Leather UV Printing Precautions ARTJET 2025

Leather UV Printing Precautions

 

So far,  UV printer-related issues, We’ve compiled

24 articles on ink supply issues,
9 articles on head basics,
12 articles on actual head issues and their solutions,
10 actual mechanical Machine Problems and Solutions.
12 Problems and Solutions of Electronic Boards and SW Actually Issued
11 Problems and Solutions: Sai Rip Installation and Basic Settings, Spot Color Creation, and More

For related information, click on the article to go to the link.

 

Now, I’m explaining about the products that can be made with a UV Printer

1. How to print in Braille

2. “When printing on the front and then flipping the material over to print a different image on the back, can the front and back positions be aligned exactly?”

3. “Can I express a gradient with White? Is it possible to print it with a three-dimensional effect?”

Expressing gradients and three-dimensionality with white

4. “It is not easy to print a phone case because of the height of the iPhone 14 camera.”

5. “Do not print masks with a UV printer.”

 

Today, I’ll talk about the conditions and precautions required to print natural and artificial leather with a UV printer.

 

 

I. “Does it print on leather too?” _Leather UV Printing Precautions

 

1. Let me briefly talk about the market. _Leather UV Printing Precautions

About 10 years ago, a Louis Vuitton bag model was printed on leather with a UV printer.

It was a UV printer from Italy’s Durst, and I thought, “UV printers have finally made inroads into the leather market!”

However, contrary to expectations, UV printers didn’t gain much traction in the leather market.

 

In China, a fast-moving company, instead of using UV printers,

• developed an inexpensive yet durable leather printing solution that involved preprocessing, printing with conventional solvent ink, and postprocessing.
• Since then, leather printing volumes have been based on this Chinese-developed solution.
• With the availability of affordable solutions for leather printing, expensive UV printers have become a distant memory in the leather market.

 

2. Small-batch production of multiple varieties _Leather UV Printing Precautions

While mass production is handled through Chinese solutions, some companies use UV printing for small-quantity, customized production.

Sometimes, customers who do small-quantity or customized printing ask about leather printing.

My response is somewhat negative, and I have no choice but to ask additional questions.

“Do you print on fabric and then fold it several times to create the final product? Like a wallet?”

“Do you simply UV print on the final product?”

“Is it faux leather or natural leather?”

“If it’s natural leather, is it coated? Do you simply print on the leather?”

“How many years should the UV print last? Is it good for about six months?”

 

In conclusion, UV printing is possible on leather, but its usability depends on the final product.

 

II. Things to consider _Leather UV Printing Precautions  

 

1. Is it natural leather or artificial leather? _Leather UV Printing Precautions 

 

The reason people ask whether it’s faux or natural leather is because of the adhesion of the ink to the material after UV printing.

Having sold UV printers for 20 years, I’ve met many customers and have seen significant differences in adhesion depending on the type of leather.

 

Uncoated Natural Leather

• Natural leather has a rough surface, so when printed with a UV printer, the ink doesn’t stay on the surface but is absorbed, resulting in poor color reproduction.
• To achieve true color expression, white must be printed first before color printing. A low white concentration will cause the ink to be absorbed into the leather, so the white concentration must be high.
• Another issue is poor ink-to-material adhesion.
• When UV printing on uncoated natural leather, the ink is more likely to peel off if scratched with a fingernail.

 

Coated Natural Leather

• People who work extensively with leather say,
• “Uncoated leather has a dirty surface, and most people apply coating to create a cleaner look.”
• “Coating leather creates a smoother surface compared to uncoated natural leather, preventing ink absorption and improving color expression.”
• “However, depending on the type of coating, UV ink adhesion can be either good or bad.”

 

Artificial Leather

• In my experience testing leather printing so far,
• almost all of the printing results were good and the adhesion was strong.
• Of course, this may vary depending on the material.

 

2. How many times do you fold it? _Leather UV Printing Precautions  

 

Natural leather, which is difficult to express color and has poor adhesion, will be excluded.

If the printing is good and the color expression is good, the next important thing is whether the ink adheres well without cracking when the printed surface is folded several times.

 

UV inks are broadly categorized into two types:

• Hard UV inks are hard but highly scratch-resistant.
• Medium or soft UV inks are soft but less scratch-resistant.

Most leather materials contain a certain color, not white.

To properly express the color, white must be overlaid before printing the color.

