- Raw hide
- An untanned hide, preserved fresh or salted. In Portuguese: couro em verde.
- Wet-blue
- A chrome-tanned hide, still wet and blue-grey in colour. The most common form in which semi-finished leather is traded internationally.
- Crust
- A hide that has been retanned, dyed and dried, but not yet surface-finished.
- Finished leather
- Leather with its final finish (colour, gloss, handle or embossing), ready to cut.
- Embossing
- A pattern pressed into the grain under heat and pressure, such as croco.
- Grain
- The outer face of the hide, where the texture and finish show.
- Selection
- Grading of a hide by the quality of its grain and the number of defects: 1st, 2nd, 3rd…
- Crazy horse
- Waxed leather with a pull-up effect: the colour lightens where the leather is bent or scratched.
- Aniline
- Leather dyed right through with soluble dyes and no covering pigment, so the natural grain shows.
- Floater
- Finished leather whose grain is loosened and accentuated by tumbling in the drum, with a soft handle and irregular relief. In Portuguese: pele batida.
- Automotive leather
- Finished leather for car upholstery and interiors, with its own requirements for light fastness, wear and heat resistance.
- Thickness
- Measured in millimetres; it decides the use, from garments to footwear and leather goods.