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.
"If I owe you money for the use of this software please let me know and I'd be happy to remit. I don't want to freeload on all your hard work and I truly mean hard work."
"I am not so good at computer yet the little I have known on this program shows that it is a must buy for me because beside the calculation I learn a lot of ceramics in the notes. Please let me know how I can pass on the money for the program and the book (CD) because I will surely buy after my trial expires."
"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."
"I .. have been running it ever since 1995 on Windows 95 and then Windows 98. I've just updated to Windows XP .. What are my options for accessing this wonderful program again and hopefully saving any data I had before...all my recipes etc?"
"Thanks for the response and I will continue to learn. It appears that I need to set aside serious time to learn this. And as a chemist myself, I see the great value in it."
"Thanks so much for your program. While I am self-taught, this has helped me tremendously and I know it will help in my classroom!"