The delicate paper industry began in China around 100 AD. Humans discovered that by filtering a suspension of pulp obtained by soaking the inner skin of a bamboo on a mesh by tiny pores, a felt of fibers could be made. This felt, was being used for writing and painting after getting pressed and dried.
Up to early 19th century, paper was still being produced manually. Nicolas Louis Robert patented the first machine to produce continuous paper in 1799. First continuous paper machine started working in 1803 in England. However, it was Fourdrinier brothers who successfully developed industrialized paper making machine in 1804 and patented it in 1807.
The primary machines consisted of a tank from which papermaking material was poured on a movable mesh between two cylinders, then the wet layer was pressed and collected to form dry paper.
Paper has been the most familiar, stable and reliable means of transmitting human thought throughout its genesis history and will undoubtedly be so, for a long time.
In fact, a large part of human knowledge, which contains a large collection of his experiences and thoughts, has reached us through the blessings of paper and has been passed down from generation to generation. Generally, throughout the time, human tried to save and record his knowledge and experiences in easiest way and later transfer it to others as well.
According to different needs of human being, the usage of this phenomenon has been developed and finally has been adapted to human needs in any condition. So that, in addition to its above mentioned basic application, the wide usage of paper and cardboard can be mentioned in packaging industry. In general, per capita paper consumption increasing, shows the richness of the communication system and the diversity of products resulting from different packaging systems of the community, which in general indicates the growth and evolution of technology in that community.
Nowadays, there are more than 3000 various papers for different usage in market. However, in paper making industry, papers are classified in 4 categories:
- Graph paper and cardboard
- Packaging cardboard types
- Hygienic papers
- Industrial papers for electronic usages
The paper consumer also usually classifies and names papers, based on their usage: writing paper, Newsprint paper, cover cardboard, book paper and envelope paper are some of the common types of paper. In general, the types of paper used in the printing industry are as follows.
Types of paper used in printing
- Writing and Printing Paper
What is known as writing paper in Iran, is called writing and printing paper in international classification of papers. This paper is supplied in both forms of coated or uncoated. The writing paper in Iran is usually uncoated, and both of its sides can be used for writing on, without any leakage or penetration of ink to other side.
Types of size and grammage of printing and writing paper
This type of paper is provided in 70*100, 60*90 sizes and grammages 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 100, 1200 GSM.
The usage of writing and printing paper
This type is used in printing and writing industries. It is used for printing books, magazines and diaries. All the copy papers which are used in printers, are from this type as well.
Currently, copy paper is mostly manufactured in Indonesia, South Korea, China and Malaysia.
Writing and printing paper manufacturing companies
Writing and printing paper famous brands are as: Inda KiathIK, Coins 3, swan (Sinar Royal), Moorim, Infinity – App, Shinho and crown and Lonfon writing paper.
- Woodfree paper and board introduction
Woodfree paper is a high quality, slightly heavy, double-sided covered, printing paper with a smooth surface. High quality printing of mono-colour and multi-colour pictures, needs to be printed on a paper with smooth and even surface and the ink is absorbed to its surface evenly. Woodfree paper is the most suitable one in this case.
Types of size and grammage of Woodfree paper and board
Woodfree paper is provided in 100*70, 90*60 sizes (and customized sizes) and grammages 80, 90, 100, 113, 118, 135, 148, 170, 200, 250, 280, 300 and 350.
The usage of Woodfree paper and board
The main usage of Woodfree paper and board are types of magazines and their covers and visit cards.
Woodfree paper and board manufacturing companies:
The famous Woodfree paper brands are: Shinho (Artone), Hansol (Hansol), Moorim (Moorim), New Crown (New Crown), Nevia (Nevia), Infinity (Infinity).
Currently the imported papers are mostly from South Korea, China and Indonesia.
Woodfree papers are supplied in two form of matt and glossy, also one-sided and double-sided.
- Grayback and White Cardboard Introduction
Grayback cardboard, is a board with different weights (gr) that is white on one side. This type of cardboard is used in box printing and various packages.
Grayback or duplex cardboard is made of cardboard sheets in two layers and these two layers are pasted to each other by special wet plates
Types of size and grammage of Grayback and white cardboard
This type of cardboard is supplied in various sizes and the grammages 210, 230, 250, 280, 300, 350, 400.
