During the last decade the tile industry has reinvented the way
ceramic tiles are decorated. With the advent of inkjet
technology being incorporated into this process there is no
longer a need for screen or roller printing methods, freeing the
industry up to many different opportunities. As with screen and
roller printing, the image of the design is first scanned, then
modified on a computer. However, by utilizing the key advantages
of digital imaging the design can be almost instantly
transferred to the inkjet printing machine, which is fully
equipped with the essential inks to print any design with any
desired color. The non-impact technology that the inkjet printer
utilizes enables manufactures to decorate any type of tile,
including relief tile, just as easy as traditional flat tile.
This is done by using a print style called Drop on Demand (DoD)
and by utilizing a special type of printing device called a
piezoelectric printhead. These let the printer create an
identical picture of the digital image by pr