PURPOSE: To obtain a recording material having no bad smell a high safety from the viewpoint of ecology by a method wherein a vegetable oil having an aliphatic acid composition containing an oleic acid is used as a solvent, and a specific indolyl phthalide compound or indolyl azaphthalide compound is used as an electron donative color former.

CONSTITUTION: In a recording material containing microcapsules containing an electron donative color former dissolved in a solvent and an electron accepting color developer, a vegetable oil having an aliphatic acid composition containing 60wt.% or less oleic acid is used as a solvent, and an indolyl phthalide compound or indolyl azaphthalide compound represented by a general formula in a separate paragraph is used as the electron donative color former. In the formula, R1 and R2 are 1-6C alkyl and cycloalkyl, R3 is 1-6C alkyl, R4 is 1-12C alkyl which may have 1-4C alkoxy as substituent, the total number of carbon atoms represented by R1-R4 is not less than 10, and a ring A is an unsubstd. benzene ring or pyridine ring.