Conquer the Glaze Dragon With INSIGHT Glaze Chemistry Software

The PDF Manual.
Modified: November 19, 2016
Right-click here to download it.

Desktop Insight is now free!

Download it from the Files panel in your Insight-live.com account (it costs $15 for 6 months access). Current downloads only include the program file, starter recipe, materials, overrides data is built in. It functions as level 2, without need of a key. No features have been removed. It will never expire.

Do you really need Desktop Insight now that Insight-live is here?

No. Insight-live has a much broader scope and is far superior, it is the future (it still does the chemistry but is much more about data and access-from-anywhere). We still support desktop Insight for users who need to convert data for import to insight-live or who must work off-line.

Desktop Insight is About Glaze Chemistry

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.

Fix problems like crazing, blistering, pinholing, settling, gelling, clouding, leaching, crawling, marking, scratching, powdering.
Substitute frits or incorporate better, cheaper materials, replace no-longer-available ones (all while maintaining the same chemistry).
Adjust melting temperature, gloss, surface character, color.
Identify weaknesses in glazes to avoid problems.
Create and optimize base glazes to work with difficult colors or stains and for special effects dependent on opacification, crystallization or variegation.
Create glazes from scratch and use your own native materials in the highest possible percentage.

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.

A desktop application for Windows, Linux, Macintosh that you download and install.

Insight is a classic glaze chemistry calculator
It interactively converts recipes to formulas and back. The main Insight window shows side-by-side recipes and their formulas, you can make chemistry changes to one while comparing it with the other.
Insight is also a library and a teacher
It puts at your fingertips a huge amount of information to help you learn the principles of glaze chemistry and it teaches you how to adjust, fix and formulate glazes.
It is a database
You can store all your recipes, picture, material information where you can easily find it.
It is a problem solver
Using our videos, instructional and reference materials and our personal help you can solve problems like crazing, leaching, crawling, pinholing, blistering, etc.

Insight was first released in 1979 and has been used world wide since. It is an excellent teaching tool for demonstrating the principles of formula/analysis/unity, limit formulas, LOI, and material-oxide relationships.

Overwhelmed by glaze chemistry? Try starting here.

What People Have Said

"Your support for Linux is a big reason why I purchased your program."

"I love the program and now have a ton of glazes to test."

"I am checking out also the __ program, which seems to be more textbook oriented, without your philosophical charm. Should I learn the basics first, and then go on to the deeper philosophical approach?"

"Suppliers never seem to have adequate technical information. I appreciate your website and INSIGHT software very much. Can I sell it for you?"

"I really appreciate your help, and could not live without Insight ... not to mention all the information on the Digitalfire website!!! I have been working on developing new glazes for ^04 talc bodies (considering the energy crunch), and I would never have approached this investigation had it not been for these tools. One of the best purchases that I ever made!!!"

"I sure am enjoying working with my new Insight software. If nothing else, it gives me a way to organize my recipes--- previously I was using Excel. I have gotten great help from the effortless calculation of silica:alumina ratios for figuring surface quality."

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