ABOUT COLOR TRANSLATION. 
January of 2022 we purchased a NEW PRINTER! The color spectrum is much greater. Since there are not so many out of gamut colors, the color matching is better. The result is better detail in the decals and overall sharpness is improved…Great blues, oranges, yellow, reds and blacks.

About the new pigments. NEW INFORMATION October 2022

With our older printing technology pigments were mixed with fluxes to melt at specific temperatures. These older pigment/flux blends limited density of our decals because the pigment percentage was not 100% since a portion of the pigment was flux.

Our new pigments are now 100% pigment and create much richer and denser decals. These flux free pigments offer an incredible firing range- from 1320F to 2300F with no loss of color including brilliant reds and yellows.

 About Fusing, Firing and Surfaces. 

Flux free pigments require a source of flux to fuse to your substrate of glass OR ceramics..

 There are two ways to fuse flux free pigments. One is to use our flux covercoat and

the second is to use the fluxes in the glass or glaze with a higher firing temperature to achieve full fusion.

Both options have opportunities and challenges for achieving your aesthetic result.

Scroll down for information on Glass firing options.

Ceramic As Decal Surface.* The base glaze that you are firing on will effect the fusion of our decals. This is an over-glaze or on-glaze process that requires a smooth glossy base glaze for best results.

New Blue Flux Covercoat on Ceramics. Our new blue flux covercoat is very compatible with most ceramic glazes. It is required to achieve full fusion at similar temperatures as our older pigments. For ceramic the temperature range is the same starting a 1650F. It is also stable up to 1820F.

Non-Flux Covercoat Glaze Fusion for Ceramics. Depending on your glaze, you may need to fire above 1820F or Cone 06 to achieve full fusion when using nonflux covercoat. This is perhaps the most exciting aspect for using our new technology and flux free pigments.It is now possible to achieve a full range of surfaces from rich full fused satin matts to high gloss by exploring glaze firing temperatures.

Ceramics Schedule Guide. : Our new flux free pigments are design for earthenware to stoneware temperature firing options.

1650F Over Glaze

At 1650F our blue flux cover coat is require for achieving full fusion. Non-flux covercoat will produce a matt to satin surface.

The biggest challenge with ceramics at 1650F is that requires our blue flux covercoat, without it the decal will be fused but with a matt surface. You will see the edge halo of the flux around image of your decal. There are multiple ways to work this this.

1. Carefully trim to edge of your decal.

2. Cover the entire area of the ceramic by planning for extra covercoat around the image.

3. Increase your firing temperature to 1820F-1926F. At these temperatures we are now able to use non-flux covercoat because the fluxes in the base glaze are providing the flux for full fusion.

1820F-1926F Low Fire

At these temperatures our flux free pigments are fused by the fluxes in your base glaze, non-flux covercoat is used. Your low fire base glazes will need to be tested to see how the decal is fusing at the temperature you are firing. We have found that a glaze fired to Cone 6-2200F becomes melted enough at 1820F-1926F to produce full fusion with our flux free pigments. Your glazes will need to be tested and your kiln firing schedule ma need to be modified to achieve your aesthetic goals.

2200F-2345F High Fire

Creating artwork with stoneware or porcelain using high fire glazes provides this rich language for incorporating decals for both sculpture and functional ware. Our flux free pigments fire hotter, are more durable, and produce amazing color.

We have found that after your initial high fire and low fire 1820F-1926F decal firing will melt your high fire glaze to create full fusion of our flux free pigments. Glaze will need to be tested with our decals and firing schedules may need to be modified to achieve your aesthetic goals.

ABOUT THE GLASS Substrate A. Kiln Forming. The glass that you are using directly affects our decals because the softening and melting of glass occurs at the same temperatures as the fluxes and enamels that we print our decals. COE 90 and COE 96 fuse compatible art glass; COE 82 float glass and COE 33 borosilicate glass all require different firing schedules and produce different results. We strongly recommend that test our decals on your glass, develop techniques, and modify our firing schedules to suit your personal studio glass practice.

We have done extensive testing with many of the glasses commercially available. We found that Spectrum System 96 is the simplest to use because it is smooth and is very compatible with the fluxes and enamels on our decals. Bullseye glass works well but it requires a first firing to make it smooth. Many of our clients have developed great results with Bullseye.

B. Hot Glass. Fused to sheet glass, decal transfers can be rolled-up and blown.Cylinder blanks can be blown and annealed. Decals are then transferred around the cylinder and pre-fired to 1120 F. Blanks can then be picked up and blown. Imagery becomes fully fused in the glory hole. With both roll-ups and blanks using white glass helps hold color due to opacity. Imagery can be gathered over with clear with no loss of color from the extreme temperature of the furnace glass. Torching and all other hot glass technique are the same.

C. Boro-silicate glass. This is the most experimental area for exploring flux free pigment decals. Both blue flux covercoat and using the temperature of the torch and the boron in the glass to achieve full fusion are options. Flame working is possible. Casing the decal between two layers of boro where we wrap decals around a tube and fire it to 1050F. Then slide this inside a larger tube and fused together. From there we can flame work anything. One still needs to be gentle with the heat.

D. Float Glass. Float glass works well but it requires a higher firing temperature to achieve a uniform gloss. Devitrification can be and issue and you will need a tin scope to determine the tin side of the glass. Our decal only work on the NON-tin side. Armstrong glass and Youghiogheny glass make COE 82 colored glass that is compatible with commercial float glass.

WHITE vs. TRANSPARENT .  The very "best" color, the one most visually rich and "accurate" to your RGB file- would result from decal fired onto WHITE glass or Ceramic surfaces that are glazed white. Another option, for good likeness of color- is to fuse the decal to a sheet of transparent glass then full fuse a sheet of white below that.  For real pop of color you need that white either directly behind the image or further back behind the image.  Firing on a transparent sheet of glass will not give you great color....too much light interference.  We use transparent glass if a sort of liminal, ghostlike quality is conceptually important.

E.  To Flip or not To Flip - BETTER COLOR tip 4 Transparent/Clear Glass

Our savvy glass decal clients and workshop artists have noted that once decal fired onto transparent glass their images appear more vibrant when viewed from the backside of the glass. WHY? Because the printers final round of color is YELLOW. This can affect how that image reads. SO HOT TIP: before sending your file, merge all layers to the Background. Then: Under Image/ImageROTATION/ Pick either FLIP CANVAS Horizontally or FLIP CANVAS Vertically.    Pick only one.  This means once fired your decal will read correctly THROUGH the glass. The decal will be on the backside of the transparent glass.

Can leave as is…full fuse to white glass…leave a space and then fuse…play play play.

F.  Text - with our new printer small text prints well.