Process for surface colouration of paper

A process for the surface coloration of paper said process comprising a first step and a second step, said first step comprising coating a surface of a paper with a coating composition comprising

• a) a water soluble anionic direct dye or a reactive dye, wherein said water soluble anionic direct dye is selected from the group consisting of C.I. Direct Yellows 11, 47, 50, 84, 137, 157, and 160;
• C.I. Direct Reds 80, 81, 239, 254, and 262;
• C.I. Direct Violets 9 and 51;
• and C.I. Direct Blues 199 and 290;
• and said reactive dye is selected from the group consisting of C.I. Reactive Yellow 42, C.I. Reactive Orange 134, C.I. Reactive Red 228, C.I. Reactive Blue 21, and C.I. Reactive Blue 260;
• b) a binder selected from the group consisting of starch, a styrene/acrylate/starch copolymer, a styrene/butadiene/starch copolymer, and mixtures thereof;
• c) optionally, one or more auxiliaries;
• and
• d) water;
• and
• said second step comprising coating the surface of the paper with a fixing composition comprising a cationic fixing agent, wherein said cationic fixing agent is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene polyamine derivatives, aliphatic polyamines, and amine/amide/formaldehyde condensation products;
• wherein said paper is dried after said second step, without drying said paper between said first and said second steps.