Abstract: A transfer belt for eliminating an open draw between a press in a papermachine and a transfer point has a supporting base with a particle-filled polymer coating. The coating, which constitutes the paper side of the transfer belt, carries the paper sheet from a press nip in a closed draw to a transfer point without sheet flutter or drop-off. At the transfer point, the paper sheet is readily released to another sheet-conveying papermachine-clothing product. The transfer belt may carry the sheet through more than one press nip. The transfer belt surface has a pressure-responsive recoverable degree of roughness, which is made relatively smooth by compression in the press nip, allowing the thin, almost continuous water film to form between the transfer belt and the paper sheet. When leaving the press nip, the paper sheet is held to the transfer belt by the thin, almost continuous water film.