Digital Designs
Manko’s digital in-glass-printing is an innovative approach to high-performance glass fabrication, combining
advanced printing technology with long-lasting durability. Through this process, ceramic frit inks, composed
of finely ground glass particles and inorganic pigments, are digitally printed onto glass surfaces using a
state-of-the-art high-resolution printer. This enables intricate patterns, gradients, images, and custom
designs to be permanently fused into the glass via heat-treatment, creating a finish that is extremely durable
and resistant to scratching, fading, and environmental wear. This printing technology allows Manko to deliver
both aesthetic versatility and functional performance, making it an ideal solution for architectural glazing,
decorative applications, and projects requiring consistent, high-quality visual results.
Digital printing uses advanced inkjet technology to apply ceramic-based inks directly onto glass surfaces. Unlike traditional screen printing, which requires separate screens for each color or design iteration and is best suited for repetitive, uniform patterns, digital printing allows for rapid customization without additional setup costs, making it ideal for bespoke projects or varying designs across panels. Digital printing enables architects and designers to achieve extremely complex, high-resolutions patterns, gradients, and photographic imagery with a broad range of colors. Digital printing expands creative possibilities while improving efficiency and reducing material waste compared to the more labor-intensive and less adaptable screen printing process.
Ceramic inks used in digital printing incorporate a unique blend of six spot colors. Unlike conventional printers that use a CMYK color space, ceramic inks use a color space composed of blue, green, white, orange, red, and black spot colors. The color gamut of digitally printed ceramic ink is inherently more limited than that of conventional printing due to its use of heat-stable inorganic pigments, which must withstand the high temperatures of the tempering process to become permanently fused into the glass. This results in a more restrained range of achievable hues, particularly in terms of very bright, saturated, or highly chromatic colors. Since magenta is an extra-spectral color that does not exist in natural inorganic pigments without the use of highly toxic heavy metals, bright pinks and rich purples are nearly impossible to reproduce. The available gamut is well-suited to architectural needs, with colors that maintain exceptional consistency and permanence over time.
Digitally printed glass offers exceptional durability because the ceramic inks are fused directly into the glass surface during the tempering or heat-strengthening process. This permanently bonds the inorganic pigments to the glass, making the printed surface highly resistant to UV radiation, abrasion, moisture, and chemical exposure. Unlike surface-applied coatings or films, the image or pattern will not peel, fade, or degrade over time. This durability makes ceramic frit digital printing particularly well-suited for long-term façade applications, where maintaining color stability, pattern integrity, and overall performance is critical.
Highlighted Coverage Patterns
Dots, lines, and other coverage-based patterns help control sunlight, reduce glare and heat, and can improve privacy while maintaining visibility. These patterns can also enhance building aesthetics.
Manko’s coverage based patterns are broken up into three categories, ranging from simple tileable patterns to customizable parametric designs.
Standard Dots
1/8” Standard, 45° Matrix
Category I
Standard Lines
1/8” Standard
Category I
Standard Dot-Off
1/8” Standard, 60° Matrix
Category I
Clover-Off
1/4” Standard, 45° Matrix
Category I
Highlighted Coverage Patterns
Manko’s ever-growing collection of 175+ patterns offers an extensive offering of vector patterns for a variety of styles and applications.
Standard patterns are categorized between Manko Standard Patterns, designed by Manko’s design team, and the original Dip-Tech catalog of standard patterns.
These patterns fall into three types of patterns: Tileable, Linear, and Parametric
M63
Parametric
M2
Linear
M37
Parametric
M13
Parametric
M68
Parametric
M44
Tileable
M61
Parametric
M79
Tileable
Highlighted Interiori Designs
This collection of wood, stone, and unique material swatches allows architects and designers to replicate the warmth and texture of natural materials while benefiting from the performance and durability of glass. This medium offers unique design possibilities such as backlighting or spandrel applications.
City Lights
Stone Interiori
Swedish Oak
Wood Interiori
Deep Rust
Specialty Interiori
Concrete
Specialty Interiori
Vector Artwork - AI, EPS, PDF, DWG, DXF, 3DM
Raster Artwork - PSD, TIFF, JPEG, PNG
It is recommended to provide artwork in its original design file format with layers preserved. AI, PSD, or Adobe PDF files are preferred.
RGB color space is recommended for best conversion to BGWORK color space. All spot colors should be removed or converted to process colors. Unused swatches should be removed.
It is recommended to convert all text to outlines, especially when using non-standard font types.
Vector artwork should be supplied at actual size unless a clear scale is notated.
Raster images should be supplied at highest possible resolution. Minimum 300 ppi resolution is recommended. Images with a resolution under 72 ppi may result in a lower quality print. For a rule of thumb, the overall print size in inches should be multiplied by the necessary ppi to determine overall resolution. For example, a 48” x 36” printed image should have a resolution of 7200px x 5400px.
Files that include blend modes or adjustment layers may be preserved, however, Manko recommends also including a flattened version of artwork to verify the intent. This can be a duplicate file that has been flattened or a clearly notated layer that has the layer visibility off.
For questions regarding artwork requirements or design assistance, please contact Manko’s design team.
While commercial clear float glass is often described as colorless, it naturally exhibits a slight green or blue-green tint. For applications requiring maximum color neutrality, low-iron glass should be considered. Many laminated interlayers block ultraviolet light and may also slightly reduce visible light transmission, which can result in a subtle yellow appearance—particularly in thicker laminates or multi-ply constructions. When low-emissivity (low-e) or reflective coatings are incorporated into laminated glass, placing the coating in contact with the interlayer can alter its refractive index, potentially causing a perceived color shift. As a result, a coating may appear differently in a laminated assembly than in an insulated glass unit.
Optical distortion—both reflected and transmitted—may result from heat treatment, glass thickness variability, framing system stresses, and changes in exterior wind or interior building pressures. Laminated glass assemblies often incorporate multiple plies of heat-treated glass to meet performance requirements. Inherent characteristics of heat-treated glass include bow, roll wave, and picture-frame distortion. While fabricators take steps to minimize these effects, they cannot be eliminated. Distortion is further accentuated when reflective coatings or tinted substrates are used. Manko strongly recommends evaluating a full-size mock-up under actual project conditions.
Under certain lighting or viewing conditions, laminated glass may exhibit iridescent patterns or dark shadowing, commonly referred to as strain patterns or anisotropy. These patterns are caused by stresses introduced during the heat-treatment process and are inherent to heat-treated glass. While typically not visible, strain patterns may become more pronounced at extreme viewing angles or under polarized light. Thicker laminated assemblies may increase the visibility of these patterns. This phenomenon is not indicative of discoloration or material inconsistency.
Due to the technical complexity of laminated glazing systems, early collaboration between design professionals, fabricators, and suppliers is essential. Understanding the construction and inherent characteristics of laminated glass is critical to achieving optimal performance in safety, security, hazard resistance, and acoustic applications. As laminate thickness and ply count increases, the potential for optical distortion also increases. Full-size mock-ups are strongly recommended to evaluate appearance under project-specific lighting, environmental, and viewing conditions, particularly in applications involving visual movement behind the glass.
