What about the paper's grain?

In my previously post, I briefly touched on the subject of a paper's grain. Those just starting in the paper arts and bookarts, or heck, even those involved in the paper arts and bookarts as a beginner may not fully understand what it is, how it even applies to creating with paper, why it is important, and how you can determine it.

For me personally, I didn't even discover that paper had a grain and why it was important to me until I began in creating books by hand. So, I'll discuss that here for others to learn and discover.

What it paper grain?
Remember the fibers used in the papermaking process that I mentioned in the previous post, the cotton rag and wood pulp used in the papermaking process? The direction of those fibers assist to determine the paper grain which can be one of the most important aspects in acheiving a perfect fold or the desired appearance of a tear within a sheet of paper.

During the process of making paper, the paper grain is the direction that those fibers within a piece of paper are pointed. It will either be toward the long end of the sheet or toward the short side of the sheet as only a few of the fibers will run in the opposite direction and are able to provide any resistance to the folding mechanism. The more fiber a sheet of paper contains the more resistence will be felt when folding and/or tearing and the lower the quality of the fold or the tear.

But, first let's discuss the direction a bit more. Understanding it will increase your understanding when creating with paper where folds are important. Direction of the grain is usually mentioned by three terms: parellel, purpendicular, and diagonal.

• Parellel - runs in the same direction and do not intersect or cross over one another, in papermaking this is the horizontal range and runs acrossed the shorter side of a standard sheet of paper {the 8 1/2" side},
• Purpendicular - runs at a right angles to the plane of the horizon; a vertical line or direction, and in papermaking is straight up and down on the long side of a standard sheet of paper {the 11" side},
• and Diagonally, running across from corner to corner; normally the upper left right corner to to lower left corner although it can be discovered vice versa.

An important note: Very few papers will have a diagonal grain and mostly only those that are created by a handmade paper artist who desire the paper to be so created with a certain purpose in mind such as for orgami.

Why it is important?

Paper that is folded parallel to the grain of the paper will fold much more cleanly, resulting in a crisp, clean, and straight fold. The parallel grain will produce a much cleaner and neater fold because the paper fibers (grain) are running in the same basic direction as the fold.

When a fold is applied perpendicular to the grain of the paper, the resulting fold may have a ragged appearance. Perpendicular grain produces a ragged fold because all of the fibers are folded at one time creating resistance to the folding action. The ragged appearance of the fold is especially noticeable when folding heavier stocks of paper or torn, it will also result in a jagged appearance and the paper will not tear in a nearly straight line.

For handmade paper, the direction of the grain can be found quite easily. Bend the paper gently first lenghtwise, then gently widthwise. The fold that offers the least amount of resistance or is folded more easily will be parallel to the grain of the paper. The paper will also tear more easily when torn parallel to the grain and result in a more even straight tear. For the machine made cold-press and hot-press papers, the grain usually runs perpendicular to the curve of the roll, or parellel to the edge of the paper.

It is important to know this when desiring to create cards books by hand and in bookbinding because you desire for an optimal level of strength to prevent warping. The grain of the paper must be parellel with the spine of a book, and the grain of all the paper must go in the same direction. It is extremely important because as the paper expands when exposed to humidity it will expand perpendicular to the grain. If the grain in the books signatures and/or book block, endpapers, and book boards used for the covers of the book and all the papers used to cover them, are facing the same direction, the expansion will only cause slight curving normally occuring as the glues used in it a book's creation shink the fibers of the papers.

If the grain is not all in the same direction, the expansion will be in multiple directions, causing extreme warping of your card if you're layering in a layer inside for a more polished appearance of in that of a handmade book.

Now that I know what paper grain is, why it is important, how do I determine it?
There are some simple test you can use to determine the paper grain direction and some of the results you'll achieve:

• the folding test - When you are folding a small sheet of paper you will notice that it folds more easily and smoothly when the fold is parallel to the grain. When it is folded against the grain, or purpendicular to it, the crease will show small fiber particles that are broken or in the process of breaking and the end result will make an unsatisfactory fold, jagged in appearance.
• the moisture test - moisture is applied to one corner of a sheet of paper by just dampening it. It will immediately start to curl in one direction either up and down or across. The direction of the curl will indicate the paper grain direction.
• the bending test - I mentioned this one in the section above only with handmade paper and it is the one I use the most often. You simply bend the paper without actually creating the actual folded crease in the paper. Thicker papers are best tested by bending them in both directions and with some more expensive artists papers where you don't desire to create a fold in them. One direction will offer a considerably more noticible resistance than the other. Parallel to the grain direction is discovered where there is the lest amount of resistance against the grain.
• the tearing test - in this test a sheet of paper is actually torn in either a horizonal or in a vertical direction. The tear pattern will be straight when parallel to the grain and jagged when across the grain. I use this one if I'm creating a collage where I desire a torn edge to begin with.

Once I've established the direction of the paper grain in my larger sheets of paper and before I roll them for storage in my studio, I mark each sheet of paper using a pencil and lightly mark in an double ended arrow which will later indicate the paper grain. This saves me some time later when I pull those paper for use in either cardmaking or bookbinding. I just simply use the bending method for smaller sheets. You'll just have to trust me on this one and try it out for yourself but I can assure you that by determining the direction of the paper's grain, you will be much more happier in your paper art adventures. {*smile and I hope you discovered this information useful in your papercrafting.}