From First Sketch to Finished Roll: How We Create Our Wrapping Paper in Derbyshire

If you have ever wondered how wrapping paper is made, the answer at Byard’s begins long before a roll reaches the printer. Each design starts by hand in our Derbyshire studio—as a painted wash of watercolour, a detailed pencil line or the first rough sketch of a character with a story to tell.

We then turn that original artwork into a seamless repeating pattern, test it on paper and print it to order. The finished paper is checked, trimmed and carefully rolled, never folded, before being packed without plastic and sent on its way.

How Wrapping Paper Is Made in Our Derbyshire Studio

Our wrapping paper passes through several distinct stages. The process combines traditional illustration with careful digital pattern-making and hands-on finishing.

1. Finding the first idea

2. Painting or drawing the original artwork

3. Preparing each illustration digitally

4. Building a seamless repeat pattern

5. Test printing and checking the colour

6. Printing each customer’s order

7. Trimming and inspecting the paper

8. Rolling and packing it without plastic

Nothing begins with a ready-made pattern or an image selected from a catalogue. It begins with a blank sheet of paper and an idea.

1. Finding Inspiration Close to Home

Derbyshire gives us plenty to notice. Hedgerows, allotments, old stone walls, garden sheds, winter birds, village roofs and the changing colours of the countryside can all become the starting point for a new design.

Sometimes it is a whole scene. At other times, it might be the shape of a watering can, a robin perched in an unlikely place or a group of characters who look as though they have been caught in the middle of a conversation.

We also think about the person who might receive a gift wrapped in the finished paper. Gardeners, bakers, campers, readers, wildlife lovers and people with a fondness for properly British humour all appear across the range.

This is what gives the collection its character. Rather than producing anonymous paper for a broad occasion, we create gift wrap that can feel right for a particular person.

2. Beginning with Paint or Pencil

Once an idea feels promising, it moves onto paper. Every Byard’s design begins as either an original hand-painted watercolour or a detailed pencil sketch.

Working in watercolour

Watercolour brings soft edges, natural variations and small changes in pigment that cannot be replicated by simply filling a digital shape with colour. The paper texture, overlapping washes and deeper pools of paint all become part of the finished illustration.

It works particularly well for flowers, foliage, villages and countryside scenes. The aim is not to polish away every irregularity, because those marks are part of what makes the artwork feel painted rather than manufactured.

Drawing in pencil

Pencil gives us a different character. Fine outlines, visible graphite, shading and cross-hatching can make animals, people and everyday objects feel as though they have come straight from a sketchbook.

Some designs remain largely monochrome, while others are given selective areas of colour. This lets the drawing retain its detail while bringing attention to a scarf, a flower, a garden tool or another small part of the scene.

Each motif is drawn as a complete illustration before it becomes part of the pattern. That gives us a clean, undistorted piece of artwork to work with at the next stage.

3. Taking the Artwork from Paper to Screen

When the painting or drawing is complete, we capture it at high resolution and prepare it for pattern-making. This is where the physical artwork becomes a digital working file, but the original marks remain important.

We carefully separate and prepare individual characters, objects and supporting details. A large scene might be broken into several usable motifs, while a smaller painting may need only light adjustments before it is ready to place.

At this stage, we check:

• The clarity of fine pencil lines

• The depth and balance of watercolour washes

• The edges around each motif

• The relationship between pale and dark areas

• Whether the artwork will remain clear when printed at wrapping-paper scale

The purpose is not to make the artwork look artificially perfect. It is to make sure the qualities of the original painting or drawing survive the journey onto paper.

4. Creating the Seamless Repeat Pattern

A collection of lovely illustrations does not automatically make good wrapping paper. The motifs must be arranged so the pattern flows naturally across a large sheet or continuous roll.

We begin by choosing the scale. A motif that looks right on a screen may feel too large on a small present or become lost when printed, so we consider how the pattern will work on boxes of different sizes.

