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You paint it. There are several sophisticated coatings available that can be baked on and some that required more complex processes. Bottom line, they are all some form of paint or coating. Unless you want to buy a can of spray paint I don't think it's worth your time to worry about such things before you make a blade that's good enough to justify the added expense.
You'll probably find out that a 'simple tanto' isn't really so simple and that using an old file isn't easy, quick, convenient, or cheap. If that turns out to be true for you then don't get discouraged, just buy $5 worth of good blade steel and make a small hunter or neck knife. Leave the scrap steel and tricky shapes for later when you've learned the basic processes.
Welcome to knife making!
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