Stationery is defined as the products made of paper to be used for personal and office supplies. Stationery is usually decorated and/or personalized to enhance its look. It has been commonly confused with another term 'stationary', which actually means 'standing at a place'.

Be it New Year, school time, Christmas vacation or business trip, Stationery is the core of all these activities. It is used in arts and crafts, calendars and diaries, letters and envelopes, office supplies, and promotional products etc. For holidays, special Stationery material like cards, envelopes and notepads are commonly seen. Even non-paper products like pens, pencils, staples and staplers, crayons, markers, adhesives, tapes, file holders, math sets, craft and office scissors, chalks, bookmarks, stamps and stamp pads, glue sticks, memos and paper clips, stencil sets and calculators all fall under the umbrella of Stationery.

By and large, the main ingredient in Stationery is the paper. To some extent, use of computers has reduced the consumption of paper and Stationery. For making Stationery, a number of paper types are available, like Bond, Text, Uncoated Book, Coated Book and Cover. These distinctions are based on a grading system and weight of the paper being utilized. Stationery made from recycled paper is also in vogue and serves a valuable cause of protecting our environment from depletion. Even handmade papers are used by some.

After selecting the paper, it is a good idea to decorate and design the Stationery to increase its appeal and aesthetics. A theme or a textured paper can be selected for the base paper, which can later be decorated with borders or illustrations. Using your photo or logo can give it a fancy look. Whatever the design you finalize, it can be either hand painted for very small numbers or it can be printed from the Stationery suppliers. The full color printing is generally done using four ink colors, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, with the help of litho printing techniques.

Stationery shops are very often located in the neighborhood and one can find almost all types of Stationery there. But if you are looking for customization or need something specific, you might have to search on the Internet. The main points to be emphasized while buying Stationery are the quality of paper, printing and cost. If you are going for a bulk order, it is advisable to check out references before placing your request.