The Best Materials for Chine Collé in Linocut Printing

September 25, 2026

Chine collé is one of our favorite ways to add color, texture, pattern, and a little bit of surprise to a linocut. Instead of carving every detail into your block, using a series of small brayers to pack in colors, or printing multiple color layers, chine collé lets the paper itself become part of the image.

A thin piece of decorative paper is placed between an inked relief block and a heavier sheet of printing paper, then printed and bonded together in one pass. The ink prints through onto the thin paper while pressure and adhesive attach it to the backing sheet. The result is a single print with layers of paper incorporated directly into the image.

While Japanese papers are a classic choice, you don't need a studio full of specialty supplies to get started. In fact, some of our favorite chine collé experiments come from simply looking around and asking: Could I layer this?

What You'll Need

For a basic linocut chine collé setup, you'll need: (we will talk about specifics later)

A carved linoleum or relief block
Relief printing ink
A brayer
A sturdy printing paper/backing sheet
Thin decorative or colored paper
A small brush
pH-neutral adhesive
Scissors or an X-Acto knife
Tweezers or a small tool for positioning
A press, baren, or hand-burnishing tool

Our chine collé process uses thin Japanese paper, PVA glue, and either a press or baren.

The important part is not having one specific set of supplies. It's understanding what each material needs to do.

The Chine Collé Paper: Thin Is Usually Better

The most important material is the paper you're adding to your print.

Traditional chine collé uses lightweight papers because they need to sit close to the surface of the printing block while still accepting the ink. Thin paper pushes the strength and structure to your backing paper, so it is important to pair thin with mid- to heavy-weight.

Japanese Mulberry / Kozo Paper

If you want a reliable place to start, kozo (mulberry) paper is one of our favorites.

Kozo fibers are long and strong, which allows the paper to remain surprisingly durable even while very lightweight. This makes it especially useful for printmaking techniques like this that involve moisture, pressure, and delicate handling.

Awagami's Mulberry Thin Roll, for example, is 25 gsm and specifically described for chine collé, printmaking, collage, and book arts. It's made from 60% kozo and 40% alpha cellulose. Another key source for this type of paper is Mulberry Paper Co. (a shocker, I know)

Try kozo when you want:

Solid color fields
Soft, slightly translucent layers
Organic torn edges
Delicate backgrounds
A dependable, beginner-friendly specialty paper

Gampi: For a More Translucent, Refined Look

Think of kozo as the dependable favorite and gampi as the delicate alternative.

Due to the thin nature of the paper, it is important to keep your glue layer as thin as possible to avoid any wrinkling, tearing, texturing, or shrinking.

Gampi papers have fine fibers and a naturally smooth, slightly luminous quality. Their translucency can be especially beautiful when layered over another color or when you want the backing paper to subtly show through. Hiromi Paper specifically identifies gampi as a strong option for chine collé and layered work.

Try gampi when you want:

A slightly transparent effect
Subtle layering
Fine detail
A smoother surface

It can be more expensive than kozo, so this is a great paper to buy in small quantities and experiment with before committing to a larger sheet.

Mitsumata: Smooth and Subtle

Compared with kozo's long, robust fibers, mitsumata produces a smoother, denser paper with a softer surface. It can be a beautiful choice when you want the chine collé layer to better match the texture of your backing paper or be much more solid in color rather than visibly fibrous.

Try it for:

Fine illustrations
Small details
Soft color blocks
Prints where you want a smoother paper texture

Don't Stop at Plain Papers

One of the best things about chine collé is that your paper can do the coloring for you.

Instead of carving another block to introduce a new color, cut a shape from colored, textured, or patterned paper and let the paper become that part of the image. Try:

Solid colored tissue

Great for simple color blocking and graphic prints.

Hand-painted paper

Paint a sheet of thin paper with watercolor, acrylic ink, gouache, or diluted acrylic before cutting it into your design.

This lets you create a single chine collé sheet with several colors rather than relying on commercially produced paper.

Dyed or naturally colored papers

Look for papers with subtle variations rather than perfectly uniform color. Bonus points if you make or dye your own paper.

Patterned papers

Small-scale patterns can add a unique touch once they're partially covered and incorporated with your print design.

Texture Can Come From the Paper Itself

Don't only think about color; think about material.

A paper with visible fibers, inclusions, deckled edges, or a subtle handmade texture can add another layer of visual information to a print.

Mulberry papers can range from smooth to highly textured, and some handmade papers include natural inclusions such as flowers, leaves, or other fibers.

Try pairing:

Smooth backing + textured paper

Textured backing + translucent paper

Bold black ink + delicate colored paper

The contrast between materials can be just as important as the image you're carving.

Patterned and Found Papers

Here's where chine collé really is able to bring out your personality.

You don't necessarily need paper marketed as “chine collé paper.”

