Postcrossing Blog

Stories about the Postcrossing community and the postal world

Blog > Leaf printing tutorial

  icon
Printed leaves on a postcard

It’s Autumn in the north hemisphere, and trees all around us are putting on their most beautiful display of the year. It’s impossible not to notice all the vibrant reds, yellows and browns of fallen leaves, practically begging to be brought in and turned into something special. So when we stumbled on Beemo’s (aka wild_grazer) stylish postcards on Reddit, we asked her if she would like to write a short tutorial for the community. Here she is, with a step-by-step guide, inviting you to turn the surrounding magic into unique postcards!

First of all, it is time to go outside and collect some leaves. They should have some veins and have an interesting shape, as these are the main things that will create an interesting print. It doesn’t matter if the leaf is a bit dried out as you can soak it in some water for about 5 minutes and it will be soft again. Just make sure it is not broken. Clean the leaves and pat them dry.

An assortment of autumn leaves lay in a table

You don’t need any fancy tools for this tutorial. You can use whatever you have available. You can use a pencil to make some guides so you know where to exactly put the leaf. I just put a little dot in the middle.


A DIY autumn leaf printing setup, featuring ink, a leaf, foam brush, and paper arranged on a green background.

Apply a thin layer of paint on the leaf on the side with the veins, using a sponge brush or even a normal sponge. I used linocut printing ink, but acrylic or gouache probably works just fine. Make sure to execute this step and the next ones quickly as otherwise the paint will dry out.

A ink-soaked sponge is used to spread ink over one leaf

You could add a little bit of water to your paint. This will create more of a watercolour effect. Without the water the print will be more refined. You can experiment with the amount of water and amount of paint that you apply for varying effects.

A leaf is put on a piece of paper, ink-side down

Turn over the leaf and place it on your card. Try to place it down without moving it as this will create stains.

A hand presses down on the paper firmly

Cover the leaf with a sheet of paper that fully covers the leaf and press it down/rub firmly. Normal printing paper would be too thin for this step, try to use paper of about 150–250gsm. You can also use a sheet of rubber such as for linocutting, which is what I did.


Four black ink prints of different autumn leaves on white paper, showcasing various shapes and textures.

Remove the covering paper or rubber and leaf and let the card dry. The last step is to decorate the back however you want. And you’re done!

The back side of a postcard, decorated with stickers and washi tape

Et voilà! I hope this inspires some of you to go out there and appreciate the beauty of this time of the year. There are not many deciduous trees where I live, so I’m planning to give it a try with herbs from the garden, perhaps using light ink on dark paper. If you decide to give it a try, come share your results on the handmade postcards and mail art forum topic!

35 comments so far

Galaxy_152, Russia

Hello, the article is very interesting. This idea quite temping. In my Fatherland. There are a lot of trees in my country, and I think I can try it. Good luck!

on
ennis, Finland

I've sometimes tried that in school art class. It's really fun! 🙂

on
sacdalton, United States of America

I think this is a wonderful post for those who love nature, creating/receiving handmade postcards. Happy fall to those in the season.

on
MailFromNanning, China

Wow! I love it! 🍁

on
Angeladonna, Canada

Wow! I need to give this a try :) Thank you for sharing your creativity.

on
PamF, United States of America

This is wonderful! thank you. I totally support the encouragement of the creation of hand-made postcards.

on
Shareen_Leo, Malaysia

Thank you for this heartwarming idea! Will try soon.

on
Indreni, United States of America

So nice to create and receive something that is one of a kind

on
EsztisABC, United States of America

Love the idea! Thank you for inspiring us.

on
mysweetlife63, United States of America

Love it! Thanks so much for sharing. Also a beautiful way to preserve memories with our loved ones.

on
kpwick, United States of America

Simplicity and beauty! ❤️❤️❤️🍁🍁🍁

on
kabuki2611, Belgium

Thanks you for this tuto. I will maybe try 🍃🌿🍁

on
vedaart9, United States of America

This is a very unique idea for postcarding and a perfect time of year to make these leaf prints. I appreciate the leaves in the fall as they "fall" to the ground. Thanks for the tip. I especially like using the stickers and tape on the back.

I notice many people write the temperature and date on the back of their cards. Wouldn't it be fun to write down the name of the leaf and where you found it - your yard, from your neighbor's yard, or at the Court House Square or park.

on
deniseberre, Belgium

We just did that at primary school more than 60 years ago!

on
brenbren, New Zealand

Definitely going to give this a try! Thanks for sharing this great tutorial! :)

on
MerlinM, Germany

Wonderful idea. I think we will try it.

on
Flippie, Canada

Thank you for sharing. I know this trick and use it every year to make collages with the seniors I work with.
It's Fun!

on
Reisegern, Germany

Thanks for the lovely tutorial!
Your cards show that sometimes "less is more", they are really lovely!

When I do that technique at primary school I use "finger paint" - giving nobody a reason to complain about the colours used. It works really well, often it has the perfect texture for printing.

on
Demmi, Romania

:) Creative and easy - lots of fun!
My kids always loved this activity!
We also use the clay imprinting technique but without ink.
xoxo

on
shayper, Canada

Thank you for this tutorial!

on
BeckyS, United States of America

What a great idea!

on
DDDivekar, India

Lovely idea. I will try it with natural colours made from flowers. In the spring we should select the trees for this artwork and collect flowers (preserve few in dried form)make the paint and in autom collect the leaves of the same trees and use it's flowers paint. Preserved dried flower can be used alongside the dried leaf . So it will be leaf and flower printing.😀 On the card write your observations of this year's spring and autom and a memorable event in your life this season.

on
prssrp, United States of America

Love this idea. We have a Gingko tree in our yard and their leaves are nice.

on
Selena, United States of America

These are beautiful! 🍂 Thanks for sharing your technique, and inspiration 🍁

on
SallySWJ, China

wow it perfectly keep the beauty of season in a material way, i'll try it when the spring comes! Thank you for sharing it!

on
Sangria2333, China

Great idea! I would love to try it out!

on
Carygirl, United States of America

Love this.

on
narkxn, Germany

Thank you for this great post!

on
pamspeidel, United States of America

Wonderful idea for adding a bit of nature to our postcards! 🍁🍂🍁

on
water_and_fire, Poland

Everyone please do this kind of leaf print from now on for me :D

on
kathacombs, United States of America

Ah this seems super simple and I can't wait to try this.

on
MAaron, China

Can't wait to do this!!!!

on
paloma_zl, Mexico

Very beautiful idea! Thank you so much <3

on
MythOwney, United States of America

Thank you for sharing your experience! I thought it might be like flower pounding (which transfers the color but destroys the flower). It would be fun to do this with colors that matched the leaves. Thanks!

on
Luziaceleste, Brazil

DIY can be very meaningful, thanks to remind us that it is not complicated and we may produce exclusive and nice postcards!

on
You need to sign in to leave a comment!

Back to top