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier_calque
Le papier calque est surtout utilisé pour dessiner ou reproduire un dessin .... Voyez les conditions d'utilisation pour plus de détails, ainsi que les crédits ...