Printed from smellbook.com/smells/printer-paper. This printout keeps the entry for Printer Paper itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A clean dry paper smell associated with fresh sheets, printing and office environments.
Setting: office. An editorial word for the kind of place or occasion the smell belongs to, not a smell word.
Printer paper smells clean, dry and faintly sweet, with a light, flat note that is close to plain cardboard. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
This entry links to
Other entries that link to this one
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it, molecules and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PRINTER PAPER
Printer paper smells clean, dry and faintly sweet, with a light, flat note that is close to plain cardboard. Fresh sheets are quiet and smooth, while warm pages from a printer gain a slightly toasty, dusty edge. The smell is subtle and easiest to notice when opening a new ream or holding a stack close to the face.
It is met in offices, at home printers, in copy shops and in school and university buildings. Many people link it with deadlines, freshly printed documents and the start of a new project.
Typical settings: printer tray, office, fresh document.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
Material: Paper.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Volatiles of office printing paper. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
The scientific study behind this evidence is chemistry or emission work, not a study of how the smell is perceived.
3 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. Each molecule this claim names has only the role the claim states. Where a molecule is listed as a reported volatile, the claim does not say it shapes the smell.
Printer Paper represents new office paper rather than aged or printed newsprint.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is fresh the same as clean?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Volatiles of office printing paper
Office printing and writing papers of several brands and countries emitted isopropyl dodecanoate and nonanal as their dominant volatile compounds in most samples, whatever pulpwood was used, and acetic acid content made it possible to identify recycled paper.
Volatiles measured from paper samples by GC-MS and an electronic nose; the study does not assess how the paper smells.
How this was found: Emissions or air measured. What a material, product or place releases into the air was measured, usually without assessing odour. Source: primary study; material-emission work.
Marta I. S. Veríssimo, Elvira Gaspar & Maria Teresa S. R. Gomes
DOI 10.3390/s26072049Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role the claim states. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Printer Paper.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0140 — Printer Papersmellbook:smell:printer-paperhttps://smellbook.com/smells/printer-paperSmellBook. (2026). Printer Paper (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:printer-paper. https://smellbook.com/smells/printer-paper@misc{smellbook_printer_paper_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Printer Paper},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:printer-paper},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/printer-paper}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-printer-paper-r4 TI - Printer Paper AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/printer-paper N1 - SB-0140; smellbook:smell:printer-paper; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/printer-paper ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Printer Paper represents new office paper rather than aged or printed newsprint.
Other entries whose editors linked to Printer Paper:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30; changed in the first of two dataset releases of 2026-10-05 (descriptors).
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