Hi All
My name is Paul Hirst I run a company called Octi Tech which specializes in the process of Dye Sublimation Transfer. Over the last few years we have been working very hard on developing a process for imaging leather and within the next couple of months we will be launching it onto the market and if it's okay I wouldn't mind engaging in conversation with you all to get some opinions and feedback on what we are doing.
Let me first explain what we are doing so there are no misconceptions... I would assume that most people would like to be able to take any piece of leather or PU leather they have and be able to put an image on it. What we have does not allow that, people can only use leather that has been treated by us so it works with the process. I accept that that might be limiting for some but as you can see from the attached images once leather or PU is treated for our process the results are truly stunning so while we cannot please everyone there are a huge amount of customers that will utilize our process
Our main focus is to produce a range of pre made items such as phone cases, kindle cases etc that can then be imaged afterwards with personalized designs but it's obvious from reading forums like this and seeing some of the INCREDIBLE work some of you guys do that there will be a demand from people that want to purchase pre sized leather, image it and then cut and sew it into various finished articles.
For those not familiar with the dye sublimation process it has a relatively low cost of entry probably around $1000.00 to get set up if you take a look at this site there are some videos showing you the process imaging other substrates http://howtosublimat.../how-to-videos/ The process allows you to place extremely high quality and durable images in full colour onto a wide range of substrates using a small desktop printer, sublimation inks and a heat press.
I have attached a few images of some of the beta products we have made up and would like to hear peoples views on imaging leather and what you might be looking for out of the process
Thanks :-)
