1000+ questions about gold, silver, and metal leaf; gilding supplies, tools, techniques; edibles; craftwork; and troubleshooting.
Gold leaf is real gold leaf or a gold leaf format used for decorative gilding. Karat, color, weight, and format matter.
18k gold leaf is a gold leaf product or gold-colored material that should be identified by karat, format, and use.
Genuine gold leaf is real gold alloy beaten into very thin leaves. Karat, color, weight, brand, and format identify the exact product and its best use.
Loose, patent, transfer, surface, ribbon, roll, sheet, booklet, pack, edible gold, foil, and imitation gold are different products. They are not interchangeable just because they look gold.
Gold leaf varies by genuine vs imitation, karat, alloy color, thickness/weight, quality grade, loose vs patent, ribbon/roll format, and edible vs decorative use.
Gold is alloyed with silver, copper, and other metals for colors and shades. Higher gold content and/or more copper produces deeper tones, and higher-karat leaves are more durable because of higher gold content.
Compare genuine gold leaf vs imitation, loose/surface vs patent/transfer, ribbon/roll vs sheets, karats and colors, gold leaf vs foil, and decorative vs edible leaf.