1/2-sheet sized too, Ed. An important thing for home cooks, many of whom have ovens that will not accomodate full sheet pans.
Wish I could find it pre-cut in 1/4 sheets. But ya can't have everything, I guess.
Stymie: I've checked both my pre-cut sheets and a roll of retail parchment and they both look the same; with neither side more or less glossy. So I'm not sure what you're seeing. It's possible that when your batch came off the rollers at the mill that it was polished slightly??
Modern parchment paper is impregnated with silicone, and it shouldn't matter which side you use.
One thing I just noticed, however, is that the retail stuff is only rated to 420F. Commercial parchment paper is rated to 450F.