Printing and tech giant Casio's new $50,000 Mofrel printer can add 3D textures to printed-out flat paper - giving it the textures of wood, stone, leather, and embossed stitched fabrics.

 

The Mofrel, which Casio refers to as 2.5D, uses heat from near-infrared light to churn out pages that both look and feel like any desired texture. With highly-specialized paper covered in micro-powder that expands when heated, the printer applies the near-infrared light, generating appropriate texture bumps.

 

The texture is applied in the first run through the printer — then a microfilm is peeled off and a second run applies actual ink to give the textured surface color. The Mofrel can also create double-sided prints for texture on each side.

 

Users design and select textures in Photoshop using a Mofrel Utility plug-in, which translates textured designs into the 'bump' data for the printer.

 

The paper required for Mofrel runs about $10 per sheet and is noticeably thicker than average paper.

 

Currently, the massive printer, about the size of a desk, is only available in Japan.