How notebooks and handmade paper are made in India
This page covers two supply chains that often meet in one product. Machine-made notebooks, exercise books and pads are ruled, printed, folded, stitched or bound and trimmed on high-speed lines by printing and stationery firms. Handmade paper is made sheet by sheet: cotton rag, often cuttings from garment factories, is beaten into pulp, lifted from a vat on a mould, pressed and dried, which gives each sheet a rough deckle edge and a slightly different thickness. Petals, leaves or fibres can be added to the pulp for texture.
Handmade paper is then turned into journals, diaries, sketchbooks, gift tags and stationery sets, often with leather, fabric or block-printed covers and hand stitching. The Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute, an autonomous research and training body under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, is located in Sanganer, Jaipur. Notebooks and registers (HS 4820) were US$185.4 million of exports in FY2025-26 (TradeStat, provisional), across all types of paper stationery.
What we check on notebooks, journals and handmade paper
| Check | How it is checked | What fails |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet count | Leaves counted on sampled books; pads weighed against a counted reference | Fewer sheets than the cover or label states |
| Ruling and print | Line pitch, margin and dot grid measured with a steel rule; ruling checked for skew across the page | Wrong pitch, skewed or broken ruling, ruling too dark or faint |
| Writing test | Ballpoint, gel and fountain pen lines written on sampled pages; reverse checked | Ink bleeding through, feathering, show-through beyond the agreed sample |
| Binding | Spiral pitch and closure of wire ends; sewn and glued pages pulled; book opened flat | Wire ends open or sharp, pages tearing at perforations, thread loose |
| Handmade sheet standard | Thickness and grammage measured on several sheets; deckle, inclusions and specks compared with the approved range of samples | Sheets outside the agreed range, holes, thin spots, heavy grit |
| Covers | Leather, fabric or board cover checked for colour, stitching, edge finish and closures such as ties or elastic | Cover shade off, loose stitches, stained fabric, weak closure |
| Mould and odour | Cartons opened and books smelled; pages and covers checked for spots | Mould spots, musty smell, damp feel |
| Claims | "Acid-free", "tree-free", "recycled" and FSC statements against the maker's evidence | Claim without supporting test or certificate |
Common notebook, journal and handmade paper defects and how they are classed
| Defect | Typical cause | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Sharp or open spiral wire end on a children's notebook | Crimping not completed | Critical |
| Mould on paper or covers | Packed before fully dry; damp storage | Major (whole lot at risk) |
| Short sheet count | Counting by weight with variable paper | Major |
| Ink bleeds through where the spec says it should not | Paper not sized enough, lighter grammage | Major |
| Pages loose in a sewn journal | Thread too thin, signatures not caught | Major |
| Ruling skewed | Paper fed at an angle | Minor, major if it crosses the margin |
| Uneven deckle or visible fibre knots | Natural in handmade paper | Not a defect within the agreed sample range |
Your defect list decides the final class. For handmade paper, approve a set of limit samples (best and worst acceptable sheets) before production.
Market rules for notebooks and paper stationery
- EUDR. Notebooks, diaries and paper of chapter 48 are listed products under the EU Deforestation Regulation, which applies from 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators. The regulation is about products containing or made using wood, and bamboo-based and recovered paper are excluded, so ask whether pure cotton-rag handmade paper is in scope for your product before relying on it. See EUDR.
- Children's school products, US. A notebook designed mainly for children 12 and under is a children's product: lead in paint and coatings and total lead content apply, with third-party testing and a certificate. See CPSIA.
- Leather and dyes. Leather covers on journals sold in the EU fall under the chromium VI limit and azo dye rules. See chromium VI in leather and azo dyes.
- California. PVC covers, coated boards and some dyes may need a Prop 65 warning or a compliant material. See Prop 65.
- FSC. An FSC label on a notebook needs the maker's chain-of-custody certificate. See FSC in India.
Packing, transit and your purchase order
Paper and leather both take up moisture, and handmade products are often dried and finished in open workshops. Journals should be packed only when fully dry, in polybags or tissue with silica gel where the buyer agrees, in cartons that keep covers flat. Spiral notebooks need a layout that stops the wire of one book from denting the cover of the next. The inspector checks humidity in the store, the condition of covers in the bottom cartons, and that retail barcodes and price labels sit on the right items.
Put these in your purchase order:
- Size, sheet count, paper type and grammage; ruling or grid with pitch and margins.
- Binding type; spiral size and pitch; perforation if any.
- For handmade paper: grammage range, thickness range and a set of limit samples for deckle, inclusions and colour.
- Cover material, colour reference and closure.
- Pen test requirement (which pens, acceptable show-through).
- Claims to be printed and the evidence for each.
- Packing per unit, inner and outer cartons, and drying or anti-mould measures.
Leather-covered journals overlap with our leather goods inspection. Book an inspection in Jaipur or anywhere in India.
Sources
- Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute, Sanganer, Jaipur: about the institute
- Department of Commerce, TradeStat: commodity-wise exports (HS 4820, FY2025-26 provisional)
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free products (Annex I)
- Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 amending the EU Deforestation Regulation (application dates)