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Ceramic & Tile Printing in Dubai

Sun Studio prints artwork directly onto ceramic and porcelain tiles at our Al Quoz studio in Dubai. You supply the finished tiles and we print on them: one design, a repeating pattern, or a single image spread across a whole wall of tiles. There is no minimum order, so custom printed tiles can mean one tile or a full batch.

Printing on tiles suits kitchen and pantry splashbacks, bathroom and powder-room feature walls, mosaic sheets, majlis panels, hospitality interiors and heritage-style pattern work across the UAE. It is a finish for walls and decorative panels: we do not recommend printed tiles for floors.

Get a tile printing quoteSend a brief

Send a tile if you can: the glaze decides what is possible.

A large square tile printed with a Versailles parquet wood effect, grain and all

What we can print

This page covers flat tiles. Ceramic cups, mugs and gahwa cups are printed under corporate gift printing and cylindrical printing.

The glaze is the surface we print on, so its finish matters more than whether the tile is ceramic or porcelain:

  • Glazed ceramic tile: the common case, and generally a good ground.
  • Porcelain tile: denser and often harder-glazed, worth a test.
  • Matte and honed glazes: usually the easier surface, because a matte finish gives ink more to hold to than a high gloss.
  • