The origins of real paper happened in China. Like the indigenous people of Egypt, the Chinese had, virtually fifty centuries in the past, brought out a style of writing that used images. They also had been making use of various types of things to scribe upon, most notably pieces of bamboo and processed silk and it is possible that the barkcloth they made for other uses from the Paper. Mulberry was used as well.
History leads us to believe that in 105AD an official by the name of Tsai Lung, created paper, though it is clear from archaeological discoveries that in fact it was being used in what is now the People's Republic of China for probably two centuries prior to Tsai Lung.
Back in olden times writing was usually on some derivative of bamboo or occasionally on strips of silk, which were then called ji. However, silk was expensive and bamboo being weighty, these two materials were not convenient. Due to this Tsai Lun thought of utilizing tree bark, hemp, rags, and fish nets. In 105 years after the birth of Christ he submitted a report to the emperor with regard to the process of making paper and received many accolades for his ability. Since those distant days paper has been used in almost every place on earth and is known as the "paper of Marquis Tsai".
Whether this accolade is Tsai's entitlement, will very likely not ever be known! Nonetheless the important factor is that they discovered that they could pound particular substances taken from plant matter in to a mash, purge impure substances, put the mash in liquid, filter it out onto fabric sheets allowing it to dry. When fully dried, it compacted into a hard, dense sheet that turned out to be remarkably light, and providing it was not allowed to get damp or wet, turned out to be extremely tough.
It's a fact that this simple of paper making techniques is still being used in exactly a similar way in Tibet and Nepal, the first countries to pick up the techniques from South East Asia. A basic frame utilizes a cotton cloth pulled and held over a single side, diluted mush is emptied into the far side and moved around until it is smooth. It is then left hanging so that it will enable the water to drain out of it and the mache to dry into a sheet of paper which will be able to be removed by peeling.
At some stage an extremely talented developer came to the conclusion that constructing a frame with ribbing and putting in place a delicate removable bamboo mat across it, would allow the paper-making procedure to be quickened enormously. Rather than using one mould for every parchment sheet, consequently severely limiting the number of sheets that can be manufactured at the same time, a stack of sieved paste could be built up a layer at a time, with merely a piece of cotton thread between them in order to enable later separation. The stack would then be squeezed very gently, and each sheet of grume shifted to a board to dry.