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Papermaking is the manufacture of
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 distrib ...
and
cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...
, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a specialized craft and a medium for artistic expression. In papermaking, a dilute suspension consisting mostly of separate cellulose fibres in water is drained through a sieve-like screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is further removed from this sheet by pressing, sometimes aided by suction or vacuum, or heating. Once dry, a generally flat, uniform and strong sheet of paper is achieved. Before the invention and current widespread adoption of automated machinery, all paper was made by hand, formed or laid one sheet at a time by specialized laborers. Even today those who make paper by hand use tools and technologies quite similar to those existing hundreds of years ago, as originally developed in China and other regions of Asia, or those further modified in Europe. Handmade paper is still appreciated for its distinctive uniqueness and the skilled craft involved in making each sheet, in contrast with the higher degree of uniformity and perfection at lower prices achieved among industrial products.


History

Hemp paper had been used in China for wrapping and padding since the eighth century BCE.Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. Volume 5, p. 122. Paper with legible Chinese writings on it has been dated to 8 BCE. The traditional inventor attribution is of Cai Lun, an official attached to the Imperial court during the
Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(202 BCE – 220 CE), said to have invented paper about 105 CE using mulberry and other
bast fibre Bast fibre (also called phloem fibre or skin fibre) is plant fibre collected from the phloem (the "inner bark", sometimes called "skin") or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. It supports the conductive cells of the phl ...
s along with fishnets, old rags, and hemp waste. Paper used as a writing medium had become widespread by the 3rd centuryNeedham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. Volume 5, p. 1. and, by the 6th century,
toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...
was starting to be used in China as well.Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. Volume 5, p. 123. During the
Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(618–907 CE) paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavour of tea, while the later
Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960–1279 CE) was the first government to issue paper-printed money. In the 8TH century, papermaking spread to the Islamic world, where the process was refined, and machinery was designed for bulk manufacturing. Production began in Samarkand,
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
, Damascus,
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, and then
Muslim Spain Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
. In
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
, papermaking was under the supervision of the Grand Vizier
Ja'far ibn Yahya Jafar ibn Yahya Barmaki, Jafar al-Barmaki ( fa, جعفر بن یحیی برمکی, ar, جعفر بن يحيى, Jafar bin yaḥyā) (767–803) also called Aba-Fadl, was a Persian vizier of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, succeeding his father ...
. Muslims invented a method to make a thicker sheet of paper. This innovation helped transform papermaking from an art into a major industry. The earliest use of water-powered mills in paper production, specifically the use of pulp mills for preparing the pulp for papermaking, dates back to Samarkand in the 8th century. The earliest references to paper mills also come from the medieval Islamic world, where they were first noted in the 9th century by Arabic geographers in Damascus. Traditional papermaking in Asia uses the inner bark fibers of plants. This fiber is soaked, cooked, rinsed and traditionally hand-beaten to form the paper pulp. The long fibers are layered to form strong, translucent sheets of paper. In Eastern Asia, three traditional fibers are abaca,
kōzo The paper mulberry (''Broussonetia papyrifera'', syn. ''Morus papyrifera'' L.) is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Asia,gampi Gampi or Ganpi are a group of Japanese shrubs, members of the genus ''Wikstroemia'', some of which have been used for making paper since the 8th century. It is used to make the high quality washi paper, as are kōzo and mitsumata trees. Variou ...
. In the Himalayas,
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 distrib ...
is made from the lokta plant.* This paper is used for calligraphy, printing, book arts, and three-dimensional work, including
origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...
. In
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, papermaking moulds using metallic wire were developed, and features like the
watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...
were well established by 1300 CE, while hemp and linen rags were the main source of pulp, cotton eventually taking over after Southern plantations made that product in large quantities. Papermaking was originally not popular in Europe due to not having many advantages over papyrus and parchment. It wasn't until the 15th century with the invention of the movable type of printing and its demand for paper that many paper mills entered production, and papermaking became an industry. Modern papermaking began in the early 19th century in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
with the development of the
Fourdrinier machine A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Mach ...
. This machine produces a continuous roll of paper rather than individual sheets. These machines are large. Some produce paper 150 meters in length and 10 meters wide. They can produce paper at a rate of 100 km/h. In 1844,
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Charles Fenerty Charles Fenerty (January 1821 – 10 June 1892), was a Canadian inventor who invented the wood pulp process for papermaking, which was first adapted into the production of newsprint. Fenerty was also a poet (writing over 32 known poems). Early ...
and German
Friedrich Gottlob Keller Friedrich Gottlob Keller (born 27 June 1816 in Hainichen, Saxony; died 8 September 1895 in Krippen, Saxony) was a German machinist and inventor, who (at the same time as Charles Fenerty) invented the wood pulp process for use in papermaking. He i ...
had invented the machine and associated process to make use of wood pulp in papermaking. This innovation ended the nearly 2,000-year use of pulped rags and start a new era for the production of newsprint and eventually almost all paper was made out of pulped wood.


