To make rontal leaf a more sublte red-yellowish colour, the leaf is steamed in boiling water. Water used in steaming the leaf must be mixed with "liligundi" leaves (Vitex trifolia), and sufficient "gambir" (uncaria). Excessive use of gambir will makethe red colour too dark. After being steamed, the leaf is again dried. To prevent the leaf from being wrinkled and hard to flatten, the drying process is caried out slowly in a damp place.

After being made supple, the leaves are piled up one by one and flattened with a specially made press, their length is measured using fully completed lontar. They are then perforated in three designated places with a special device which in Balinese is called "cempurit" or "jempurit". The distance between the three perforated holes is arranged in such a way that the hole in the midlle is not precisely centered. The distance of the hole on the right to the axist is generally 2 cm longer. The left hole always indicates the lower end of the lontar. Once in a while holes are perforated before the leaves are soaked, cleaned, dried and steamed. Finally each lontar leaf is bound and pressed with a tight presser, its edge is refined with a plane and its tips are cut to make it extremely even. In order to compress it further, screws are frequently used. After being made even and fine, the lontar leaves are coloured in red with "kincu" (a sort of lipstick) and nowadays paint is also widely used. After being coloured the lontar is kept for 6 months before it is ready for inscribing. The longer the lontar is kept the better because it is easier to inscribe, when it is straighter and more compressed.

Source: Gedong Kirtya,Issued by The Goverment Tourism Office of Buleleng,1997