Full color printing on leather

[Rubo]

Believe we have something in common. http://www.imcglobalinc.com

Hi Amy,

would you please drop me a private e-mail - I need to talk to you. Thanks,

Rubo

[JohnBarton]

Believe we have something in common. http://www.imcglobalinc.com

Hello Amy,

I live in Xiamen and will try to visit your office next week. I am very much interested in this process for our production and custom cases.

John

P.S. For Rubo: I'd check out your service too but the logistics don't work for me - your stuff looks really hot!

[JohnBarton]

Quick update: I visited Amy's place today and the folks there were very nice. They have a process that prints directly onto the leather and it's very durable. I compared two wallets one made of chrome tanned nappa and the other made of vinyl and you could definitely tell that the leather one was much better, it still felt like leather, soft and supple.

I didn't get too much into the exact process as I didn't want to pry. Essentially they are capable of printing anything onto a leather or vinyl substrate it seems. I am going to give them some sample pieces of veg tan, nappa, suede, etc... dark, light, and so on to see how well they do.

This is not for the small leather worker though. They do volume production starting at 500 units. I'd say that if you are looking to do a pretty cool leather thingy - like a key fob, football, soccer ball, etc... in volume and with a full color super durable image then these are the folks you want doing it. I don't know who else is in this business besides Rubo but these guys have it down. It's definitely well beyond what 2Shews is doing with the Plaid stuff.

That said this technique does leave the product with a professional "factory" feel. I am sure that one can design images to evoke more of the handmade feeling but I doubt that this will ever give someone the same impression as a 2shews style piece.

If Rubo's stuff is as good or better then it's a good way to go for someone who needs and wants images printed on leather. I am going to be curious to see how well it works on veg tan and what can be done to it afterward.

[Laura Hansen]

Will it work on veg tan leather, which is then cased and shaped? I'm a mask maker.

Thanks,

I have a small format flatbed printer which I have been experimenting with. I have printed on Veg tan and then cased and tooled.

I will attempt to attach some photos. First photo is the original digital image. Second photo is the printed and tooled leather.

After a year of use as a mouse pad. Email me separately for details.

[Ferg]

I have a small format flatbed printer which I have been experimenting with. I have printed on Veg tan and then cased and tooled.

I will attempt to attach some photos. First photo is the original digital image. Second photo is the printed and tooled leather.

After a year of use as a mouse pad. Email me separately for details.

That would be an acquired taste.

ferg

[Denise]

I kind of like it right off the bat.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

First thing that came to mind was a direct to garment printer.

Seems if they can print pictures on a porous tee shirt ,leather would be a snap.

[Rsublileather]

Hi all

i've come across this thread while investigating other leather sublimation techniques.

i'd like to point you in the direction of pictaleather.com at the minute the range do not include genuine leather but good quality PU products, the full leather range will be out in the next few months so watch this space or join the mailing list to stay informed.

In the meantime the service might be of interest to people here.

there's 2 options to work with pictaleather.

1 - send your design for printing on demand.

2 - buy the blank products and print them yourself using standard flat bed heat press.

hope this helps.

[cmantz]

Yeah..I was thinking DTG (direct to garment) also. I have seen the digitally printed heat applied vinyl being used on leather. It is fine for the promotional portfolio a company wants to give to customers...but I can image it working too well for garments, shoes, purses, etc. Sublimation would require the leather to be treated first in order to accept the sublimation ink and would only work on light color leather as sublimation ink is transparent.

Edited...my bad...didn't realize this thread was old! LOL

Edited January 17, 2013 by cmantz

[cajun]

I took a sample of this type of thing to the art and picture framing show in Las Vegas a few years ago and talked with some people who sell the hardware to the picture industry and they showed me how it was done. Its really not that expensive to bu the equipment and not that hard to do. At the moment, I forget the name of the company, however the Las Vegas show is in another week or so. If anyone is interested, I can try and find out, who the company is and you can contact them and get all the details. As i remember, their was a special solution that was put on the leather before printing. It did not seem very difficult. Being retire, I was not interested in starting another business.

Regards.

Bill