Onglaze decals

To apply onglaze decals, the design is first soaked in water to release the backing paper. Once the decal has softened and is movable , it is carefully placed onto the surface of the item and smoothed down to remove any air bubbles or excess water. After it has dried completely, the piece undergoes a firing process, usually in a kiln, to secure the decal permanently.

Alternatively, there is an automated method that requires the use of a machine similar to a pad printer. Decals are printed on a waxed paper and are released and applied with heat and pressure.

The CMYK process is a color model used in color printing, which stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). These four inks are combined in varying amounts to create a wide range of colors on printed materials. The process relies on the principle of subtractive color mixing, where colors are created by subtracting certain wavelengths of light through the use of these inks. By layering tiny dots of each color, printers can produce accurate and vibrant images with fine detail.

As the ceramic pigment spectrum is not as wide as that of non ceramic inks, it is sometimes necessary to add additonal spot colours to enhance the CMYK set.