Correction paper, or correction film, its plastic based equivalent, is a tab of

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

with one side

coated A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquids, gases or solids e.g. Powder ...

with white correction material. It is used to correct typing errors made when using a

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

. When inserted between the

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

and the ribbon, the impression of the typebar presses the shape of the character into the film, which prints the white correction material onto the paper, hiding the erroneous

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

and preparing the

document A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

for the correct character. It is however vital that the paper is reinserted into the carriage in the correct place to allow the letter to be retyped exactly on top of where it had originally been for this to work. Correction paper was invented by Wolfgang Dabisch from

Eltville Eltville am Rhein (from ''Alta Villa'', Latin for "high estate, high town", corrupted to ''Eldeville'', ''Elfeld'' and later Eltville, ) is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It lies on ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

who filed a patent for it in November 1958. Soon after the filing of the patent, in 1959, German entrepreneur Otto Wilhelm Carls from

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

founded the company Tipp-Ex GmbH & Co. Kg and

Tipp-Ex Tipp-Ex is a brand of correction fluid and other related products that is popular throughout Europe. It was also the name of the German company ('' Tipp-Ex GmbH & Co. KG'') that produced the products in the Tipp-Ex line. While ''Tipp-Ex'' is a tr ...

was registered as a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

in 1987. The Tipp-Ex name was used to distribute correction paper, and later

correction tape Correction tape is an alternative to correction fluid used to correct mistakes during typing, or, in some forms, handwriting. One side of the tape, which is placed against the area to cover, is coated in a white, opaque masking material. Pressu ...

and

correction fluid A correction fluid is an opaque, usually white fluid applied to paper to mask errors in text. Once dried, it can be handwritten or typed upon. It is typically packaged in small bottles, lids attached to brushes (or triangular pieces of foam) th ...

worldwide. Demand for correction paper grew very quickly as prior to its invention there had been no way to erase typewriter errors. The Tipp-Ex name is derived from the German word 'tippen' which means 'to type' and 'Ex' from the Latin for from, out or former. In 1997, the Tipp-Ex brand was sold to

Société Bic Société Bic S.A., commonly called Bic and stylized as BiC, is a French manufacturing corporation based in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine. It sells a world-leading brand of lighters and pens since its founding by Marcel Bich (1914–1994) in 1945, an ...

. Production of correction tape ceased around the year 2000 due to the end of the common usage of the typewriter.

References

{{Reflist Correction instruments Typewriters Coated paper

See also

References