The Materials Journalism Foundation has launched Paper101, an independent reference website dedicated to the composition, manufacture, sizing and behaviour of paper, extending the organisation’s model of specialist materials journalism beyond its existing project, tar.fyi.
Paper101 is positioned as a technical resource rather than a general-interest blog. Its stated scope covers international paper sizing systems, fibre sourcing and pulping methods, printing and publishing formats, conservation and storage, recycling and environmental claims, and the practical failures that occur when paper is mismatched to its intended use. The site’s own editorial statement frames the underlying problem plainly: paper is routinely treated as a uniform, interchangeable commodity, when in practice its fibre composition, grain direction, coating, weight and manufacturing process determine how it prints, folds, absorbs moisture and ages.
That framing sets up the site’s first substantive publications. One explains how wood fibre is converted into finished sheet, covering the distinction between hardwood and softwood pulp, the mechanics of pulping and bleaching, and how sheet formation determines the final material’s practical properties. A second, published on the site’s launch day, is a technical walkthrough of ISO 216, the international standard governing the A and B paper series used across most of the world outside North America.
The ISO 216 piece is a useful indicator of the site’s intended register. Rather than simply listing the familiar A4, A3 and A5 dimensions, it explains the underlying geometry: A0 is defined to have a nominal area of one square metre with sides in a 1:√2 ratio, and each subsequent size in the series is produced by halving the previous sheet along its shorter side, a construction that preserves the same aspect ratio at every step. That single mathematical property is what allows a page to be enlarged from A4 to A3 at a fixed 141.4 percent, or reduced in the other direction at 70.7 percent, scaling ratios embedded in ordinary photocopier presets.
The site also addresses adjacent standards that are frequently confused with ISO 216 itself. The B series, built on the same ratio but sized to sit between neighbouring A formats, is documented separately, as is the distinction between ISO 216’s trimmed finished sizes and the untrimmed RA and SRA sheet ranges defined under ISO 217, which commercial printers use to allow for bleed, grip and registration margins before trimming. The article further notes that C-series envelope sizes, though commonly associated with the same standards family, were originally specified under ISO 269, a standard now formally withdrawn even as its naming conventions persist throughout the stationery and envelope trade.
According to the site’s editorial statement, Paper101’s sourcing draws on international and national standards bodies, government and public-sector guidance, universities and research institutions, conservation and archival organisations, and peer-reviewed research, alongside manufacturer technical data sheets where relevant. The same statement is explicit that commercial and manufacturer sources are not treated as independent evidence, and that environmental claims commonly attached to paper products, including recyclable, biodegradable, compostable and carbon-neutral, are examined for the conditions under which they actually apply rather than presented as universal guarantees.
Paper101 is described as operating independently of manufacturers, retailers, printers and advertisers, and states that it does not accept payment in exchange for presenting marketing claims as independent conclusions. The site is run under the same organisational structure as tar.fyi, with the Materials Journalism Foundation describing its broader remit as public-interest journalism covering materials, manufacturing processes and the physical objects that make up everyday infrastructure.
The Foundation has indicated that Paper101 will continue publishing reference material through the remainder of 2026, with the stated aim of building a comprehensive public knowledge base on the science, history, production and applied use of paper.
Sources
Materials Journalism Foundation press release, “Materials Journalism Foundation Launches Paper101”
About Paper101,”https://paper101.uk/about/ Paper101,
ISO 216 Paper Sizes Explained: Understanding the A, B and C Series: https://paper101.uk/2026/07/15/iso-216-paper-sizes-explained/ Paper101
How Is Paper Made? From Pulp Preparation to the Finished Sheet,” https://paper101.uk/2026/07/14/how-is-paper-made/