Cellulose acetate (CA) is a bio-based polymer suitable to replace foamed polystyrene (PS) in packaging applications. Foam trays can be produced by thermoforming of extruded sheets foamed with physical blowing agents. In this paper, the effects of various process settings and the calibration of the sheet on foam morphology and surface quality of extruded CA sheets are presented. Different contact cooling options were applied in order to investigate their influence on surface roughness, density, and morphology of the sheets. By adjusting cooling parameters, blowing agent formulation, and process settings, smooth foam sheets with a surface roughness below 10 mu m and a density in the range of 150 kg m(-3) were produced. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:441-449, 2017. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers