Printing On Leather

[emmalceck]

I've been trying to figure out how to transfer or print vivid and durable designs onto leather. I know it can be done because there is an etsy shop called Tovicorrie that sells exquisite printed leather goods: https://www.etsy.com/shop/tovicorrie. Some examples of their work are shown below. Anyone have an idea what process they might be using? Digital printing? Dye sublimation? Wizardry?

[Dwight]

While I have no clue, . . . I'd sure like to know as well.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Wild Bill46]

Emmalceck --------------------------------------

Im going with Dwight , I'de like to know too, acrilic or what ?

These items are beautiful and vivid -------- Wild Bill46

[Tramps Leatherworking]

There is also a method using heat sublimation...

[Tempestleather]

This could be dye sublimation. Dye sub is tricky on leather because you need a polymer coating that allows the dye to bond. Some dye subbers employ a 2 part coating with a polyacrylic mixture that allows for a very clear/colorful image transfer. You'll want white leather for the image not to look too dark.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Tempestleather

[emmalceck]

Tempestleather,

Any idea how I can find out more about this polymer coating, like where to source it? Have you experimented at all with dye sublimation on leather and had good results?

[Tempestleather]

I haven't actually, but I know a bit about the subject. There's a woman on eBay that sells coating called "DyePress." Supposedly she has clients that have had good success with white leather. Here's the link to her eBay site. I might contact her and see if the coating would be a good fit for you.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/dyepress

My guess is the process might take awhile to figure out, but the results can be amazing.

[emmalceck]

Thanks! This is actually one of the products that I found after this afternoon's research. I dropped the seller a message and look forward to experimenting and sharing my results!

[Yudhabatik]

i think that one is a faux..i have no idea how print machine/ink could work on leather

[Slow Learner]

I used to work at a trophy shop and we used sublimation dye heat transfers onto metal and polyester material. I assume the process would be the same.

We would spray a bonding agent on to the light colored metal or material then place the art printed from our sub dye printer (Hewlett Packard laser printer), onto the object then apply heat using a heat press machine. All of the supplies are available and the dye is quite expensive.