How was paper made by hand before the paper machine was invented?

Before the invention of the paper machine, paper was produced by hand one sheet at a time. The process involved the following steps:

• Preparation: A suspension of cellulosic fibre, known as stock or pulp, was prepared by beating the fibres in water until they were thoroughly separated and saturated.12
• Formation: A papermaker dipped a frame or mold with a screened bottom into a vat of this stock. The mold was often surrounded by a frame called a deckle, which helped define the edges of the sheet.123
• Draining: By lifting the mold from the vat, the water was allowed to drain through the screen, leaving a matted sheet of fibre behind.12
• Finishing: The wet sheet was then pressed and compacted to remove excess water, followed by a final drying process.12

Because this method relied on manual labor, the size of each sheet was strictly limited by the dimensions of the frame and mold that a person could physically lift from the vat.1