The history of copperplate papers

Copperplate papers, as it is called in mainland China, and powder paper in Hong Kong, is one of the more used papers in the printing industry. In Hong Kong, the name of this paper is almost well known. But not many people know it in the mainland, because practitioners lack communication with each other. The original English name for copperplate papers is Art Paper, which is a common name for an imported product. This paper was first developed by the British in the mid-19th century as a coated processing paper. The white and fine porcelain clay is mixed into paint and evenly brushed on the surface of the original paper (coated on one side or both sides) to make a high-level printing paper. Since the process is similar to a woman applying powder to her face, it is called powder paper. In fact, Art Paper was translated as Fine Art Paper in the 1930s in China. The reason is that when this paper was used to print fine paintings in Europe, the printing plate used was a copper-plate etching. Therefore, according to the convention of naming by use, the art paper used for copper plate printing is called copper plate (printing) paper. In the printing industry in mainland China, colleagues in the paper industry refer to Art Paper as coated paper, not powder paper. By the way, some books and magazines translate copper plate paper as Copper Plate Paper, or Enameled Paper is not accurate enough. The history of copperplate papers，The former is mistaken for a paper like copper plate, which should be translated as four-plate paper, and the latter should be waxed paper (called Li-light paper in Taiwan).