The Magic of Pre-Creased Paper
| Pre-creased paper offers new possibilities for folding, teaching, and designing origami models. With pre-creased paper, someone with little or no folding experience can fold more complex models and fold them faster than with ordinary paper. Creasing paper–especially accurate creasing–is a special skill that not every beginner has acquired. By pointing or referring to the colored lines on the paper, a teacher can better direct attention to critical lines. One can quickly demonstrate the complete folding sequences of a model before advancing to step-by-step instructions. Even practiced folders can experience a new fluidity, allowing the hands to dance gracefully with the paper. Pre-creased paper also facilitates the design of innovative and novel models. Over 75 classic and contemporary models can be folded from the same sheet of pre-creased paper. The possible models are wide ranging and include many boxes, three-dimensional polygons, living creatures, practical objects, and action toys. While there are other ways to pre-crease paper, the crease pattern here uses only 45 and 90 degree angle creases. Pre-creased paper is related to other established origami practices, including box pleating (Origami Design Secrets, Robert Lang, chapter 12), multiform models, and the concept of origami with restrictions. This gallery showcases a collection of models folded with the same sheet of pre-creased, line-colored paper (shown below). |
Pre-Creased 