How to make paper look old (like ancient manuscript in parchment)

There are several techniques to make paper look old (as in antique) and weathered. Here is my technique:

1) Get 24lbs or thicker ivory paper. In this example, I used standard "resume paper" which comes in ivory such as Southworth Resume Paper 24lbs. However in retrospect I recommend one that is not watermarked, but unmarked paper is hard to find.
2) Print the text you want on the paper with a laser printer using a nice script font that looks old, there are several at the dafont.com site here.
3) Wet the paper and crumple it. Be careful when straightening back up as wet paper is fragile. You can crumple it again if you want, but don't overdo it or it will rip. Place it on a flat surface over wax paper or plastic wrap.
4) While the paper is wet you can rip the edges a little bit. You can also make holes in the middle by rubbing small sections of the paper with your nail.
5) Apply some earth color using gouache. In this example I used raw umber. I prepare a light wash that is just darker than the natural color of the paper, and then apply it in a random way over the wet paper. Make sure you apply the wash of color over the rips and edges of the holes. You will notice that the edges and creases will darken and look realistically older.






6) Remember to apply color to the back too!
7) Hang it to dry or place it on a rough surface such as crumpled paper or crumpled aluminum foil. If you place it over a grille it might leave the grille pattern on the paper which won't look old.

Below is the result. These pages look like old manuscripts, the aging effect is very realistic.

How to make paper look like ancient manuscript

Compare them to actual ancient parchments.