Editing Ukiyo-e (section)

===Print production===
{{Main|Woodblock printing in Japan}}
[[File:Yoshiiku (1862) key block face b.jpg|thumb|alt=Carved woodblock for printing|Keyblock for print, [[Utagawa Yoshiiku]], 1862]]

Ukiyo-e prints were the works of teams of artisans in several workshops;{{sfn|Faulkner|Robinson|1999|p=27}} it was rare for designers to cut their own woodblocks.{{sfn|Penkoff|1964|p=21}} Labour was divided into four groups: the publisher, who commissioned, promoted, and distributed the prints; the artists, who provided the design image; the woodcarvers, who prepared the woodblocks for printing; and the printers, who made impressions of the woodblocks on paper.{{sfn|Salter|2001|p=11}} Normally only the names of the artist and publisher were credited on the finished print.{{sfn|Salter|2001|p=61}}

Ukiyo-e prints were impressed on [[Washi|hand-made paper]]{{sfn|Michener|1959|p=11}} manually, rather than by mechanical press as in the West.{{sfn|Penkoff|1964|p=1}} The artist provided an ink drawing on thin paper, which was pasted{{sfn|Salter|2001|p=64}} to a block of cherry wood{{efn|Traditional Japanese woodblocks were cut along the grain, as opposed to the blocks of Western [[wood engraving]], which were cut across the grain. In both methods, the dimensions of the woodblock was limited by the girth of the tree.{{sfn|Statler|1959|pp=34–35}} In the 20th century, [[plywood]] became the material of choice for Japanese woodcarvers, as it is cheaper, easier to carve, and less limited in size.{{sfnm|1a1=Statler|1y=1959|1pp=34–35|2a1=Salter|2y=2001|1p=64}}}} and rubbed with oil until the upper layers of paper could be pulled away, leaving a translucent layer of paper that the block-cutter could use as a guide. The block-cutter cut away the non-black areas of the image, leaving raised areas that were inked to leave an impression.{{sfn|Faulkner|Robinson|1999|p=27}} The original drawing was destroyed in the process.{{sfn|Salter|2001|p=64}}

Prints were made with blocks face up so the printer could vary pressure for different effects, and watch as paper absorbed the water-based {{Transliteration|ja|sumi}} ink,{{sfn|Penkoff|1964|p=1}} applied quickly in even horizontal strokes.{{sfn|Bell|2004|p=225}} Amongst the printer's tricks were [[Paper embossing|embossing]] of the image, achieved by pressing an uninked woodblock on the paper to achieve effects, such as the textures of clothing patterns or fishing net.{{sfn|Bell|2004|p=246}} Other effects included burnishing{{sfn|Bell|2004|p=247}} rubbing the paper with [[agate]] to brighten colours;{{sfn|Frédéric|2002|p=884}} [[varnish]]ing; [[overprinting]]; dusting with metal or [[mica]]; and sprays to imitate falling snow.{{sfn|Bell|2004|p=247}}

The ukiyo-e print was a commercial art form, and the publisher played an important role.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=62}} Publishing was highly competitive; over a thousand publishers are known from throughout the period. The number peaked at around 250 in the 1840s and 1850s{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=180}}—200 in Edo alone{{sfn|Salter|2006|p=19}}—and slowly shrank following the opening of Japan until about 40 remained at the opening of the 20th century. The publishers owned the woodblocks and copyrights, and from the late 18th century enforced copyrights{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=180}} through the Picture Book and Print Publishers Guild.{{efn|{{nihongo3|"Picture Book and Print Publishers Guild"|地本問屋|Jihon Toiya}}{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=10}}}}{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=10}}{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=10}} Prints that went through several pressings were particularly profitable, as the publisher could reuse the woodblocks without further payment to the artist or woodblock cutter. The woodblocks were also traded or sold to other publishers or pawnshops.{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=18}} Publishers were usually also vendors, and commonly sold each other's wares in their shops.{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=10}} In addition to the artist's seal, publishers marked the prints with their own seals—some a simple logo, others quite elaborate, incorporating an address or other information.{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=21}}

[[File:Tsutaya Jūzaburō seal.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A publisher's seal in the shape of a flower within a stylized mountain|The publisher's seal of [[Tsutaya Jūzaburō]], who published [[Utamaro]] and [[Sharaku]] in the 1790s]]

Print designers went through apprenticeship before being granted the right to produce prints of their own that they could sign with their own names.{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=13}} Young designers could be expected to cover part or all of the costs of cutting the woodblocks. As the artists gained fame, publishers usually covered these costs, and artists could demand higher fees.{{sfn|Marks|2012|pp=13–14}}