The illustrations are then placed to create an even rhythm without making the repeat feel obvious. We look at the spaces between motifs, the direction each character faces and how colour is distributed across the whole design.

Making the edges meet

For a pattern to repeat seamlessly, anything that crosses one edge of the pattern tile must continue in precisely the correct position on the opposite edge. The same applies at the top, bottom and corners.

We build this repeat carefully using exact copies of the original motif. Nothing is mirrored, stretched or redrawn simply to fill a gap.

The tile is then repeated across a larger digital surface so we can inspect it as wrapping paper rather than as a single square. This helps us spot unwanted lines, crowded patches or empty spaces that are difficult to see within the original tile.

5. Test Printing for Colour and Detail

A design is not finished just because it looks right on screen. Monitors produce colour with light, while a printer places ink onto a physical surface, so the printed result can look different.

We make a test print on the matt-coated paper used for the finished product. This lets us see how the watercolour tones, pencil lines, warm backgrounds and darker details behave in the real world.

During the test, we look for:

• Colours that have printed too warm, cool, dark or pale

• Fine lines that need a little more definition

• Background tones that might affect the artwork

• Motifs that feel too large or too small

• Repeated areas that attract the eye for the wrong reason

• The overall balance of the design from a distance

We also view the print in ordinary daylight rather than judging it only under studio lighting. If something is not right, we return to the digital file, make the necessary adjustment and print another test.

This stage can take several rounds. A small change in contrast or scale can make a substantial difference once the design covers an entire sheet.

6. Printing to Order

Once a design has passed its print tests, it is ready to join the collection. We do not send the file away for mass production or fill a warehouse with pre-printed rolls.

Byard’s operates as a print-to-order studio. When a customer chooses a design, paper weight and size, we print that order in our Derbyshire studio.

This gives customers a choice of:

• 90gsm paper, which is lighter and flexible for everyday gift wrapping

• 140gsm paper, which has a heavier, more structured and premium feel

• A1 sheets, suitable for individual gifts

• 1-metre rolls, for several presents or a larger parcel

• 2-metre rolls, for coordinated gift wrapping or multiple presents

Personalised papers follow the same process, with one important addition. Names, messages, dates or photographs are placed into the design using the details supplied through our online editor before the final file is printed.

Printing in our own studio also means we retain control over the result. The artwork does not disappear into a distant production line; it remains with us from the first sketch through to the finished order.

7. Trimming & Checking Each Order

Freshly printed paper still needs to be finished by hand. Each order is trimmed to create clean, straight edges and the correct final size.

We inspect the print as we work, checking the colour, surface and pattern. For personalised orders, we also check that the submitted details appear correctly in the printed design.

Only then is the paper ready to roll.

8. Rolled, Never Folded

Folding wrapping paper would introduce creases before it has even reached the customer. That is why all Byard’s wrapping paper is supplied rolled.

Rolling protects the smooth surface and allows the paper to lie neatly when it is time to wrap a present. It is a simple detail, but it makes a visible difference to the finished gift—particularly when using the heavier 140gsm paper.

Each roll is secured with a paper sleeve band and placed into sturdy cardboard outer packaging. The packing is plastic-free while still protecting the paper on its journey from our studio to the customer.

Why the Process Matters

Wrapping paper has a short practical job, but it plays an important part in giving. It is the first thing the recipient sees, and it can build curiosity before the present is opened.

As an independent stationery brand, we can pay attention to the parts of the process that are easily lost in mass production: the grain of a pencil line, the edge of a watercolour wash, the spacing between two characters and the way the paper feels as it folds around a box.

Our collection is genuinely British-designed gift wrap because the creative and printing work happens here in Derbyshire. We may use digital tools to build the final repeat, but the personality of each design still comes from the original artwork and the hands-on studio process behind it.

That combination of drawing, pattern-making, print testing and careful finishing is how a blank page becomes a roll of Byard’s wrapping paper.