Make Your Own Imitation Vellum Or Parchment Paper.

Parchment paper and imitation vellum have been made by untold generations of

inventive bookbinders by painting suitable papers with varnish or lacquer.

I was a professional binder for most of my adult life and I have used these methods myself on numerous occasions.

What paper you choose is important, I have used many papers, but over time I have come to stick with two, depending on if I want an imitation vellum or a parchment paper.

The paper I use is made by a specialist paper maker called Hahnemühle, they make two papers, a heavy version of 130gsm and a lightweight version of 90gsm. These papers are mould made and of very high quality, they are acid free and will last for centuries. The papers have small flecks of neutral debris in the paper which further help to give the impression of age.

What is the difference between an imitation vellum and a parchment paper?

Essential the difference is one of weight, a genuine vellum is heavier than a genuine parchment, and this fact is reflected in the papers.

Both oil and spirit based varnishes have been used to make these vellums & parchments, I use a spirit based lacquer as it dries very quickly and with a harder finish than an oil varnish, this hard finish further imitates vellum.

This is the recipe for the lacquer I use.

All materials are available from the gold leaf supplies page.

The alcohol used in this recipe does give of fumes, if they bother you make sure the room you use is ventilated.

In a screw topped jar mix four parts of methylated spirits (denatured alcohol) with 1 part blonde de waxed shellac, it is important to get this particular type of shellac as each type of shellac has its own colour.

Leave the mixture for 36 hours stirring occasionally, until the shellac flakes have dissolved.

When all the flakes have dissolved the lacquer is ready to use.

This shows the colour change that takes place when the lacquer is applied to the heavy 130gsm paper.

On the left is an untreated sheet of paper.

Here is the result, what cannot be shown in a picture however is the feel of the paper.

By applying the shellac lacquer we have changed the characteristics of the paper dramatically.

It is stiff and handles in the same way as a genuine vellum.

Here we have the lightweight 90gsm paper after being given a coat of shellac.

The colour tone is different as the amount of shellac,which acts as a colourant, is less.

Less shellac in the paper also makes the paper handle differently, in this case the paper is not so hard to handle.

This is the finished sheet placed on top of some white paper with printing on it.

You can see that the paper is slightly opaque, just like genuine parchments and vellums which often have areas of the skin which are opaque. In some cases vellums and parchments are deliberately made opaque, even transparent.

All materials are available from the gold leaf supplies page.