A new method has been proposed for mapping the tensile behaviour of paper during drying without the need for large amounts of material. Three pulps were used to make handsheets: a long fibre pulp (softwood) and a short fibre pulp (hardwood), as well as softwood pulp mixed with microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). Comparative testing was undertaken with rewetted commercial blotting papers. Strips were produced from never dried laboratory sheets using die cutting and tested using pneumatic clamps typically used for short span tensile tests. Using the span length of 30mm, four sample points could be sequentially measured on each strip, enabling faster testing while using less material. It was found that the strength levels were different, but that the general behaviour was very similar for all three pulps. In addition, the strength increase associated with the addition of MFC was found to be present during the whole drying process. It has been concluded that the proposed new method could enable the differences between short and long fibre pulps to be examined, as well as to characterise the effect of addition of MFC.