Our paper is made at Sri Aurobindo Handmade Paper in Pondicherry, south India. They have been making handmade paper from cotton since 1959 with a small team of local papermaking artisans, some of whom are now 2nd generation papermakers.

The factory is part of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, to which it gives 100% of profits.

We make 7 sizes from place card up to A4, with select paper sizes accompanied by a deckle-edge triangle-point envelope. Our full list of sizes are available to see in our size guide which also shows the proportions between sizes.

It's worth mentioning that our "A"-sizes refer to the ISO paper size standard and not the US announcement paper size convention.

We make 8 colours including White, Ivory, Blush, and Dark Green. Our full list of colours are available to browse in our shop.

If you're unfamiliar with paper weights a good way to compare the difference between these numbers is with normal printer paper which you may have at home. Normal printer paper is around 60 gsm, so our 200 gsm paper is three times as thick – take 3 sheets of printer paper and feel the thickness between your fingers. Our 300 gsm paper is 5 sheets of printer paper.

Unless you have a specific need for thicker pieces over thinner, it can be hard to choose one over the other. We recommend picking up a small sample of each to give you a chance to feel the weight and texture of both.

It's worth noting that as our paper is made by hand, there is an inherent variance of ±20% in the thickness between pieces.

No, our envelopes and paper are sold separately, allowing you to mix and match different colours and weights if required.

Our paper may contain very slight marks and indentations on the sides and corners which arise from the traditional hand-papermaking process, such as felt impressions from couching and clip impressions from drying.

There are some differences in our pieces due to the traditional hand paper-making techniques used to make our paper.

There can be a variation in size, weight (±20%), and even colour shade between individual pieces due to a number of factors, such as the consistency of the pulp when lifting each sheet, the felts we use on a particular batch, the pressure used when pressing, and the humidity of the air when the pieces dry. Each factor causes slight variance in its own way. As such, all sizes, weights, and colours are approximate.

While we do try to control these factors, there will still be variation in the finished pieces which has been known to cause problems for very traditional printmakers who are new to handmade paper. Given these variances, it is recommended that printing dimensions are finalised once your pieces have arrived so they can be adjusted to the paper.

We are always exploring new shades, so if you are looking for a colour which we don't currently offer please get in touch with us to see if it's something we're already working on.

Custom sizes are available but unfortunately have a high minimum order quantity, a custom equipment manufacture charge, and a lead-time of a few months.

We recommend viewing our sizes as we hopefully make something which suits your need. If you're keen to learn more about a custom size please drop us a line at [email protected].

There are two main chemicals/additives used in our papermaking:

1. An internal sizing agent to help bond the cotton fibres. Our internal sizing is acid-free making our final pieces neutral in pH, which helps with longevity as it reduces degradation over time. Good handmade cotton paper will last a few centuries
2. Dyes. The dyes used in our paper are from the textile industry as they are the most durable against fading. However, our factory is in the process of sourcing natural dyes for our papermaking.

Our factory also treats and recycles the water used in the papermaking process, removing stray fibres and colouring. The treated water is used in the grounds of the factory, watering its gardens and coconut trees.

Yes, our paper is suitable for hand calligraphy by ink-artisans. Our internal sizing and finish provide a fine-tooth to our pieces, making the texture nib-friendly, even on the up-stroke.

If you are using our paper for the first time, we do recommend picking up a small sample of pieces in order to try your specific inks and nibs. Guidance from artists familiar with our paper is provided in our guide for calligraphy on handmade paper.

Yes, our paper is suitable for digital printing and we recommend using an inkjet printer if you are printing on our paper at home. A guide featuring advice from professional stationery designers is available in our guide for printing on handmade paper.

Most modern printers will have an envelope setting which tells the printer to expect the paper to be fed in manually. Only feed a few sheets into the printer at a time or even individually if you need to. Due to the handmade nature of our pieces we advise printing 5-10% more than you need to in order to ensure you can test and calibrate your alignment and feeding.

Yes, our paper is suitable for letterpress, however we recommend our thicker grade of 300 gsm pieces. Our 300 gsm pieces can come up thicker, sometimes up to 350 gsm, making them the better option for letterpress. Get in touch with us if you are in need of our thicker pieces as we can set these aside for you and your project.

