Conquer the Glaze Dragon With INSIGHT Glaze Chemistry Software
The PDF Manual.
Modified: November 20, 2021

Desktop Insight is now free!

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).

Desktop Insight is legacy, we had to move on-line

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.

Importing Desktop Insight recipes into your Insight-Live.com account

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.

Why is Insight-Live so much different to use than Desktop Insight?

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.

Desktop Insight focusses solely on 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.

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.

What People Have Said

"Thank you so much! I was overlooking an important step! I am sure that Leah will appreciate being able to use this valuable program again (she has been using it for many years)."

"Thanks, don't know what I'd do if I didn't have INSIGHT available."

"Thanks! I am feeling super liberated to be diving into glaze chemistry - you have done an amazing body of work and I am very appreciative."

"I was delighted to read your brilliant book, fantastic. I mean I've had to teach glaze calc in past, and I've never seen it written so clearly and easy for me to understand. I mean it was a delight to read your way of putting it together, super. You are marvelous...keep up the good work, what a guy!"

"I am delighted and feel privileged to be able to use Insight. It is an amazingly robust tool for us as pottery students and ceramists."

"Presently, I am learning glaze chemistry and have been to the digitalfire web site many times to peruse the educational and technical materials. Although I have a background in molecular biology, most of the chemistry I used was biochemistry but the inorganic chemistry is returning quickly as my review continues daily. Moreover, there is no doubt that knowledge of ceramic chemistry will enhance understanding and controlling the different aspects of glazing. May the fire with be you."


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