Digitally Printed Tiles Are An Eco-Friendly Choice

For some years now, the majority of European ceramic tile manufacturers have been working towards ensuring that their manufacturing process is as environmentally friendly as possible by recycling, minimising energy use, reducing waste and using "green" materials. And the more recent trend for digitally printing designs on ceramic tiles is also proving to be an eco-friendly production method because the process produces so little waste compared to more traditional printing methods. For traditional printing on tiles, a manufacturer would have to have up to 200 different inks available to produce the desired colours and do large print-runs to make the process cost-effective and keep the cost of individual tiles affordable for the consumer. This led to a high degree of wastage for the less popular designs, but for the digital printing process only 4 different colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) need to be used to produce the same range (or gamut) of colours – in fact, these are the same 4 colours that are used in a domestic inkjet printer.

The basic technology behind printing ceramic tiles on a commercial scale is the same as that for a home printer but the commercial printers are of a much higher quality and the inks are specially formulated, pigmented inks specifically for printing onto ceramics.The printing machines need to be able to handle the 3-dimensional nature of a tiles; although only a single 2-d flat surface is printed on, the tiles themselves can vary in thickness. The decorated tiles are required to be kiln-fired at very high temperatures so the nature of the inks must both be able to withstand the high temperatures but also retain the colours after firing.

Some manufacturers are producing thousands of different designs digitally and because they need only produce a certain design to meet demand (often known as "on demand" printing) there is very little waste. It also means that it is easier to produce a substantial number of limited edition designs, which offer customers not only greater choice but also a higher degree of exclusivity as print runs are smaller.

This ability to print on demand at a reasonable cost also opens up the possibility of having an entirely unique tile design created or a high-quality, unique mural – something that would previously have been expensive because it would have to have been hand-painted.

Traditional methods of printing on ceramic tiles such as screen printing and digital transfer are still being used by some companies but direct digital decoration is looking set to take over entirely from these conventional processes as it proves to be a cost-effective and reliable method.

So if you are considering your options for a patterned tile or thinking about having a unique mural created for your swimming pool or for your bathroom using porcelain wall tilesthen digitally printed tiles could be the perfect answer. Major manufacturers continue to implement print quality improvements to their digital printing capability and it is the fastest-growing segment of the ceramic tile industry.