Yes, our internal sizing and finish will accommodate light watercolour, however we do not recommend our paper for heavy or wet paint work.

If you are using our paper for the first time, we do recommend picking up a small sample of pieces in order to try your specific paints and techniques.

We recommend any modern inkjet printer, such as HP or Epsom. Most modern inkjet printers will have an envelope setting which tells the printer to expect the paper to be fed in manually. When printing, only feed a few sheets into the printer at a time or even individually if you need to.

As our paper is handmade, each piece won't be perfectly straight and the natural deckle edges will add to the uneven dimensions. This will often result in a print which may appear skewed against one side, but straight against another. As such, you may find you need to align the sheets against only one of the guides your printer has, often the one which aligns the left-hand side of the printed sheet.

We advise ordering 5-10% more than you need to ensure you can test your alignment and feeding.

A guide featuring advice from professional stationery designers is available in our guide for printing on handmade paper.

Laser printers require a perfectly smooth surface with no texture, upon which the laser applies a charge to the sheet for the toner to fuse with. Our handmade papers will all have some texture, which is usually more than a laser printer can contend with. You can of course try a few pieces to see what results you obtain, however, we recommend a modern inkjet printer.

Unfortunately, we don't offer a printing service as we prefer to focus on papermaking. Our paper is printer-friendly, however, allowing you to print at home. We recommend any modern inkjet printer to do so. If you're not keen on printing yourself, we do know of some exceptionally talented and experienced designers and printers who we would highly recommend should you be looking for such a paper artisan to help you.

Our Gallery showcases exemplary stationery design by designers and artists from across the globe. To appear in our Gallery simply tag us in your work on Instagram (we are @IndianCottonPaperCo). We will then be in touch to ask if we can include your post in our Gallery.

For customers within India we offer the following payment methods:

• Credit and debit cards: VISA, Mastercard
• Net Banking.

For international customers we offer the following payment methods:

• Credit and debit cards: VISA, Mastercard, American Express
• PayPal.

All payments are handled securely by our payment providers – we do not see or store your payment details.

We do have prepared sample packs which are available to buy in our shop. There are two types of pack – an All Colours pack which features a placecard size piece of each of our shades, and an All Sizes pack which has all available sizes in both grades for the shade selected.

If you're looking to sample a specific colour and size we recommend picking up a set of 5 or 10 of the pieces you would like to see.

Rather than provide a quote for our core range of paper we recommend visiting our online shop where you can see our full range on display with prices. We advise viewing our shop on a desktop so you can see the full menu of sizes, colours, and grades on the left-hand side.

Yes, we do – we have a tiered pricing model where a discount is applied as the quantity of your order increases. The tiers are:

• 5 sheets: base price
• 10 sheets: save 10% on base price
• 25 sheets: save 20% on base price
• 50 sheets: save 30% on base price
• 100 sheets: save 40% on base price
• 250 sheets: save 50% on base price (only available via our factory's website).

For artists and creatives looking for higher quantities we recommend buying from our factory's website directly. Our factory's website offers the following benefits over our other online shops:

• Tiered pricing with up to 50% off for quantities of 250 pieces or more.

For regular customers frequently ordering large quantities the following additional concessions are available:

• A saving of 10% to customers that have previously ordered 500 pieces
• A saving of 15% to customers that have previously ordered 1,000 pieces
• A saving of 20% to customers that have previously ordered 3,500 pieces.

These savings are based on previous completed orders from the last 90 days, previous purchases can be for any colour, size, or grade.

If you live in a country with a low customs duty and VAT/GST threshold (also known as De Minimis import values) and your order will be shipping with DHL, DHL will pay the duty and VAT/GST on your behalf at the point of import and will then send you an invoice to be reimbursed, they may also include an admin fee.

We strongly advise checking the import duty and VAT/GST thresholds for your country before placing an order to avoid a surprise import duty or VAT/GST bill. Countries in the EU typically have a low threshold before applying VAT whereas other countries, such as the United States and Australia, are more generous allowing orders of a higher value through without charge.

