Ceramic decal technique
Ceramic decals, also known as transfer decals, involve using the pasting method to transfer the colored patterns on the decorative paper onto the ceramic body or glaze surface. It is divided into overglaze applique and underglaze applique, etc. Overglaze decals include film transfer decals, clear water decals and glue decals, etc. Underglaze decals include printing only the outline of the pattern on the decal paper, transferring the print, and then manually filling in the color. There are also those that are pasted with lines and colors at one time, which are called water-stained decals. There are two types of decal paper: paper and plastic film. Paper-based decal paper requires processes such as paper removal and washing. Later, film-based decal paper was developed, which eliminates the need for paper removal and is convenient for mechanized and continuous operation.
Ceramic decal paper is mainly used for the decoration of patterns and colors on ceramic vessels, replacing the hand-painted and spray-painted techniques that were previously used.
The resolution of silk-screened ceramic decal paper can reach 40-50 lines per CM.
After the silk-screen ink patterns on Ceramic Decorative paper are pasted onto ceramic vessels, they need to be fired at 700-800℃ or 1100-1350℃ to adhere firmly. The color depends on the type of color developer in the ceramic.
Ceramic decal paper serves as the carrier of ceramic ink and is divided into ceramic overglaze decal paper and ceramic underglaze decal paper. The types of decal paper vary depending on their composition.
Due to the strong covering power and poor transparency of ceramic ink, the principle of the three primary colors cannot be applied for printing at present. The dot printing method adopts non-overprint side-by-side dedicated color ink dot printing.
The ink used for printing on overglaze embossed paper is high-temperature solvent-based ink. The ink used for underglaze decal paper printing is high-temperature water-based ink.