World’s first hemp paper for digital book printing from Hahnemühle


For the Frankfurt Book Fair 2021, the German paper manufacturer Hahnemühle will present the world’s first hybrid printing paper made from hemp fibres. The new uncoated paper for book and brochure printing is specially designed for high-speed inkjet, analogue offset and other flexible digital printing systems.

“It is the first paper made from sustainable hemp fibres grown in Europe for environmentally conscious print products. It captivates with the authenticity and haptics of a paper made from sustainable hemp fibres. Hahnemühle Hemp paper delivers outstanding results in text, photo and image printing for authors, agencies, print providers and publishers,” says Heidemarie Hinger, Product and Business Development Manager at Hahnemühle.

Exclusive hemp paper for the book “H is for Hemp”

The paper was developed exclusively for printing the book “H is for HEMP”, an innovative hemp encyclopedia by photographer and author Maren Krings. “With my worldwide photo documentation and research on hemp, I want to encourage people to leave their comfort zone and get involved in proactive problem solving of our socio-ecological crisis. Finding a hemp paper to print my book was part of my commitment to make my own work more sustainable and to use hemp wherever possible. Hahnemühle’s hemp paper exceeded my expectations, offering a beautiful tactile and sensory experience and giving the book a fresh and completely new look. At the same time, it closes the loop of protecting native forests and finding alternative raw materials for paper making” says photographer and Climate Impact Storyteller Maren Krings.

Like all paper grades the new Hemp paper is produced with pure spring water which Hahnemühle is using since it´s founding days at the company´s sole production facility in a natural reserve. The water is fed into the nearby river after a largely closed paper machine cycle – free from chemical cleaning agents, biocides or preservatives. The energy used for manufacturing comes exclusively from 100% renewable sources.

A hemp paper for high-speed inkjet, analogue offset and other flexible digital printing systems

Hahnemühle Hemp digital printing paper features an its inimitable structure given by wool felts directly in the production process, is acid-free, therefore highly resistant to ageing and vegan. It is available in two grammages as cover and content paper in 280gsm and 80gsm respectively. Hahnemühle Hemp is offered in up to 50inch (127cm) rolls. Recommended e.g. for HP Indigo sheet-fed digital presses and HP PageWide web presses.

In addition, Hahnemühle offers the Cold Pressed Art Paper 250 for digital book printing, which has received the maximum quality certification of 3 stars from HP Indigo. This is the first certified FineArt paper worldwide for digital book printing.

Together with its first-class paper technologists, Hahnemühle is constantly improving its products and developing new papers in-house to meet the highest demands of customers and the latest printing techniques and technologies. For example, Hahnemühle is also the inventor and world market leader of genuine Digital FineArt Papers for exclusive photo prints, Digital FineArt and art reproductions.