The Dye Sublimation Magic 4x4' of the IronClad Ceramic Tile
The reason I focus on IronClad tiles is because they are a quality tile, exclusive to Conde, and the coating is very consistent. Coating is everything with ceramic tiles. Not that other tiles are not good, but IronClad is Conde’s frontrunner for textiles. If you aren’t experienced doing tiles, IronClad tiles is a great place to start. As for how to make them successfully, tiles are easy. Click here for the Ceramic Tile Playlist on CondeTV.
The IronClad tiles by Conde make great general purpose tiles. They come in several sizes and three coatings, Gloss, Satin, and Matte. There is a reason for three levels of coating besides the way they look. Obviously, the gloss tile does result in a high gloss product much like a glossy photograph. The matte finish is just that. It looks like a matte photograph. The satin is somewhere between the two and gives a finished product that isn’t as flat as the matte, but not high gloss.
Each level of coating is more resistant to scratching. The gloss finish is tough enough for normal use. The matte is extremely durable and perfect for applications where the tiles are going to get a lot of abuse. The satin is durable but can still be scratched. The choice of glossiness and durability is up to you and your customer.
So what do you do with a single tile? People like to buy single tiles by themselves as decor. But if you want to take them to the next level, consider providing a small easel with them (available stores like Condé, Michaels, A.C. Moore or amazon.com).
Item #U4220 will work for a 4x4” tiles and sell for only 76 cents. Because of the ridges on the back of the tiles, you may want to adhere them with some silicon adhesive rather than just the tape that comes with the easel, but that’s no big deal. Of course, larger sizes are also available. An even nicer way to display a tile is with the wrought iron “frames” sold by Conde. These can hold one tile or all the way up to 14 tiles to make a product worth well more than $150.
Another market is the fundraising market. Churches, various organizations including schools like tiles with a picture of their church, school or other facility on it. Let the organization sell and take orders for them. You can wholesale a single tile for $10 and let them sell them for whatever they want - $15 to $20 is common. If you are really ambitious, consider showing small murals at home improvement shows, or to companies that do kitchens and bathrooms. Small 4, 6 or 8 tile murals can pull in $85 per sq. foot wholesale and retail for $125 or more, plus installation.
If murals scare you a bit, try a four tile mural. At 16x16”, you don’t have to have a terribly huge size file to work with. Ideally, 300dpi per inch file will produce the highest quality product you could hope for. Even if you have to come down to 250dpi, you will still get a great end product.
If you have an image that doesn’t measure up, you can run the image through “Adobe Photo Essentials” to raise the resolution as much as 400%. That means you can start with an image suitable for a single 4” tile and use it for a 16” mural. The Photo Essentials program is inexpensive and available from either Conde or dealers like amazon.