Alpha-cellulose Paper
Paper made from highly purified wood pulp with lignin removed, offering archival stability at lower cost than cotton.
Measured in
g/m²
In depth
Purification removes the components that cause yellowing, so alpha-cellulose meets archival standards while costing considerably less than rag. Many well-regarded fine-art papers use it, sometimes blended with cotton, and the difference in longevity between a good alpha-cellulose sheet and pure rag is far smaller than the price gap suggests.
Examples in practice
An alpha-cellulose fine-art paper offers a comparable rated life to cotton rag at around two-thirds the price.