Ancient books are subject to external environment and conditions, such as humidity, light and insect pests, etc. These not only affect handmade paper, but also cause the ink thereon to spread, fall and so much more. In addition, water and other solvents are often used to clean and rinse pages during the restoration of ancient books, which may also lead to ink spreading and loss. Hence, with regard to the conservation of paper cultural relics, how to fix ink marks on ancient books is an important issue. In view of this, three kinds of color-fixing materials—carboxymethyl cellulose, gelatin-alum solution and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt—were selected in our research to explore their influences on paper properties, ink-fixing effects with the interaction between paper and ink, and applicability and expansion effects. A series of methods such as chromaticity measurement, pH value determination, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, contact angle measurement, color-fixing tests and mechanical property testing were used. The results show that carboxymethyl cellulose, gelatin-alum solution and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt all have color-fixing effects, but their properties are different. In consequence, we comprehensively compared the color-fixing effects and influences on paper properties of the three color-fixing materials from various aspects. This work could provide scientific guides and references for the selection and evaluation of color-fixing materials during the restoration of ancient books.