Leather and digital printing technologies combined. Belgian printing solutions manufacturer Agfa and TFL, a German group specializing in chemicals for the leather industry, have jointly developed Alussa, an inkjet printing solution for the decoration of high-quality genuine leather for the fashion, upholstery, automotive, aviation and marine industries.
Agfa developed the inkjet printer, the inks and graphic workflow and the color management to control the printing process, and TFL handled the coating chemistry for this solution. "It brings together the best of two worlds to offer the perfect synergy between leather and ink." summarizes Tom Cloots, Agfa's Director Industrial Inkjet, in a press release.
Alussa is thus the first industrial inkjet printing solution producing decorated leather capable of withstanding up to 100?000 bending. And in terms of productivity, Alussa is also impressive: its printing speed reaches 80 m 2 /h.
It prints the patterns in white and colour with photographic quality on different types of leather. It has the qualities of digital printing: Alussa is suitable for the personalisation of leather products, for printing on demand (such as samples) but also for large volumes.
"We are very excited about this partnership between Agfa and TFL, says Markus Hess, Global Head of Product Marketing at TFL. Together, we can create an infinite number of custom fashion effects, combined with high bending and wear resistance properties, to meet the ever-changing demands of today's fashion industry.
Agfa and TFL will present Alussa to the public for the first time at the Simas Tanning Tech leather industry trade fair from February 19 to 21 in Milan, Italy.
