Colors General

The play of colours on porcelain reacts differently to printing on paper! The composition of the porcelain colours must be suitable for firing at high temperatures!

As a general rule, we recommend sticking to the standard colours available from a factory. Architects, designers and advertising agencies in particular like to make things difficult for porcelain manufacturers with their special colour and design requirements (corporate design). In the case of prescribed colour requests, the industry can only approximate the colour specifications, but can never match them exactly!

It is definitely not possible to implement HKS or RAL colours exactly, especially spectral colours or gradients! It can also happen that one and the same vignette from one and the same manufacturer appears differently on different porcelain items, or that the colour gloss is perceived differently. This is due to the fact that the masses from which the hollow and flat parts are made are of different consistencies (solid/liquid). Although the white-glazed porcelain looks the same to the eye, it reacts differently in the finishing process.

On-glaze and in-glaze vignettes can be applied using different processes. The best-known processes are

- Sliding picture decoration
- Direct print
- Painting

The choice of the right process depends on the item to be vignetted and usually also on the quantity to be produced. In slide finishing, the decoration is first applied to a printed sheet. Depending on the size and design, the sheets contain between 10 and 50 vignettes, which are then sawn out and applied to the porcelain by hand using a damp cloth. Even this manual labour cannot be compared to the perfection of printing on paper. The direct print is applied to the porcelain by a colour print transfer machine. This process is far more accurate than the slide print if the machine is correctly adjusted. Unfortunately, not all items in a porcelain series are suitable for the machine process.

If you want vignette porcelain, you should be aware that you will not get a perfect end product like a label printed on paper! Vignette porcelain is made by hand and exposed to fire!

Here you will find the usual colours of our vignette production

Of course, we always strive to meet the colour specifications of our customers. However, these endeavours often come up against natural limits. Vignette or decorative colours are created by adding pigments in the classic mixing process. Just as the master painter mixes a colour composition, this is also done in the porcelain factory. A 100% match with a specification (RAL/Pantone) is never achieved in porcelain production. There are always only approximate values! Here you will find a small tool to help you find the closest colour tone between RAL, Pantone, CMYK and RGB. A service from professionals for professionals.