A permeable belt, a belt press including a roll having an exterior surface and the permeable belt, and a method of drying or pressing a web with the permeable belt. The permeable belt has a paper web facing side and is guided over a support surface. The permeable belt can have a tension of between approximately 20 kN / m and approximately 100 KN / m, a permeability value of between approximately 100 cfm and approximately 1200 cfm, a surface contact area of the paper web side that being between approximately 0.5% and approximately 90% when not under tension, and an open area of between approximately 1.0% and approximately 85%. This Abstract is not intended to define the invention disclosed in the specification, nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.