The effects of different drying strategies on the development of the strain to failure of paper and its relationship with drying shrinkage is studied. It is postulated that the linear superposition principle can be applied to drying strategies. The general mathematical expressions to describe the strain to failure due to drying strategies are given. The linear relationship between the strain to failure and sheet shrinkage is not found. The relationship is entirely dependent upon the drying strategies. Using the linear superposition principle, a graph which can predict the strain to failure by different drying strategies is constructed.