DHL would have had to pay the import duty and VAT/GST for your order at the point of import on your behalf and are requesting to be reimbursed, they may have also included an administration fee.

We strongly advise checking the import duty and VAT/GST thresholds for your country before placing an order to avoid a surprise import duty or VAT/GST bill. Countries in the EU typically have a low threshold before applying VAT whereas other countries, such as the United States and Australia, are more generous allowing orders of a higher value through without charge.

Our shop is run by our factory – Sri Aurobindo Handmade Paper, which is where our paper is made and shipped from. As such, their name will appear on your statement.

It typically takes us around 3 weeks to make up a new batch of a particular colour – that includes the whole papermaking process of beating the pulp, lifting the sheets, drying, calendaring, and sorting, as well as preparing finished packs ready for despatch.

We have an at-a-glance view of our stock availability for each of our categories:

• Deckle edge stationery paper
• Art & craft paper.

Restock notifications can be created by following the steps below:

1. When viewing an item which is out of stock, click on "Set alert" in the pack-size selection menu
2. In the pop-up which opens, fill in the quantity you require and click "Create restock notification"
3. Once clicked, your notification will be created. Restock notifications can be managed in your Acccount.

When an item is restocked, notifications are sent to Artisan Account customers first and then on a first-come-first-served basis to other customers in the notification list.

You will only recieve a notification if we have enough stock to meet your requirement, e.g. if you required 200 pieces and we only restock with 100 pieces you will not receive a notification.

Please note that there is a chance this item may have sold out by the time you visit our website, in which case we recommend creating another notification as we are most likely still adding more newly-made pieces.

For customers within India we offer the following shipping method:

• 3 day transit: Bluedart Express, trackable.

For international customers we offer the following shipping methods:

• 3 day transit via DHL – US$22, trackable
• 7-10 days transit via FedEx – US$9, trackable.

Additionally, all international orders over US$90 / £65 / €75 will ship for free.

Yes, for international orders (outside of India) over US$90 / £65 / €75 we offer free shipping with DHL's Express Worldwide service.

Courier

If your pieces were shipped to you via a courier we advise you to contact the courier with your tracking number for an update. For some EU countries such as Greece or Italy, there is a chance the courier requires additional information from you before they can clear your shipment for delivery.

Standard Post

If you opted for the standard post shipping option we'd be happy to send you a replacement free of charge, but before we do, often a few extra days is all the parcel needs in order to appear. Please also note that a standard post shipment requires a signature on delivery, so it may be at your nearest post office. A surprising number of shipments are returned to us as "uncollected" despite the customer not receiving a notice to collect it. Drop us a line if it still hasn't arrived 21 days after the shipping date and after having checked in at your local post office.

For standard post shipments within India, it is not possible to track the progress of the delivery. Courier shipments can be tracked via the courier's website using your tracking code from the despatch confirmation email.

If your order hasn't yet shipped we can update your shipping address for you – simply drop us a line via email quoting your order reference number.

If your order has shipped it is only possible to change your address if it shipped via DHL through their "On Demand Delivery" service which allows you to make updates to your delivery address and add instructions too if required.

We have to split large orders into smaller boxes due to export rules in India. Large orders are considered commercial transactions and so require another level of documentation, both for us and for yourself as the importer receiving the goods. As such, we have been advised by our couriers to split orders down to below the threshold.

Please note that if you live in a country with a low customs duty and VAT/GST threshold (also known as De Minimis import values) you will be charged a handling fee by the courier for each individual box.

If you are unhappy with your pieces, or made a mistake with your order, you are more than welcome to return them back to us within 30 days of receiving your order. However, please note that we cannot offer free returns. When returning your pieces, please package them up securely and return them to our factory at:

SAHMP
50 S.V. Patel Salai
Pondicherry
India
605001

Well done! However, we are afraid that we can't offer you a prize, sorry. But, we do applaud your effort and stamina for having read through all of our questions and answers, that certainly is a fine achievement. If there's anything we've missed please drop us a line at [email protected], or feel free to do so just to say hello.