How do you make photo tile murals?

Answer 1

To make a photo tile mural you can proceed in two directions depending on the end application and life expectancy you desire. The two processes are dye sublimation and kiln fired. You know you have found dye sublimation on a web site when it talks about special coatings, sealers or uv inhibators. These special coatings are coatings on top of tile that the dye is injected into using heat (oven) and pressure (a weight). The result is a great looking tile coating good for indoor use. It will fade if you expose it to light. The other process (Kiln fired) melts ground up rock, salt and minerals (pigment) into the existing glaze of your tile. This is the same process used to decorate everything porcelain for thousands of years. It needs no special cleaners, no special sealers and you can clean it with any non-abrasive cleaner except some acids. The process has been refined for production purposes over the years by first using silk screens to duplicate the art. This is the same process used in tee shirt production however the "ink" is pigment that can withstand the high temp (1400 degrees plus) of kiln firing. The silk screeners soon discovered a way to silk screen onto paper which can at a later date be wetted with water and pressed onto the porcelain and fired. Now a new process of arranging the pigment using printers and a clear transferable medium instead of paper has been made. The process is new (last 5 years) you start by convincing a $50,000.00 printer to spit ground up rock instead of ink. If you have ever refilled an ink cartridge you know that it will not work. Next seal the printed art or photo with a clear plastic sheet that you heat seal to each other. Now soak the two sheets in water until the clear sheet floats off of the paper. Place the plastic sheet with the image on the porcelain tile and squeegie out all of the water. and fire.