The Moulins d'Arches turned to the production of high quality paper for the period's most famous writings and most beautiful art publications. The mill thus printed incunabula (the name given to the first printed books) such as the "Chronique de Gutenberg" by Durer. Also printed on Arches paper was the "Description of Egypt" commissioned by Napoleon I upon his return from his Egyptian campaign; the work was used by the royalty from 1809 to 1828.

Since 1492, Arches has stood for professional quality for artists. Its pure cotton products, mould-made in the traditional way, have a natural grain which resembles that of hand-made paper. This process also produces a more stable paper, whose form is not significantly altered when wet, because of the excellent distribution of its long cotton fibres. Arches Watercolor papers also boast unique sizing using natural gelatine, giving the paper incomparable resistance to scratching and exceptional rendering of colours.