Ceramics Printing Goes Digital

For a little more than a decade, I lived in a 200-year-old house in Portsmouth, N.H., a town that reflected a more than a 300-year Sherburne family history. I had a vision of a hand-painted mural on the staircase wall that would follow that history from the family’s arrival in 1632 through to the modern day, with images of relevant people, places and buildings that reflected the family’s influence on the city over the years. But I didn’t want to stop there. I thought individual images could be captured and printed on ceramic tiles and other materials to be used as decoration throughout the house.

Unfortunately, I was a little ahead of the times; it was possible, but not easy, to do that work back then. The hand-painted mural, sure; but custom ceramic tiles were a challenge. That’s so not true today!

Digital Dominates at the High End

Just over a decade ago, conventional screen printing was the most common printing methodology for ceramic tile. But since then, beset by demand for more customization, smaller lot sizes and faster cycle times, ceramic tile manufacturers have turned to digital inkjet printing to address these market dynamics. These systems typically use UV-curable or eco-solvent inks, and more eco-friendly water-based inks are now making their way into the market. As a mature technology and an analog printing process, it also limited to some degree the flexibility of designs that could be produced. 

All of that changes with digital printing. Very small lot sizes (even a quantity of one) are feasible, more colors and more complex designs can be produced, and product arrives in the market much faster. Plus, digital printing reduces the overall environmental footprint of the manufacturing process, including reduction in waste and production costs and elimination of toxic chemicals associated with the screen printing process, etc. Also, since screen printing is a contact process, it is only used to decorate flat, not textured tiles, and it leaves a white border around the edges because it cannot print right up to the edges. 

Ceramics and porcelain stoneware have become increasingly popular with architects and interior designers, and the ability to easily customize designs will spur further growth in digital ceramic printing with these audiences, particularly as they work with high-end facilities. Digital printing of ceramic tile is gaining increasing popularity around the globe. This includes European countries such as Spain and Italy, where production is almost exclusively digital, according to a publication produced by printhead manufacturer Xaar. Other regions experiencing a high conversion to digital include India, Brazil and China.

Stunning bath tiles produced on an EFI Cretaprint is an example of how interior designers are taking advantage of digital ceramic printing technologies.

In this process, tiles are formed, glazed, passed through inkjet printing stations, and then fired in kilns. So the process is somewhat complicated and the investment to enter the market is high. High-end digital ceramic printing equipment on the market includes:

• EFI Cretaprint
• Hope Jet from Hope Ceramics Machinery
• Italian manufacturer Intesa-Sacmi
• Keda Clean Energy’s DPG line of digital ceramic manufacturing solutions
• KERAjet of Spain, one of the first companies to introduce digital printing for ceramic tile in 1999
• Meijia Ceramics Equipment Company, located in China’s ceramics capital, Foshan City
• TechnoFerrari of Italy with its VivaJet line

But there are also ceramic printing opportunities that involve a much smaller investment than these multi-million-dollar systems.

The Cretaprint Hybrid currently uses eco-solvent inks or more environmentally friendly water-based inks and glazes.

Digital Ceramic Printing for the Rest of Us

The good news is that it can be easy and affordable to enter the market for short to mid-sized runs of decorated ceramic products. The most common method of printing on ceramics in this market segment is heat transfer dye sublimation. This is accomplished by digitally printing the desired image onto heat transfer paper, taping that paper to the object being decorated, and applying heat using a heat press. In the case of drinkware, and more specifically, mugs, specialized heat presses are available to produce a single mug at a time using pre-manufactured blanks.

Heat Press for Mug Decoration

Other configurations that can produce multiple mugs at one time are also available.

Sticking with mugs for the moment, notice the white space around the handle. Examining the equipment, you can see why that needs to happen. 

That’s where another process comes into play. All-over imprinting can be accomplished using a product called SubliShrink. It’s a shrink wrap film sleeve that can be placed over a mug or other dimensional piece after taping the heat transfer paper on the object. Objects can be decorated one by one using a heat gun; or more productively, several objects can be placed in a convection oven for the heat transfer process. This can produce a design covering the entire piece. As a nice add-on to custom mugs you may be producing for a client’s special event or for gifting, customized packaging can also be produced using dye sublimation with a flat heat press or using other digital printing technologies.

Custom Mug Printed Using SubliShrinkCondé Systems

Ceramic printing is not limited to mugs, of course. Using the processes described above, just about any ceramic blank can be decorated with very high-quality images. For printing or sign companies that are looking to add a new revenue stream, these value-add items can increase both the overall order value and customer satisfaction.

For example, if you are producing brochures or signs for an event or product launch, offering a small quantity of quick-turn customized mugs reflecting relevant imagery can be a big win. For consumers, the ability to produce small runs of customized ceramic products – mugs, tiles, coasters and more – with imagery celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or other special events is also a big hit. 

Rob Barnett at AlphaGraphics in Suwanee, Ga., has taken advantage of these opportunities using his flatbed inkjet printer and UV ink.

“As long as it is a rigid substrate less than two inches thick, we can print on it,” he said. “We’ve seen requests for floor tiles, tiles for the shower or bathtub and more. We also print a lot of photos on the back of acrylic or on tile to put in a frame. If my operator tells me I can print on something, I will try it!”

Printed on 6x6” gloss white ceramic tile flooded with black

 Image printed on 12x12” white ceramic tile purchased at Lowe’s

Another company that has made a good business from ceramic printing is The Gift Chalet. Owner Eric Wilkicki specializes in everything Scandinavian. The primary process he uses for ceramic decoration uses printed decals with image transfer through firing in a kiln and 2700 degrees for eight hours. Some decals are screen printed; others are digitally printed. Wilkicki notes that this process is effective for minimum runs of 2,000 to 3,000 pieces but is more durable and is food and dishwasher safe.

He also uses heat transfer dye sublimation for proofing and smaller orders, comprising about 20% of the business. Items include tiles, coffee mugs, ornaments, dishes and more. Much of this is produced using a Roland RT-640 dye-sublimation printer and adds up to some half million tiles per year. His business is primarily wholesale to gift stores, but he also does contract manufacturing for groups or organizations. Wilkicki does note, however, that he prefers using direct-to-object printing with UV-curable inks where possible for shorter runs, although it is not food safe.

Cashing in on Ceramics

Printing on ceramic objects is a great business opportunity for printers and sign shops of all sizes. Whether you choose to acquire one mug heat press or a conveyor convection oven for higher volume production – or adding ceramic tiles and ornaments to the mix with a flatbed printer using UV-curable inks – there are myriad opportunities. And especially with entry-level solutions, the payback is almost immediate while margins are excellent. There is little additional skills training required since you already know about color management, quality printing and more. Give it a shot or find a digital provider you can outsource to as a market test for the next client event or product launch you are supporting!