Tech is so sterile now—everything lives on the same shiny screens. It’s nice, then, when you find an application that exists mostly just to add a little grit to these devices.
That’s how I’m interpreting Paperman, which makes everything on your computer screen look like it’s printed on paper. The application, from Finnish developers DoublOne, does this by adding a textural overlay onto everything you see on the screen. I’m typing this on my MacBook, but everything on my screen looks like it’s on premium stationery.
Fans of old video games know about CRT filters, which emulate the look of old convex displays. Paperman is like that, but it mimics paper instead of a retro television. Just open the application, choose which kind of paper you want, and your entire display gets overlaid with a pleasing texture.
The goal is to help you focus on your work and to make the screen more pleasing to look at. The developers have collected a bunch of academic research, collected on a page on Paperman’s website, that points to studies showing that matte surfaces and paper texture help with visual fatigue. Can a virtual matte or paper layer on your screen help in the same way?
Courtesy of Justin Pot
Zoé Kilperti, half of the two-person DoublOne studio behind the application, admits she isn’t sure. “A lot of that research looks at why reading on physical paper feels so restful,” she tells WIRED. “Its texture breaks up harsh light and softens sharp edges. Modern displays are the opposite: an intensely uniform, razor-sharp grid of backlight.” Paperman’s filter is built to break up that uniformity.
The app offers a variety of textures, from Classic Matte to Sunbaked Parchment. I’m partial to Whisper Weave, the recommended texture. You can toggle how much intensity there is to the effect, and I recommend that you do.
I find this application works best when I’m reading, writing, or otherwise working with text. But you should know that everything on the screen is textured, including images, videos, and even some games. You can set Paperman to not apply the texture when certain applications are open, which is useful if you’re doing something like graphic design work or browsing photos.
If you use multiple screens, you can also toggle Paperman to apply the texture effect to the content of one display and not the other. There are also customizable keyboard shortcuts, meaning you can toggle the effect on and off on the fly. You’re always going to want to have some method of turning the effect off, so it’s good there are so many options.