How does the grain actually end up in paper and cardboard, and what do ‘long grain’ and ‘short grain’ mean?

The grain direction of paper/cardboard is determined during the manufacturing process.

When paper is manufactured, the paper fibres are deposited onto a moving sieve that moves in the longitudinal direction of the paper or cardboard machine.

The fibres align themselves along the direction of movement of the sieve (machine direction), thereby determining the grain direction of the paper. This direction influences the properties of the paper or board, such as its strength, flexibility and tear resistance.

Depending on how the printed sheets are cut from the paper web, the sheets produced are either long grain or short grain.