Paper grain is the direction by which a (usually machine-made) piece of paper’s fibres are arranged. While it seems largely insignificant, this deep-dive into all things paper grain reveals a wealth of bizarre knowledge. For example, the direction of the grain will determine the extent to which a piece of paper can be bent before it creases. Similarly, the grain determines ‘paper shrinkage’: “a sheet folded in half is not exactly half as wide as the full sheet: a tiny bit of paper is used by the crease itself”. Read full article here
