The PDF Manual.
Modified: November 20, 2021
Download it from the Files panel in your Insight-live.com account or from the home page at https://digitalfire.com (current downloads only include the program file, manual, starter recipe, materials - overrides data is built in).
We moved functionality to a private account at Insight-Live.com - because people now expect to get at their data from any device anywhere. And for our survival. Ceramic lab work is much bigger than glaze chemistry, it is a physical world where testing, observation, record-keeping are vital. Insight-Live is about maintaining that data. Its recipes share pictures, they have firing schedules, notes, development history, testing data, links, they belong to projects. And they accumulate into the thousands and are easy to find and compare.
Desktop Insight, by default, opens and saves recipes to its INSIGHTDATA.DB recipe database file (that file is in your documents/insight folder, it can be uploaded and imported into Insight-live). If Desktop Insight does not find the INSIGHTDATA.DB file on startup, it imports, into its database, all the recipe files (e.g. RCP, RCX) it finds in your documents/insight/recipe folder (it does not erase the original files, but no longer uses them). From then on, when you choose File -> Open (not File -> Open File System) you open recipes from its database (using the Recipe Database Window). When you Save you save to the database. See page 94 of the manual for more information.
Because you have to be able to compare ten recipes side-by-side. For physics as well as chemistry. And people need to be able to find thousands on any device from anywhere.
Insight FAQ
There is a direct relationship between the way ceramic glazes fire and their chemistry. Insight is a calculation tool anyone can use to learn and harness the power of glaze chemistry.
Without glaze chemistry you'll never really have control and you could be a slave to your suppliers or the trafficing in recipes that never work.
Overwhelmed by glaze chemistry? Try starting here.
"I purchased my first Insight program from you over 10 years ago. It helped me develop a glaze that perfectly fit cone 10 B-Mix. That in turn helped me to feel great about the durability and sanitary nature of my functional ware. Thank You so Much. Thanks for all the Information on the web, everwhere I look digital fire is there."
"I am in the process of filming a teaching DVD ... I plan to purchase your software as soon as I have spare money in my pottery account. (Right now it is all going to expenses for the DVD...) Again, thanks for checking in with me about INSIGHT. It is a neat program! "
"All I have to say is "Bless You!" I am a beginning potter (just 2 1/2 years of community ed) and glazes are a complete mystery to me. The professional potters I have come to know use the "hit & miss" method of glaze formulation, and the community college I attend hasn't the funding or space to educate re: glazes! In my previous life (before marriage & children) I was a chemistry major. The lack of science used by local potters has had me completely baffled--no one has ever cared to find out WHY their glazes were performing poorly!!!"
"I participated in a workshop with .. when he was talking about glazes and demonstrating his techniques, I steeled myself to ask him if he worries about the functionality of his glazes. I figured everyone would laugh at me for bringing up such a subject, but I felt like it should at least be said, given the amount of young student potters in the group if nothing else. As expected he said he didn't worry about that. High fired glazes shouldn't pose any problems, was what he said. "Why is that?", I asked, "Is it because they are fired to such high temperatures that you don't worry?" He said it was. I want you to know that this is all a big challenge for me. But I'm determined to give it a good shot .. this is all a big challenge for me. But I'm determined to give it a good shot."
"Thanks for your email, great software and amazing site. Install was very easy and I spent a few minutes last evening checking Insight's elements. Very solid! I found your site many years ago and was really impressed with its content. "
"I'm glad you understand this stuff so well. You have done an amazing job of keeping the software moving forward, and for the most part, very transparent."