Carbon Paper

Overview of Carbon Paper:
Carbon paper is a thin paper coated with dry ink on one side and it is usually bound with wax. It is used for making one or more copies at the same time with the creation of an original document. It is used between two sheets of ordinary paper to make one or more copy of an original document. As we compose any document on the original paper, the pressure from the pen fixes the ink on the blank back paper and thus creates a carbon copy of the original document. Carbon paper can not always provide a good original with a pen or pencil, as it requires adequate pressure in order to provide good original.

Techniques of Carbon Paper Making:
Originally carbon paper was made completely by hand. A mixture of carbon black and oil in naphtha, which is a solvent, was applied to sheets of paper, by using a wide brush. After that carbon coating machine was invented and developed.

Decline of Carbon Paper:

Carbon paper has been mostly outdated by electronic means such as photocopying. But even now, it is used to make copies of typewriting. Although the photocopier struck the biggest blow to carbon paper and other early methods of copying, a technology was developed around the same time with the potential to eliminate carbon paper entirely. It was called No Carbon Required Paper. In this case, the original was produced by the pen or typewriter, while the chemical reaction left a blue copy traced on subsequent pages. It is ideal for large scale production, and consequently, it has yet to replace carbon paper completely.

Carbon paper still commercially exists today. Though, its use has declined considerably in the last few years, there have been some experimental uses of carbon paper in art. Perhaps carbon paper will always be ideal for some applications.