Chine-colle

Chine-colle is a printmaking technique, used alongside processes such as etching or lithography, that fuses a thin, delicate sheet of paper onto a heavier backing sheet in the same pass through the press that transfers the printed image. The thin paper, traditionally a fine paper imported from China, India or Japan, is placed against the inked plate with an adhesive, the heavier support paper is placed on top, and both pass through the press together so that the printed image transfers onto the delicate sheet while it is simultaneously bonded to its sturdier backing. The technique lets a printmaker capture finer detail from the plate onto a delicate surface than the backing paper alone could hold, and can also introduce a background color or texture, distinct from the surrounding sheet, into the finished print.