Watercolor Paper Surfaces
Cold Pressed:
The term cold pressed refers to the surface of the watercolor paper that you are looking at. Cold pressed paper is the most common and the most popular among watercolor artists. Cold pressed watercolor paper has a texture that is right in the middle between smooth and rough. Cold pressed watercolor paper gets its name from a finishing process employed by the paper makers. After the moulds of paper are created, they are then milled thru a set of cylinders to get the cotton fiber to lay down. These cylinders are cold, therefore the name cold pressed.
Hot Pressed
The term hot pressed is another term that describes the surface of watercolor paper. Hot pressed watercolor paper is also milled thru a set of cylinders to smooth the cotton fibers down. In the case of hot pressed watercolor paper, these cylinders are heated. This causes the fibers to lay down in a much smoother arrangement. It is just like ironing your cotton shirt with a hot iron. Hot pressed watercolor paper is the smoothest texture available and preferred by artists who use lots of detail in their artwork.
Soft Pressed:
The term soft pressed is yet another term that describes the surface of watercolor paper. However, this term you will see much less often since this surface is only available in watercolor paper in the Fabriano Aritstico line. The texture of soft pressed paper is in between cold pressed and hot pressed art paper.
Rough:
This is the last of the terms regarding watercolor paper surfaces. Rough watercolor papers are those that are not treated at all. These papers have a rough surface because they are pulled directly from the mould and are not run thru cylinders at all. This surface has the highest tooth of any watercolor paper.
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