Manual

Papermaking, regardless of the scale on which it is done, involves making a dilute suspension of fibres in water, called "furnish", and forcing this suspension to drain through a screen, to produce a mat of interwoven fibres. Water is removed from this mat of fibres using a press. The method of manual papermaking changed very little over time, despite advances in technologies. The process of manufacturing handmade paper can be generalized into five steps: # Separating the useful fibre from the rest of raw materials. (e.g. cellulose from wood, cotton, etc.) # Beating down the fibre into pulp # Adjusting the colour, mechanical, chemical, biological, and other properties of the paper by adding special chemical premixes # Screening the resulting solution # Pressing and drying to get the actual paper Screening the fibre involves using a mesh made from non-corroding and inert material, such as brass, stainless steel or a synthetic fibre, which is stretched in a paper mould, a wooden frame similar to that of a window. The size of the paper is governed by the open area of the frame. The mould is then completely submerged in the furnish, then pulled, shaken and drained, forming a uniform coating on the screen. Excess water is then removed, the wet mat of fibre laid on top of a damp cloth or felt in a process called "couching". The process is repeated for the required number of sheets. This stack of wet mats is then pressed in a hydraulic press. The fairly damp fibre is then dried using a variety of methods, such as vacuum drying or simply air drying. Sometimes, the individual sheet is rolled to flatten, harden, and refine the surface. Finally, the paper is then cut to the desired shape or the standard shape (A4, letter, legal, etc.) and packed. The wooden frame is called a "
deckle A deckle is a removable wooden frame or "fence" used in manual paper-making. It can also mean deckle edge paper, which is a type of industrially produced paper with rough cut, distressed edges used in the book trade. Deckle frame In manual pape ...
". The deckle leaves the edges of the paper slightly irregular and wavy, called "deckle edges", one of the indications that the paper was made by hand. Deckle-edged paper is occasionally mechanically imitated today to create the impression of old-fashioned luxury. The impressions in paper caused by the wires in the screen that run sideways are called "laid lines" and the impressions made, usually from top to bottom, by the wires holding the sideways wires together are called "chain lines".
Watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...
s are created by weaving a design into the wires in the mould. Handmade paper generally folds and tears more evenly along the laid lines. The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) is the world-leading association for handmade paper artists. Handmade paper is also prepared in laboratories to study papermaking and in paper mills to check the quality of the production process. The "handsheets" made according to
TAPPI TAPPI is a registered not-for-profit, international Non-Governmental Organization of about 14,000 member engineers, scientists, managers, academics and others involved in the areas of pulp, and paper. In addition to pulp and paper, the TAPPI memb ...
Standard T 205 are circular sheets 15.9 cm (6.25 in) in diameter and are tested for paper characteristics such as brightness, strength and degree of sizing. Paper made from other fibers, cotton being the most common, tends to be valued higher than wood-based paper.


Industrial

A modern paper mill is divided into several sections, roughly corresponding to the processes involved in making handmade paper. Pulp is refined and mixed in water with other additives to make a pulp slurry. The head-box of the paper machine called
Fourdrinier machine A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Mach ...
distributes the slurry onto a moving continuous screen, water drains from the slurry by gravity or under vacuum, the wet paper sheet goes through presses and dries, and finally rolls into large rolls. The outcome often weighs several tons. Another type of paper machine, invented by John Dickinson in 1809, makes use of a cylinder mould that rotates while partially immersed in a vat of dilute pulp. The pulp is picked up by the wire mesh and covers the mould as it rises out of the vat. A couch roller is pressed against the mould to smooth out the pulp, and picks the wet sheet off the mould. Papermaking continues to be of concern from an environmental perspective, due to its use of harsh chemicals, its need for large amounts of water, and the resulting contamination risks, as well as the
carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in lan ...
lost by
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
caused by clearcutting the trees used as the primary source of
wood pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...
.


