What these terms are for
These names describe how a finished relief looks and feels — where the subject sits against its ground, what the surface texture is, how light moves across it. They are useful for talking about a sample, and they are how the trade has long described this kind of work.
They are not a menu, and they are not a map of the production process. How a piece is actually made is set out stage by stage in how it is made.
Relief & Texture
These are the terms the trade uses for how an image sits in relief — whether the subject stands proud of its ground or sits below it, and what kind of texture the surface carries. They describe how a finished piece looks and feels rather than which machine made it, and they are here as background for reading a sample, not as a menu.
- Raised Relief 阳雕
- The subject stands proud of its background, sharpening outline and depth.
- What to check on a sampleEdge definition, consistent height, clean transition to background.
- Recessed Relief 阴雕
- Lines and pattern sit below the surrounding surface, reading as depth and shadow.
- What to check on a sampleChipping at groove edges, colour pooling, continuity of fine lines.
- Textured Relief 肌理雕
- Surface texture standing in for petal, fabric or bark — meant to be felt.
- What to check on a sampleHow natural it reads, stability of fine detail, evenness across the area.
- Graduated Relief 坡度雕
- Height rises and falls gradually, describing curvature and catching light along it.
- What to check on a sampleVisible stepping, sharp peaks, local distortion — all faults here.
- Layered Relief 千层雕
- Foreground, middle and background sit at genuinely different heights, so the image has space rather than a picture of space. Each level can carry its own colour.
- What to check on a sampleClean separation between planes, consistent height within a level, colour landing on the level it belongs to.
Named, but not offered: Patterned Texture (网雕). The name exists in the trade but describes different things to different workshops. Until a sample defines what it means here, it is explained rather than sold.
Inlay Artwork
Inlay builds an image by cutting, fitting and setting separate components together, so the decorative layer is assembled rather than applied. What decides whether it succeeds is the joinery: how tight the seams are, whether adjoining pieces sit flush, how well the bond holds, and whether the outer edge is complete and clean.
- Inlay 镶嵌
- Materials and pattern fitted together to build decorative depth.
- What to check on a sampleSeam tightness, flushness, bond stability, edge completeness.
Surface Finishes
Surface finishes go on after colouring, over whatever relief or texture is beneath, so they combine with any of the groups above rather than replacing them. They change how a piece reflects light and how colour reads, and each one adds a material to the assembly — which is why compatibility is confirmed for the specific combination rather than assumed.
- Glossy Clear Finish 水晶
- A clear high-gloss finish that deepens colour and adds reflection.
- What to check on a sampleYellowing, bubbles, sagging, tackiness, compatibility with the layer beneath.
- Gold-Tone Accents 鎏金
- Gold-coloured detailing used to pick out parts of the image.
- What to check on a sampleEvenness, edge definition, adhesion, consistency across a batch.
Judging any of them
The practical way to judge any of these terms is the same: a sample, under raking light — light falling across the surface at a low angle, which shows the edges and height that flat, frontal light hides. See how sampling works.