The present invention relates to a soft, thick, single-ply, printed, absorbent paper product having a Yankee side and an air side wherein the absorbent paper is printed on before or after embossing on the Yankee side, air side, or both sides, said absorbent paper exhibiting a serpentine configuration. This inventions also relates to a process for the manufacture of such absorbent paper product having a basis weight of at least about 12.5 lbs. per 3000 square foot ream and having low sidedness, said tissue exhibiting: a specific total tensile strength of between 40 and 200 grams per 3 inches per pound per 3000 square foot ream, a cross direction specific wet tensile strength of between 2.75 and 20.0 grams per 3 inches per pound per 3000 square foot ream, the ratio of MD tensile to CD tensile of between 1.25 and 2.75, a specific geometric mean tensile stiffness of between 0.5 and 3.2 grams per inch per percent strain per pound per 3000 square foot ream, a friction deviation of less than 0.250, and a sidedness parameter of less than 0.30. These single-ply, printed, absorbent paper products in the form of unembossed or embossed single-ply bathroom tissue, facial tissue, or napkin are useful articles of commerce. The single-ply absorbent paper products exhibit a printed sidedness value of DELTAE of less than 2.