What Is Fabriano Artistico Paper — and Why It Makes a Print Last

Fabriano Artistico is a 100% cotton rag paper made in Fabriano, Italy — a town with one of the longest continuous papermaking traditions in Europe. It's the paper every print in this collection is built on, and the reason comes down to one word printmakers use constantly and rarely explain: archival.

What does "cotton rag" actually mean?

Most everyday paper is made from wood pulp, which contains lignin — a compound that breaks down over time and causes yellowing, brittleness, and eventual deterioration. Cotton rag paper contains no lignin. It's made from cotton fibre, which is naturally acid-free and doesn't degrade the way wood-pulp paper does. That's the entire difference between a print that looks the same in thirty years and one that doesn't.

Why does it matter for a hand-pulled screenprint specifically?

A piece like Nothing for Granted goes through 29 individual colour passes, each one hand-pulled at Artrite Screen Printing. That's 29 opportunities for a lesser paper to warp, cockle, or absorb ink unevenly. Fabriano Artistico is heavyweight and dimensionally stable — it holds its shape under repeated printing without buckling, which is part of why the registration on a complex, multi-colour piece stays sharp instead of drifting between layers.

Does it actually stay flat over time?

Yes — and this is where cheaper paper fails first. Wood-pulp paper absorbs and releases moisture unevenly, which is what causes warping and cockling in a frame over the years, particularly in New Zealand's humidity swings between seasons. Cotton rag is far more dimensionally stable, which is one of the reasons museums and archives specify it.

Paper is the part of a print almost nobody asks about, and it's the part that determines whether everything else — the ink, the colour, the composition — survives to be seen by the next generation.

FAQ

Is Fabriano Artistico paper used for giclée prints as well as screenprints? Yes, it's used across both processes here — it's the common archival standard for museum-quality fine art printing.

How long does a print on cotton rag paper actually last? With UV-protective glazing and stable framing conditions, archival cotton rag paper is rated for well over a century without significant degradation.

Does the paper affect how the print looks, not just how long it lasts? Yes — cotton rag has a distinct tooth and weight that changes how ink sits on the surface, giving screenprints a depth that smoother papers don't hold.