Editing Papermaking (section)

== Manual  ==
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 | footer = [[Woodcut]]s depicting the five seminal steps in ancient Chinese papermaking. From the 1637 ''[[Tiangong Kaiwu]]'' of the [[Ming dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=香港臨時市政局 [Provisional Urban Council] |author-link1=Provisional Urban Council |author2=中國歷史博物館聯合主辦 [Hong Kong Museum of History] |author-link2=Hong Kong Museum of History |date=1998 |script-title=zh:天工開物 中國古代科技文物展 |title=Tian gong kai wu: Zhongguo gu dai ke ji wen wu zhan |trans-title=Heavenly Creations: Gems of Ancient Chinese Inventions |script-chapter=zh:造纸 |chapter=Zàozhǐ |trans-chapter=Papermaking |language=Chinese, English|publisher=[[Hong Kong Museum of History|香港歷史博物館 [Hong Kong Museum of History]]] |location=Hong Kong |page=60 |isbn=978-962-7039-37-2 |oclc=41895821 }}</ref>}}

Papermaking, regardless of the scale on which it is done, involves making a dilute suspension of [[fibre]]s 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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Rudolf Patt |display-authors=etal|title= Paper and Pulp |encyclopedia= Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |year=2005 |publisher= Wiley-VCH |place= Weinheim |doi= 10.1002/1435369762/quest7.a18_545.pub4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>

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.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.tappi.org/paperu/art_class/makingPaper.htm |title=Making Paper By Hand |publisher=[[TAPPI]] |access-date=2016-04-30 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424021804/http://www.tappi.org/paperu/art_class/makingPaper.htm |archive-date=April 24, 2015 }}</ref><ref>"Papermaking by Hand at Hayle Mill, England in 1976" Film by Anglia TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs3PfwOItto</ref>

The wooden frame is called a "[[deckle]]". The deckle leaves the edges of the paper slightly irregular and wavy, called "[[deckle edge]]s", 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]]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]] Standard T 205
<ref>{{cite web
  | url= http://www.tappi.org/content/sarg/t205.pdf
  | title=Forming Handsheets for Physical Tests of Pulp
  | publisher= [[TAPPI]]
  | access-date=2016-04-30
}}</ref> are circular sheets 15.9&nbsp;cm (6.25&nbsp;in) in diameter and are tested for paper characteristics such as brightness, strength and degree of [[sizing]].<ref name=bier>{{cite book
  | last = Biermann
  | first = Christopher J.
  | title = Handbook of Pulping and Papermaking
  | publisher = Academic Press
  | year = 1993
  | location = San Diego
  | url = https://archive.org/details/essentialsofpulp0000bier
  | isbn = 0-12-097360-X
  | url-access = registration
  }}</ref>
Paper made from other fibers, cotton being the most common, tends to be valued higher than wood-based paper.{{cn|date=November 2022}}