A recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a recording layer and an optical thin film. The recording layer includes a heat-sensitive color-developing composition and a photothermal conversion material. The photothermal conversion material absorbs a wavelength in an infrared region and generates heat. The optical thin film is provided on one surface of the recording layer. The optical thin film reflects the wavelength in the infrared region and transmits a wavelength in a visible region.

A recording method includes a colored ink adhering step of adhering a colored ink composition to an intermediate transfer medium by an ink jet method to form a recording region A, a clear ink adhering step of adhering a clear ink composition to at least a portion of a recording medium to form a region B, and a transfer step of transferring an image formed in the recording region A to the region B of the recording medium by heating in a state where the recording region A of the intermediate transfer medium faces the region B of the recording medium. The colored ink composition contains a sublimation dye, a water-soluble organic solvent, and water, and the intermediate transfer medium has a peeling layer containing a resin having a glass transition point of 100° C. or more and 200° C. or less.

Micro characters are expressed by a thermal fusion transfer technique. In a printed matter manufacturing method, a printed matter is manufactured by heating a thermal transfer sheet in accordance with image data, the thermal transfer sheet including a base member, a release layer disposed on the base member and containing a wavelength conversion material that emits visible light with excitation by invisible light, and a thermally fusible ink layer disposed on the release layer, and by transferring the thermally fusible ink layer to a transfer-receiving body. In this method, the image data includes a first pattern and a second pattern. The second pattern is disposed on the first pattern and has a maximum width of a predetermined value or less.

A thermosensitive recording medium 100 includes a support 50, and a first thermosensitive coloring layer 10, a first intermediate layer 15, and a second thermosensitive coloring layer 20 disposed on the support 50 in descending order of distance from the support 50. The first thermosensitive coloring layer 10 and the second thermosensitive coloring layer 20 each contain an electron-donating dye precursor, an electron-accepting compound, a radical-polymerizable compound, and a photoradical polymerization initiator, and the first intermediate layer 15 contains a UV absorber.

A composition may be provided for use in a method for manufacturing a paper layer printable with an inkjet printer. The paper layer may be used as a decor paper in a laminate panel. At least one side of the paper layer may be coated with an inkjet receiver coating in at least two partial steps. A first layer of a first composition may be applied, and subsequently a second layer of a second composition may be applied. The first and the second compositions may at least include a binder. Each of the first and the second compositions may include a liquid substance being a water-based suspension of at least the binder. A dry matter content of the first composition may be of 8 to 25 percent by weight of the liquid substance, and/or a dry matter content of the second composition may be of 4 to 20 percent by weight of the liquid substance.

Provided are an intermediate transfer medium and the like with which a glossy image can be easily formed and which can be used also for a transparent transfer receiving article.

In an intermediate transfer medium comprising at least a substrate and a transfer part provided releasably on one face of the substrate, the transfer part has a layered structure comprising at least an image forming layer that is located on the outermost surface on the opposite side to the substrate and on which an image is to be formed, and a gloss layer that is located closer to the substrate side than the image forming layer, and the transfer part has a maximum transmittance in the wavelength region of 380 nm to 780 nm of 40% or less.

Heat transfer sheets for dye sublimation are provided, along with methods of their formation and use. The heat transfer sheet for dye sublimation may include a base sheet and a dye sublimation coating on a surface of the base sheet. The dye sublimation coating generally includes a plurality of microparticles dispersed in a polymeric binder, with the plurality of microparticles including a mixture of tack-inducing microparticles and oxide microparticles.

An erasing unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a unit that performs erasing of information written on a reversible recording medium. This erasing unit includes: a light source section including one or a plurality of laser devices; and a controller that controls the light source section to cause the light source section to emit a smaller number of laser light beams having emission wavelengths than the number of the recording layers included in the reversible recording medium.

An over-laminate film applied to a decorative surface is described. In particular the over-laminate film includes: a transparent resin base film having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; a low gloss layer disposed on the first surface of the transparent resin base film; and a transparent adhesive layer disposed on the second surface of the transparent resin base film, the low gloss layer including a binder containing a resin, resin beads having an average particle size of 4 μm or greater and 20 μm or less, and nanosilica particles, the low gloss layer having surface glossiness of 5 GU or less at 60 degrees.

In a seal-type thermal transfer image-receiving sheet, the total thickness thereof is 250 μm or less, a seal portion has a layered structure in which a pressure-adhesive layer, a seal portion substrate, and a receiving layer are layered in this order from a release portion side. A release portion has a layered structure in which a surface resin layer, a release portion paper substrate, and a back face resin layer are layered in this order from a seal portion side. One or both of the seal portion substrate and the surface resin layer includes a layer made of polyethylene terephthalate is 50 μm or more. The sum of the thickness of the seal portion substrate and the thickness of the surface resin layer is four times or more the thickness of the back face resin layer, and the thickness of the back face resin layer is 20 μm or more.