Paper

Paper is a thin, flexible sheet made by forming and drying a mat of processed fibers, usually cellulose. Its porous surface supports writing and printing, while its strength and foldability make it useful for packaging.

Papermaking: Papermaking is the process of turning fibrous materials into sheets by forming, pressing, and drying them. This broader process produces paper from dispersed fibers.
Cai Lun: Cai Lun was a Han dynasty court official traditionally credited with improving papermaking in China around 105 CE. His reported improvements became central to accounts of paper’s invention.
Printing: Printing is the reproduction of text or images by transferring ink or another medium onto a surface. Paper became the dominant surface for mass-produced text and images.
Woodblock printing: Woodblock printing is a printing method that transfers ink from carved wooden blocks to paper or another surface. Paper made this early form of repeatable image and text reproduction practical.
Papyrus: Papyrus is an ancient writing material made by layering strips from the pith of the papyrus plant. Unlike paper’s interwoven pulp fibers, papyrus sheets are assembled from plant strips.
Pulp (paper): Pulp is a wet mixture of separated fibers used to make paper and other fiber products. Its fibers form the structural network of a paper sheet.
Paper in ancient China: Paper in ancient China developed from early plant-fiber sheets into a practical writing material. China is the earliest known center of papermaking.
Newsprint: Newsprint is inexpensive, lightweight paper manufactured chiefly for printing newspapers. Its low cost and rapid production suit high-volume daily publishing.
Movable type: Movable type is a printing system using reusable individual characters arranged to form pages. Its expansion in East Asia and Europe depended on a plentiful, economical printing surface.
Parchment: Parchment is a durable writing material made from specially prepared animal skin. It offered greater durability than paper but required animal hides.

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