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Digital printing on leather

Digital printing on leather

High-quality digital printing solutions for customised (artificial) leather applications

Leather printing

This involves creating customised designs on artificial leather sheets. With these sheets you can create fashion and lifestyle accessories, furniture and upholstery, and personalised accessories.

On this page, you will discover the benefits of leather printing, the new products, market opportunities it creates, and the printing workflows used for this application. Also this page helps you make an informed decision when selecting the most suitable printing solution for different types of leather.

Benefits of digital printing on leather

Digital printing on leather offers flexibility, faster turnaround times, and exceptional print quality compared to traditional methods.

Produce sharp graphics, vibrant colours, fine details, and scratch-resistant finishes with consistent colour quality.
Create custom printed faux leather products, personalised items, and cost-effective short-run productions.
Support sustainable production by reducing waste, minimising ink usage, and eliminating screens, plates, and excess inventory.
Enable printing on a wide range of synthetic and faux leather goods, including PU leather (polyurethane) and PVC leather (polyvinyl chloride).

Digital leather printer workflows

The best leather printing workflow depends on the material and production volume.

DTF transfer printing creates vibrant, full-colour designs on transfer film before heat pressing. Ideal for customisation, short runs, and on-demand production of fashion and lifestyle accessories.

UV printing uses an inkjet printer with UV-curable inks. It makes high-quality graphics and cures instantly. This speeds up production for upholstery, fashion accessories, and promotional items.

Sublimation printing is suitable for polyester-based or PU coated artificial leather, delivering vibrant, durable prints on compatible materials.

How digital printing on artificial leather opens new market opportunities

Digital printing on artificial leather helps businesses unlock new market opportunities across fashion, lifestyle, interior decors and many more. By producing custom printed artificial leather sheets or finished products in-house, brands can create personalised, high-value products with vibrant colours and durable designs.

From vegan leather handbags and wallets to footwear and belts, digital printing supports many products. It enables flexible short runs, limited editions as well as long-run production of leather accessories.
With faster turnaround times, on-demand manufacturing, and lower inventory needs, businesses can reach new markets. This gives businesses the opportunity to respond quickly to changing market trends, launch new products faster, and expand into new applications beyond traditional textiles.

Fashion & accessories

Printing on leather allows fashion brands to create unique designs across handbags, wallets, belts, shoes, jackets and more.

This helps businesses create personalised fashion products, limited editions, or premium collections. It adds distinctive patterns, textures, and brand details, while keeping a premium appearance.

Mimaki printers enable high-quality printing on artificial leather, delivering fine details, and consistent results that help fashion and lifestyle brands create personalised products and distinctive designs that stand out in new and competitive markets.

Upholstery & interior design

Transform upholstery and interior decor by creating custom furniture and branded interiors. Produce sofas, chairs, headboards, acoustic wall panels, and commercial interiors with vibrant colours and durable finishes.

Mimaki’s printing solutions provide a versatile workflow for manufacturers and interior designers to create customised leather upholstery for furniture, automotive interiors, wall panels, and decorative applications.

This enables businesses to deliver bespoke projects for the hospitality, retail, office, and residential sectors while reducing waste and meeting unique customer requirements.

Personalised accessories & gifts

Personalised artificial leather accessories help businesses create customised products such as leather passport holders, business card holders, notebook covers, corporate gifts, promotional products and more.

This is useful for brands, retailers, and businesses looking to offer unique personalised products, limited editions, and gifts with custom graphics, logos, or bespoke designs.

Mimaki printers enable cost-effective short-run productions and on-demand customisation of leather accessories, eliminating the need for large inventories.

Consult with a Mimaki expert

Not sure which printing approach is right for your application? Our experts can help you choose the most suitable printing technology for you.

Get in Touch

Explore the Mimaki printers that support this application

The type of synthetic leather and the size of the production will determine the best Mimaki solution. For cost-efficient solution, DTF printers is a strong option. For large-scale production of printed artificial leather products, Mimaki’s UV-LED flatbed and roll-to-roll printers are ideal. They work with both PU and PVC leather, suitable for upholstery, bags, and wallets.

Mimaki digital printing solutions can print directly on real or faux leather. This depends on the material type and application needs. Mimaki UV printing and DTF printing on artificial leather allows direct printing on many real and synthetic leathers.

With Mimaki's sublimation printers we can also transfer onto PU and PVC-based synthetic leather without the need of traditional screen print techniques.

Yes, digital printing lets you customize artificial leather in small batches. It avoids the high setup costs of traditional printing process. Because digital printing does not require printing plates, screens, or engraved rollers, every print can be unique, making one-of-a-kind designs easy and cost-effective to produce.

Digitally printed synthetic leather products can offer excellent durability when paired with the right material and ink technology. Mimaki UV printing produces vibrant, high-quality prints with strong adhesion and a good scratch resistancy to everyday wear, making it suitable for applications such as handbags, footwear, furniture upholstery, interior decor and more.

The best technology depends on the artificial leather type (PU, PVC, or sublimation-ready PU). It also depends on the use, production volume, and durability needs.
You can use DTF printing on certain PU-based artificial leather materials, especially for customized or short-run production.
UV printing is commonly used for large-scale production of artificial leather, including PU and PVC. Well suited for applications such as upholstery, bags and wallets, where consistent quality and durability are important.

Yes. faux leather, artificial leather, and synthetic leather are different names for the same man-made material designed to replicate the appearance and feel of real leather. It is typically manufactured by coating a fabric backing with materials such as polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Artificial leather has become increasingly popular across industries such as fashion, upholstery, interior décor, and personalised products due to its durability, versatility, and suitability for digital printing.

Mimaki Europe

Mimaki Europe BV
Stammerdijk 7E
1112 AA Diemen
Netherlands
t. +31 (0) 20 462 76 40
e. info@mimakieurope.com

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