story
Founder of the company Daniel Lameh: He got the idea of a perfect photo tile during his holiday in Greece.
Pictures burned in for ever
Tiles from the company CERAMIC Art have perfect colours and have an extremely long lifetime – and this idea is spreading all over the world. The scope of ceramic art of the company CERAMIC Art ranges from a logo on ceramics to photos on wall tiles. In this article the founder and owner of the company Daniel Lameh informs about the history associated with the tiles.
“I got the idea many, many years ago on a holiday in Greece,” starts his story the owner of the company Daniel Lameh. “In cemeteries in the south of Europe you often see on tombstones black and white portraits of the deceased burned into stone. They last for a very long time. At that time I was thinking about the possibility of burning colour fast images into tiles. And that was the beginning of the company CERAMIC Art.“
Best laser printers in the world
Back then, Lameh had a perfect knowledge of colour fast laser printing on professional machines.
“At that time I modified the machines to fit my purpose. Just like others modify cars, I wanted to make the best laser printer in the world,” he smiles.
A recipe like from a chef: Right ingredients are crucial!
The secret of a perfect print: just like a chef Lameh knows when, where and with what ingredients a perfect result can be achieved. “At first I thought that the image could be transferred onto the tile following a perfect printout. But I was really wrong,” he admits frankly.
Plenty of know-how and a bit of chemistry
Basic steps in transferring an image onto a tile are similar to those in decorating the Greek tombstones. The image is first printed on a foil and then it is chemically processed to allow its transfer on the tile surface. And only after that it is fired.
Computer assists too
And here the know-how of the company owner comes in: “In the first attempts, the colour on the fired tile did not exactly match the original. However, in the meantime I developed programs for our computers that help to dose the colour in the printing process to make sure the final product after firing matches the original 100%,” states Lameh with pleasure.
The art of right timing
All of that has to match an optimum firing curve: “If the kiln is too hot the tile may break – and then the whole process has to be repeated – which is an expensive
fun … ” However, if the temperature is too low, the image will not perfectly bond with the tile surface. “It was also necessary here to write some computer programs that use perfect temperature curves for different tiles. ”
Result? Perfect!
And today? “For many years the quality of our photo tiles has been perfect. The colour matches the reality. Yet they are absolutely resistant to household cleaning agents and UV radiation so the colours do not fade in daylight even after years. ”
A lot of our clients have registered this. “A few years ago we printed mainly company logos on the tiles. But the trend is shifting: large-area photos made of particular tiles are very popular.”