Patent ID: 8585951

Claim:
A process for forming an embossed web, the process comprising: feeding a precursor web between a compliant substrate and a forming structure comprising land areas and a plurality of discrete apertures, discrete depressions, or combinations thereof, the apertures or depressions having a depth of at least substantially equal to a thickness of the precursor web, adjacent apertures or depressions being separated by land areas and having an edge-to-edge spacing greater than about 30 microns, wherein the forming structure includes at least about 95 discrete apertures or discrete depressions per square centimeter; and, applying pressure between the compliant substrate and the forming structure sufficient to force the compliant substrate into contact with the precursor web and sufficient to force portions of the precursor web into void volumes defined by the apertures or depressions, thereby forming the embossed web comprising a plurality of discrete extended elements having open proximal ends, individual discrete extended elements being completely surrounded by land areas, wherein the discrete extended elements each have a height of at least about 50 microns and an aspect ratio of at least about 0.3.