Specifications of Grayback and white Cardboard
Grayback cardboard specifications are as: extra hard or extra soft (according to its type), high quality printability, usually are gray in one side and gray/white in other side and are stored in pallets and packed in plastic films. They are most often produced in roll and sheet.
The Grayback papers which are often used in pharmaceutical packing are of recycled type and thus, considering the sensitivity of Medicine packing, using the Grayback cardboard in this field is actually forbidden by laws.
Necessary to state that, unfortunately this type of cardboard is still used in some food industry such as ice-cream large boxes and etc.
Beigeback or yellowback cardboard which is in higher quality comparing to Grayback one, is most often used in pharmaceutical and hygienic boxes. Another type of cardboard used in packaging hygienic products and is licensed by Iran Ministry of Health, is Ivory board which in Iran is called as Inder or Indel board. This is a type of packaging paper which its core is made of recycled materials (such as gray back) and on the other two sides, a white or beige pulp layer with a higher pulp percentage is used. The thicker this layer is, the higher the quality.
The usages of Grayback and white cardboard:
This type of cardboard is generally used in packaging such as: industrial goods, pharmaceutical, food, printing, publications and any type of packing in all types of industries.
Grayback and white cardboard brands and manufacturing companies:
Famous brands are: Hansol (Hansol), Dragon (Shinpoong), Tiger (Seha), Horese (White horse), Infinity (Infinity) and Panda.
Manufacturing companies are: SHIPOONG PAPER MFG CO., HANCHAN PAPER CO. LTD., DAEHAN PAPER TECH CO. LTD. And SEHA INFINITY PAPER CO.
- Industrial Paper (Kraft) Introduction:
High-resistant paper made from sulfated pulp. Kraft paper is very diverse including non-bleached Kraft paper used for packaging and bleached Kraft paper used to make paper with a strong texture consistency.
This paper usually is produced in brown or white colours and is durable and generally is used for packaging, box, carton, (Kraft) envelope. Grammage of this paper is such diverse that by combining them in sheet and carton manufacturing, it is possible to make more than 100 combinations in 3 and 5 layers sheets. It exists in form of Kraft paper, Kraft cardboard and coarse Kraft cardboard.
The usages of Kraft paper:
This paper is used by carton sheet producing factories, cement bag and also paper bags production.
Industrial-Kraft paper manufacturing companies:
Famous brands are: Lee and Man Kraft (Lee and Man), Daehan (Daehan), Asia Paper and Infinity.
- Newsprint Paper and LWC Paper introduction:
Newsprint is a paper that is made from wood pulp (recycled fibers) without applying mechanical operations on it and it is low resistance against light and for the above reasons is cheap, but thin and breakable. However, sometime newsprint paper is made of wood primary pulp (42~48 gr), which its colour contrast and surface makes the photo printing with higher resolution, comparing to other newsprint papers. The width of its producing machine is approximately between 1575 mm and 1760 mm. As can be understood of its name, this paper is specifically for News Paper, white in colour and has high absorbing level and usually is used for printing News Paper by offset machine and letter press.
Newsprint paper is proper for temporary and quick artworks. This paper is used for large, initial sketches and temporary designing which is done by charcoal pencil, crayons and chalk pencil. Newsprint paper is available in forms of notebook, sheet, etc. The colour of this paper is usually grayish-brown and also is produced in different colours. Newsprint paper has the sufficient surface tension and good resistance during printing.
Size and Grammage types of Newsprint paper
This paper is produced in 70-100 cm wide rolls and various grammages between 60 up to 250 gr.
Various uses of Fancy Papers:
This type of paper is used for: flower and gift wrapping, bookbinding, invitation card, greeting card, high quality diaries, handbooks, bank booklets, license, cosmetics packing, and other high quality packaging.
Fancy paper producers and brands
Famous brands for this type of paper are INFINITY, BRIGHTS, FANCY PAPER, Fabriano and Fedrigoni. This paper usually is manufactured in Italy, South Korea and China.
Below comes some information about other types of papers
Carbonless paper: chemically coated paper, which acts like carbon copy and transfers the handwriting to the next page. It is also known as NCR. Usual grammage varies in range of 40~240 gr.
Bible Paper: A very thin paper used to publish voluminous and valuable books. This paper is called Bible paper since it is used in Bible printing. It is also known as Indian Paper.