Notable papermakers

While papermaking was considered a lifework, exclusive profession for most of its history, the term "notable papermakers" is often not strictly limited to those who actually make paper. Especially in the hand papermaking field there is currently an overlap of certain celebrated paper art practitioners with their other artistic pursuits, while in academia the term may be applied to those conducting research, education, or conservation of books and paper artifacts. In the industrial field it tends to overlap with science, technology and engineering, and often with management of the pulp and paper business itself. Some well-known and recognized papermakers have found fame in other fields, to the point that their papermaking background is almost forgotten. One of the most notable examples might be that of the first humans that achieved flight, the
Montgolfier brothers The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune A ...
, where many accounts barely mention the paper mill their family owned, although paper used in their balloons did play a relevant role in their success, as probably did their familiarity with this light and strong material. Key inventors include James Whatman,
Henry Fourdrinier Henry Fourdrinier (11 February 1766 – 3 September 1854) was a British paper-making entrepreneur. He was born in 1766, the son of paper maker and stationer Henry Fourdrinier, and grandson of the engraver Paul Fourdrinier, 1698–1758, sometimes ...
,
Heinrich Voelter Heinrich Voelter (January 1, 1817 in Heidenheim – September 13, 1887 in Heidenheim) was a German inventor and paper manufacturer. Heinrich Voelter grew up in Heidenheim and attended elementary school there, where he was taught by his grandf ...
and Carl Daniel Ekman, among others. By the mid-19th century, making paper by hand was extinct in the United States. By 1912, fine book printer and publisher,
Dard Hunter William Joseph "Dard" Hunter (November 29, 1883 – February 20, 1966) was an American authority on printing, paper, and papermaking, especially by hand, using sixteenth century tools and techniques. He is known for, among other things, the prod ...
had reestablished the craft of fine hand paper making but by the 1930s the craft had lapsed in interest again. When artist Douglass Howell returned to New York City after serving in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he established himself as a fine art printmaker and discovered that art paper was in short supply. During the 1940s and 1950s, Howell started reading Hunter's books on paper making, as well as he learned about hand paper making history, conducted paper making research, and learned about printed books.


Paper sizes


See also

*
Amate Amate ( es, amate from nah, āmatl ) is a type of bark paper that has been manufactured in Mexico since the precontact times. It was used primarily to create codices. Amate paper was extensively produced and used for both communication, record ...
, paper made of bark, used in
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
Central America * Bleaching of wood pulp *
Environmental issues with paper The environmental effects of paper are significant, which has led to changes in industry and behaviour at both business and personal levels. With the use of modern technology such as the printing press and the highly mechanized harvesting of woo ...
* Museums: Williams Paper Museum,
Basel Paper Mill The Basel Paper Mill ( German: ''Basler Papiermühle''), also known as the Swiss Museum for Paper, Writing and Printing ( German: ''Schweizerisches Museum für Papier, Schrift und Druck'') in Basel, is primarily dedicated to papermaking, the art ...
*
Papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
, a precursor to paper originating from the Mediterranean *
Paper machine A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machin ...
, used in modern industrial papermaking *
Parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...
, a precursor to paper used in manuscripts throughout the medieval era * Sizing * Stickies (papermaking) * Surface chemistry of paper *
Tree-free paper Tree-free paper or tree-free newsprint described an alternative to wood-pulp paper by its raw material composition. It is claimed to be more eco-friendly considering the product's entire life cycle. Sources of fiber for tree-free paper includ ...


Notes and references

24. Longwood L.C. “Science and practice of hand made paper”: (2004). 25. Westerlund L.C. “Fibre options for the sustainable development of the Australian Paper and Pulp Industry”: (2004)


External links


The Harrison Elliott Collection
at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
has paper specimens, personal papers and research material relating to the history of papermaking
The Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago hosted an exhibition on the contemporary art of hand papermaking in 2014The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA)
*The Arnold Yates Paper collection at University of Maryland Libraries {{Authority control Chinese inventions Book arts