Leather stamping is done to create an imprint onto a leather surface. It can be done for different purposes including for decoration. Leather stamping involves the use of shaped implements or stamps to create an imprint onto a leather surface, often by striking the stamps with a mallet. For leather stamping commercial stamps are available in various designs, generally geometric or representative of animals.

Leather stamping is mostly performed on tree-bark tanned leather that has been dampened with water, as the water makes the leather softer and able to be compressed by the design being pressed or stamped into it. After stamping the leather retains the design on it as it dries out, but it can fade if the leather becomes wet and is flexed. The leather is conditioned with oils and fats to make the impression last longer and make it water-proof. By doing so leather fibers are prevented from deforming.