In pre-modern Japan, people could go by numerous names throughout their lives, their childhood {{Transliteration|ja|yōmyō}} personal name different from their {{Transliteration|ja|zokumyō}} name as an adult. An artist's name consisted of a {{Transliteration|ja|gasei}}—an artist surname—followed by an {{Transliteration|ja|azana}} personal art name. The {{Transliteration|ja|gasei}} was most frequently taken from the school the artist belonged to, such as Utagawa or Torii,{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=22}} and the {{Transliteration|ja|azana}} normally took a Chinese character from the master's art name—for example, many students of Toyokuni ({{lang|ja|豊国}}) took the {{nihongo||国|"kuni"}} from his name, including Kunisada ({{lang|ja|国貞}}) and Kuniyoshi ({{lang|ja|国芳}}).{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=13}} The names artists signed to their works can be a source of confusion as they sometimes changed names through their careers;{{sfn|Merritt|1990|pp=ix–x}} Hokusai was an extreme case, using over a hundred names throughout his 70-year career.{{sfn|Link|Takahashi|1977|p=32}}

The prints were mass-marketed,{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=62}} and by the mid-19th century, the total circulation of a print could run into the thousands.{{sfn|Ōkubo|2008|pp=153–154}} Retailers and travelling sellers promoted them at prices affordable to prosperous townspeople.{{sfnm|1a1=Harris|1y=2011|1p=62|2a1=Meech-Pekarik|2y=1982|2p=93}} In some cases, the prints advertised kimono designs by the print artist.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=62}} From the second half of the 17th century, prints were frequently marketed as part of a series,{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=21}} each print stamped with the series name and the print's number in that series.{{sfn|King|2010|pp=48–49}} This proved a successful marketing technique, as collectors bought each new print in the series to keep their collections complete.{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=21}} By the 19th century, series such as Hiroshige's ''Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō'' ran to dozens of prints.{{sfn|King|2010|pp=48–49}}
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<gallery caption="Making ukiyo-e prints" mode="packed" heights="210px">
Kiso Naojirō (1879) Making Prints.jpg|alt=Colour print of a group of Japanese men making prints|''Making Prints'', {{Interlanguage link|Hosoki Toshikazu|ja|3=細木年一}}, 1879
Utagawa Kunisada (1857) Imayō mitate shinō kōshō yori shokunin.jpg|alt=A colour print of a group of well-dressed Japanese women making prints|The woodblock printing process, [[Kunisada]], 1857. A fantasy version, wholly staffed by well-dressed "beauties". In fact, few women worked in printmaking;<ref>[https://www.mercurynews.com/2010/10/14/japanesque-sheds-light-on-two-worlds/ "'Japanesque" sheds light on two worlds"], ''The Mercury New'', by Jennifer Modenessi, 14 October 2010</ref> [[Hokusai]]'s daughter [[Katsushika Ōi]] was one.
</gallery>

====Colour print production====

While [[colour printing]] in Japan dates to the 1640s, early ukiyo-e prints used only black ink. Colour was sometimes added by hand, using a red lead ink in {{Transliteration|ja|tan-e}} prints, or later in a pink safflower ink in {{Transliteration|ja|beni-e}} prints. Colour printing arrived in books in the 1720s and in single-sheet prints in the 1740s, with a different block and printing for each colour. Early colours were limited to pink and green; techniques expanded over the following two decades to allow up to five colours.{{sfn|Faulkner|Robinson|1999|p=27}} The mid-1760s brought full-colour {{Transliteration|ja|[[nishiki-e]]}} prints{{sfn|Faulkner|Robinson|1999|p=27}} made from ten or more woodblocks.{{sfnm|1a1=Ishizawa|1a2=Tanaka|1y=1986|1p=38|2a1=Merritt|2y=1990|2p=18}} To keep the blocks for each colour aligned correctly, [[Printing registration|registration marks]] called {{Transliteration|ja|kentō}} were placed on one corner and an adjacent side.{{sfn|Faulkner|Robinson|1999|p=27}}

[[File:Pigment Berliner Blau.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Photo of a dish of deep blue powder|[[Prussian blue]] was a prominent synthetic dye in the 19th century.]]

Printers first used [[Natural dye|natural colour dyes]] made from mineral or vegetable sources. The dyes had a translucent quality that allowed a variety of colours to be mixed from [[Primary color|primary]] red, blue, and yellow pigments.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=26}} In the 18th century, [[Prussian blue]] became popular, and was particularly prominent in the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige,{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=26}} as was {{Transliteration|ja|[[bokashi (printing)|bokashi]]}}, where the printer produced gradations of colour or blended one colour into another.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=31}} Cheaper and more consistent synthetic [[aniline]] dyes arrived from the West in 1864. The colours were harsher and brighter than traditional pigments. The [[Government of Meiji Japan|Meiji government]] promoted their use as part of broader policies of Westernization.{{sfn|Bell|2004|p=234}}