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 was thinking when it was I first talked to you and bought the program... early 90s I think. I have used it a lot, and appreciate the work you have put into it. It has been very useful over the years. Thank You."
"I was very pleased with myself that I could take your instructions, and sit down with the computer, and end up with a glaze that is very pleasing and reliable with many colors."
"Thanks for your interest and the follow up note. You have done a tremendous job with this software. I have enjoyed the tutorials that you have on your web site and marvel at what a teaching accomplishment your work represents. My hat is off to you!"
"Thanks so much for the reminder ! I love my insight."
"I did use local materials available in my country, Czech republic, Europe. I did recalculate few of the recipes with the help of the Insight. I am really excited about the possibility to make almost the same looking glaze with different materials!"
"I have recently taken up hobby pottery after a career as a lecturer and software engineer. I was looking for a disciplined way of dealing with glazes and was disappointed by the lack of explanation in glaze recipe books. I stumbled over your site which does hold out the promise of being able to develop a principled understanding of what is going on."