Look at a piece of wood and you immediately realize that it has a grain, and the long thin lines of the grain are all headed in one direction.
But did you know that paper also has a grain direction? Its true, just like wood every sheet of paper you pick up has a grain direction. As paper is manufactured the fiber that the paper is made from aligns itself with the movement of the paper machines. By the end of its creation, nearly all the fibers are facing this one direction and a paper’s grain is developed.
That’s interesting, but so what?
Well, if you are planning on folding, scoring or binding your design, then it could make a huge difference. Paper folded against the grain will quite often look pretty horrible. Knowing the grain direction allows you to design your work so that you can be sure to have the best results in the end.
Its also important when designing and pricing a letterhead. To save money, it might seem advantageous to print an 8.5 by 11 letterhead 2-up (that is twice on one sheet of paper) on an 11 by 17 sheet. But there is a trade-off. By doing that you would be changing the grain direction from grain-long to grain short, and that means the letterhead printed printed 2-Up on the 11 by 17 sheet would be rather floppy compared to a nice stiff sheet that could be achieved printing 1-up on a single 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper.
So, how does one find the grain direction in a paper?
Well, there are some ways to determine a paper’s grain just by inspecting it. Generally speaking, a paper will bend easier in the direction parallel to its grain direction, and be slightly stiffer when folded opposing the grain. And if one tears a sheet of paper, the tear will appear much straighter and smoother when torn with the grain.
While, these methods are effective, but they rely on one’s experience and knowledge of working with paper. Luckily with commercial papers the manufacturers have taken the guesswork out of the process.
Papers are manufactured to be Grain Long or Grain Short. The most usual case is Grain Long and determined by looking at the second dimension in a paper’s size. So that a sheet of 8.5 by 11 paper’s grain direction would be with the 11 inch length or a sheet of 11 by 17 paper’s grain direction would be along the 17 inch length. But if you were to purchase a sheet labeled 11 by 8.5, or 17 by 11, than the grain direction would be with the second, shorter dimension. Sometimes a paper company will bold or underline the grain direction dimension. Reading through a paper catalog or swatchbook, you will see that most paper companies make it quite clear which direction the grain is running. As in the example labels below. I have hi-lighted the key information.
And to make it even easier, we are able to order the paper with grain headed in the direction you need. So if you are planning a project and have questions about what paper you need or what grain direction to go with, just ask, we would be happy to help you.