Origami paper
Origami Paper: read the 60 to 80 gsm examples and handling notes. Folding, cutting and glue tips. Find craft uses, sheet sizes and weight equivalents.
Origami paper is thin paper cut into accurate squares for folding. Ordinary kami is a machine-made sheet with colour on one face and often white on the other; some packs are coloured through.
- Typical weight
- 60–80 gsm
- US lb · calculated at the named basis
- 40.5–54.1 lb text equivalent (25 × 38 in, 500 sheets)
Weights to look for
Kami is commonly sold around 60–70 gsm; textured Tant is 80 gsm. These are light folding papers, with different finishes rather than one fixed recipe.
Folding, creasing, cutting and gluing
- Fold
- Thin sheets keep layered corners manageable. Begin with kami for the crane and other models with repeated folds.
- Crease
- Line the edges up, then press from the middle of the fold toward both ends. Scoring is unnecessary for ordinary kami.
- Cut
- A sharp straight cut makes a square without a ragged edge. Keep the sheet still against a ruler when trimming.
- Glue
- The linked origami models hold together by folds. For a collage, use a small amount of glue stick on the paper side.
What to make
Use kami for first folds and thin paper for the crane. Choose contrasting faces when a white reverse is part of the design.
Common sheet and pack sizes
Pre-cut squares include 7.5, 10 and 15 cm. Specialist packs also offer 20 and 30 cm squares. A 15 cm square and a 6 inch square are close, but 6 inches is 15.24 cm.
Kami: a first folding paper
Kami usually has a coloured front and white reverse. A 60–70 gsm sheet keeps repeated folds slim and makes colour changes easy to see.
Washi: Japanese fibre papers
Washi includes smooth and fibrous papers made from different plant fibres. Choose the surface as carefully as the weight; a decorative washi can be softer than kami.
Foil: folds that stay shaped
Paper-backed foil can hold narrow tips and shaping, but it also keeps unwanted wrinkles. Learn the model on kami first.
Tant: colour on both faces
Tant is a lightly textured 80 gsm folding paper, with the same colour on both sides. It gives a firmer sheet than 60 gsm kami.
Duo: two different colours
Duo kami has a different colour on each face. The colours change the appearance of the model without adding a second sheet.