We recommend experimenting with materials such as maps, sheet music, and newspaper alongside Japanese papers. Try:

Old maps
Sheet music
Newspaper
Book pages
Vintage magazine pages
Printed tissue
Wrapping paper
Handmade paper
Origami paper
Old envelopes
Paper scraps from previous projects
Your own drawings or painted papers

The key is to test first.

A paper that looks beautiful on your worktable may behave completely differently once it is wet, coated with adhesive, and pushed through a press or burnished by hand.

What About Tissue Paper?

Tissue paper can work beautifully, but not all tissue paper is created equal.

The thinner the paper, the more delicate it becomes when adhesive and moisture are introduced. Traditional and Japanese papers are often better suited to the process because their fibers give them greater wet strength.

If you're experimenting with tissue paper, do a small test first:

Put a little water on it.
Gently handle it.
See whether it stretches, pills, tears, or releases color.
Try it with your chosen adhesive.
Print a test before using it on an edition.

If the paper turns into pulp the second it gets wet, save it for another collage project.

Choosing Your Backing Paper

The chine collé paper is delicate by design, so the backing paper provides necessary structure.

For linocut and relief printing, choose a sturdy printmaking paper capable of taking pressure and ink.

Some options include:

Rives BFK
Arches Cover
Somerset
Stonehenge
Other cotton-rag printmaking papers

Speedball's printmaking paper, for example, is acid-free and designed to accept multiple layers of ink, making it perfect for these layering techniques.

For a hand-printed linocut, you don't necessarily need the heaviest paper available. You want something substantial enough to support the chine collé layer without making hand burnishing unnecessarily difficult.

Adhesive: Keep It Thin

You don't need a lot of glue.

In fact, too much adhesive is one of the easiest ways to create wrinkles, uneven spots, or a soggy piece of paper. Some options to experiment with:

Nori Rice Paste

A traditional-style option that works well for delicate papers and is specifically used in chine collé tutorials for relief printing.

Wheat Paste

Another traditional adhesive option. It's particularly useful when you want a thin, even adhesive layer.

Diluted PVA

Accessible and easy to find. If you use PVA, keep the application very thin; the goal is to bond the paper, not saturate it.

Whatever you use, test your adhesive with your paper before starting an edition.

Making Your Print

1. Make a Test Print
Before cutting or tearing your decorative paper, make a test print of your carved block on the same paper you plan to use for your final print. Let it dry completely.

2. Trace the Areas You Want to Fill
Use your test print as a template to identify exactly where you want the decorative paper to appear. Trace the shapes directly onto the test print, following the edges of the printed areas you want to replace or highlight.

3. Cut or Tear Your Decorative Paper
Place your decorative paper over the traced shapes and transfer the outlines onto the back of the paper. Cut or tear each piece to fit. You can follow the shape precisely or leave slightly irregular edges for a more organic look.

4. Ink Your Block
Roll a thin, even layer of relief ink onto your carved block.

5. Apply the Adhesive
Apply a very thin layer of your chosen adhesive to the back of each piece of decorative paper. Avoid oversaturating the paper, which can cause buckling or make it difficult to handle.

6. Place the Paper on the Block
Carefully position each piece of decorative paper adhesive-side up on the corresponding area of your inked block. Tweezers can be helpful for small or delicate pieces.

7. Add Your Backing Paper
Lay your final printmaking paper over the block, making sure everything is aligned before printing.

8. Print
Run the block through your press or carefully burnish the back of the paper by hand. The pressure transfers the ink and bonds the decorative paper to the final sheet in one step.

9. Peel, Dry, and Admire
Carefully lift your print from the block and allow it to dry flat. Once dry, the decorative paper should be firmly integrated into the print, becoming part of the image rather than simply sitting on top of it.

Tip: Your test print is more than just a proof—it becomes a map for your chine collé pieces, helping you plan exactly where each color, pattern, or texture will land before you commit your decorative paper.

Now Start Breaking the Rules

Once you've made a few traditional chine collé prints, stop worrying about doing it perfectly.

Try cutting your paper into tiny pieces.

Try tearing it.

Try overlapping two colors.

Try putting a patterned paper underneath black ink.

Try printing on a translucent sheet so the color of the backing paper changes what you see.

Try painting your own paper.

Try using the same block with three completely different chine collé papers.

Try using one color for the main image and a completely unexpected color for a tiny detail.

You can even create a paper library from scraps you've collected over time: old maps, packaging, handmade paper, painted scraps, book pages, tissue, and anything else that survives a little moisture and pressure.

The goal isn't to find the best chine collé paper.

It's to find the paper that makes your particular print more your own.

The Best Chine Collé Paper Is the One You Want to Print

There are plenty of beautiful specialty papers made specifically for printmaking, and kozo, gampi, and mitsumata are excellent places to start. But chine collé is ultimately an invitation to experiment.

The technique works because the delicate paper becomes part of the print, not just a surface underneath the ink. Its color, fiber, transparency, pattern, edges, and texture all become part of the finished piece.

So the next time you're about to throw away a piece of scrap paper, save it... It might just belong in your next linocut.

Happy printing,

Dovetail Studio ♡