Paper properties such as gloss, friction or printability strongly depend on the surface roughness. However, this dependence on the roughness in relation to the measurement scale is not systematically taken into account. Paper surface topography is here studied in a multi-scale approach with the help of a focus variation device. For each measurement scale, statistical parameters were calculated to describe the surface. We isolated among the long list of parameters calculated those that were relevant for paper surface topography analysis. A new method of characterization of paper surface roughness is proposed based on a scaling analysis taken from either profile or surface data. Depending on the scale of analysis different fractal stages were exhibited. The influence of the step of discretization on the roughness parameters was also investigated. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.