Abstract: A bulky, soft and absorbent creped paper web is manufactured by supporting an uncompacted wet web of principally lignocellulosic fibers on an imprinting fabric having compaction elements, for example knuckles formed at the warp and weft crossover points of the filaments of an open mesh fabric. The imprinting fabric has a surface void volume of from about 15 cc/m.sup.2 to about 250 cc/m.sup.2, preferably from about 40 cc/m.sup.2 to about 150 cc/m.sup.2, and a compaction element contact area constituting from about 5% to about 50%, preferably from about 20% to about 35%, of the total surface of the imprinting fabric. The web is selectively mechanically dewatered or pre-dried by passing the web through a first compression nip formed between the imprinting fabric and a dewatering felt at a pressure in a range from about 20 pli to about 600 pli so that significant compacting of the web occurs in the vicinity of the compaction elements.