A 2.8. Splitting

Grain layer completely removed throughout the entire surface.

Parchment could be made using either one-sided skin splitting combined with machining on the other side or two-sided splitting. Soaked sheepskin and goatskin could be split particularly well. When properly split, the surface thickness of parchment was usually more uniform. As a result of sloppy splitting, the grain layer on the verso side can be partially retained, and this accelerates the degradation of the parchment.