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What is eco printing?

Eco printing, also called botanical contact printing, transfers the shape and colour of real leaves directly onto cloth or paper. Leaves are pressed tightly against the fibre, and moisture, time, metal salts and often heat draw out their pigments and tannins and fix them in place. The result is a print made by the leaf itself, not a picture of one.

Updated 2 November 2026

Close view of eco-printed grey cloth with slate-blue and pale green leaf prints.
Detail of a LeafSilk piece: slate-blue and pale green leaf prints on grey cloth.

How eco printing works

Every maker has their own method, but most follow the same five steps.

  1. Prepare the cloth. The fabric is washed well so nothing blocks the fibres. Many makers also treat it with a mordant, a substance that helps colour bond to the fibre. Metal salts are common mordants.
  2. Lay out the leaves. Fresh or rehydrated leaves are arranged on the cloth by hand, sometimes after being dipped in a solution.
  3. Roll and tie. Cloth and leaves are rolled or folded tightly and bound. Close contact is what gives a sharp print.
  4. Set the print. Many makers steam or simmer the bundle. Others rest it in a solution, or combine the two.
  5. Open and rest. The bundle is unrolled, the leaves are lifted away, and the cloth is left to rest before it is rinsed.

How LeafSilk does it

At LeafSilk, leaves from different trees are placed on the cloth, which is mostly silk or a silk blend. Cloth and leaves are then rolled together into a tight roll and tied, and the roll rests in a solution of metal salts. Sometimes heat is used as well.

Changing the leaves or the solution changes the result, so each piece is its own trial. That is why the colours in our work run from pale ochre to coral red to slate blue, and why no two pieces look alike.

Close view of rows of pale lobed leaves and long green leaves eco-printed on coral-red cloth.
Rows of lobed and serrated leaves, placed one by one on a LeafSilk piece.

Why every print is different

  • The tree. Leaves rich in tannin, such as walnut, tend to print strongly, while others barely mark the cloth without help.
  • The season. The same tree can print differently from spring to autumn.
  • The metal salts. Iron usually deepens a print toward brown, grey or black. Other salts shift the colour in other directions.
  • The cloth. Silk and wool are protein fibres and take plant colour readily. Cotton and linen are cellulose fibres and usually need more preparation.
  • The contact. A tight roll gives crisp veins and edges. A small gap leaves a soft ghost.

Silk has one more advantage: its fine, smooth surface can record very small details, such as the veins of a leaf or the teeth along its edge.

Close view of leaf prints with a line of fine dark dots along each serrated edge.
The teeth along each leaf edge, printed as a line of fine dark dots.

Where eco printing comes from

The Australian textile artist India Flint is widely credited with developing the eco print. The Australian National Herbarium records that she developed it during research for a Master of Visual Arts at the University of South Australia. By her own account she first published it at a symposium in St Petersburg in 1999, and her book Eco Colour (Murdoch Books, 2008) helped carry the method around the world.

Eco printing compared with other methods

MethodWhat makes the imageCan it be repeated?
Eco printA real leaf pressed against the clothNo, each print is unique
Digital “botanical” printInk, from an image fileYes, as many times as you like
Screen or block printInk or dye through a screen or from a blockYes, the pattern repeats
Hapa zomeLeaves or flowers hammered into the clothNo, but the marks are usually softer
CyanotypeA plant’s shadow on a light-sensitive coatingClose, and the image is always blue

Not sure what you are looking at? Here is how to tell a real eco print from a digital print.

Is eco printing eco-friendly?

The “eco” in eco printing is the name of a technique, not an environmental claim or a certification. The colour of the print comes from plants rather than printing ink, but the process still uses water, metal salts and sometimes heat, and those solutions need careful handling. So we don’t describe our pieces as eco-friendly. We tell you how they are made and let you judge.

Sources

  1. Eco-print, Opening Artists' Books, University of Utah Libraries
  2. Biography of India Flint, Australian National Herbarium
  3. Eucalyptographia, India Flint's School of Nomad Arts
  4. Eco Colour by India Flint, Murdoch Books, 2008
  5. The Art of Eco-Printing, Alchemist Pro / Fibre2Fashion
  6. How to make eco printed fabric, FiberArtsy
  7. Botanical contact printing, Lotta Helleberg

Questions

What is the difference between eco printing and natural dyeing?

Natural dyeing colours the whole cloth in a dye bath. Eco printing leaves the mark of individual leaves where they touched the fabric. Many makers combine the two, printing leaves onto a cloth that already has a coloured ground.

Which leaves work best for eco printing?

Leaves rich in tannin tend to print most strongly. Walnut, oak, maple and eucalyptus are popular choices, but results change with the place, the season and the solution, so makers test their own trees.

Do you need heat for eco printing?

Not always. Most published methods steam or simmer the bundle, but a solution and time can do much of the work. At LeafSilk heat is used only sometimes, depending on the piece.

Will an eco print fade?

Plant colour can soften over time and fades faster in long, direct sun. How lasting a print is depends on the fibre, the preparation and how well the print was set. Our care guide explains how to look after one.

Can an eco print be reproduced?

Not exactly. A photograph of one can be printed digitally, but no two leaves are the same, so a true eco print can't be repeated. Here is how to tell the two apart.

See what leaves can do.

Each piece is the only one of its kind. Write to us and we’ll answer personally.

hello@leafsilk.com