If the white concentration is low, the color on the leather surface will rise, preventing the CMYK Lc Lm ink colors from being properly expressed.

For this reason, when printing on dark-colored leather, the white should be thickened to mask the dark background color as much as possible.

This means that the ink thickness must be increased.

 

If a thickly printed piece of leather is folded twice or three times to create a wallet, the printed ink will likely crack or break.

• If you plan to use UV printing to create a product by folding it multiple times, you should use medium or soft UV ink.
• If you use hard ink, the printed ink may crack or peel off.
• However, if the ink is too soft, it may be flexible enough to fold the leather, but it may be less scratch-resistant, causing scratch marks to appear when scratched with a fingernail.

Because each ink manufacturer has different definitions of medium and soft UV ink,

• even if a seller claims, “We have medium and soft inks, so there’s no problem printing on leather,”
• you should print on your leather, fold it, and scratch it with your fingernail to visually confirm the product’s suitability.

 

3. Durability _Leather UV Printing Precautions   

UV ink adhesion varies significantly depending on the material.

If the material you’re using has strong UV ink adhesion, it can last for over a year.

However, if it doesn’t, it should only be used on fancy goods, which typically last for about six months.

When creating leather products using UV printing, be sure to check the adhesion before deciding on the intended use.

 

Click here to see a video showing the method and results of testing the adhesion of artificial leather and natural leather.

4. Easy-to-apply leather printing _Leather UV Printing Precautions  

I made a gift for my club members by engraving their initials on a leather cigarette case.

• It’s made of Artificial leather,
• and since it’s a pre-made product, you won’t need to fold it,
• and since it’s something you’ll be handling frequently, I used hard UV ink.

III. This is how ARTJET supports our customers.

One thing I feel while selling and maintaining ARTJET UV Printers for 5 years is that the next most important thing after product stability is Troubleshooting DATA.

All products have problems, whether they are actual equipment problems or consumer errors, and product stability is how easily and quickly you solve those problems.

We are organizing all the troubleshooting DATA as follows.

You can see the product print quality by clicking here.

 

1. Additional information on printhead problems

Please refer to the information summarized above, and there is no additional information summarized yet.

 

2. Additional information on ink supply issues

Please refer to the information summarized above, and the additional information summarized below is as follows.

Addition

“no clogged nozzles, but banding in the red ARTJET 2025”
“When I print it, the whole thing has a yellow tint to it”

 

3. Additional information on Mechanical issues 

Please refer to the information summarized above, and there is no additional information summarized yet.

4. Additional information on Electron board and Software issues 

Please refer to the information summarized above, and there is no additional information summarized yet.

5. Additional information on Sai Flexi Rip software  

Please refer to the information summarized above, and there is no additional information summarized yet.

6. Problems and solutions from actual consumer sites

1. Paper that absorbs ink
2. A line-like thing appears at the end of the white print surface
3.Can varnish banding be reduced?
4. Are there many problems with China’s UV Printer?

7. UV Printer Application 

we are explaining not only UV printer problems and solutions, but also what products are produced with UV printers.

1. Braille printing
2. Flip the material and align it
3. 2.5D UV print
4. ARTJET UV Printer Application 6 _아크릴 본딩 장비
5. I phone 14 print limitation 
6. Mask printing not recommend
7. Leather Cigarette Case UV Printing
8. Round soccer strategy board UV printing
9. Primer  performance & limitation 
10. UV Print & Laser crop mark cutting
11. Mobil case UV print profit
12. Screen vs Digital Comparison and UV Printing on Hand Sanitizer Cases
13. Bottle zig & print
14. Canvas UV Printing
15. Applying epoxy effect with varnish
16. Making a light frame with UV Printer & Laser cutter
17. UV Printer & Laser Cutting Equipment Button Name Tag Making
18. UV Printer & Laser Cutting Making a Cell Phone GripTok
19. Making an Acrylic Keychain with UV Printer & Laser Cutter
20. UV Print with Zig
21. How to make RD WORKS CCD camera cutting Video manual
22. Acrylic bonding equipment
23. All the steps to create UVDTF
24. UVDTF TEST Result on various material
25. ARTJET CW+C Print time & Ink Cost
26. Create a white shield with different images on the front and back of the keyring
27. Keyring Business Required Equipment and Investment Costs
29. Acrylic Lighting Goods
30. Ballpoint pen jig printing
31. Staining occurs when printing on coated leather

 

That’s it for today.