− | For the most part, illustrators, printers, and publishers chose colors which would seep into the paper and become fixed, rather than sitting atop the surface of the paper, where they might easily flake off. That said, in more expensive, higher-quality, books, certain materials such as gold, silver, and mica, along with thicker pigments which did sit atop the surface were used, and affixed using a hide-glue called ''[[nikawa]]'' (the same material used to suspend and affix the [[mineral pigments]] in traditional painting). | + | For the most part, illustrators, printers, and publishers chose colors which would seep into the paper and become fixed, rather than sitting atop the surface of the paper, where they might easily flake off. That said, in more expensive, higher-quality, books, certain materials such as gold, silver, and mica, along with thicker pigments which did sit atop the surface were used, and affixed using a hide-glue called ''[[nikawa]]'' (the same material used to suspend and affix the [[mineral pigments]] in traditional painting). Other ornamental printing techniques included ''karazuri'' (lit. "empty printing"), in which patterns were embossed into the paper without any ink or color. |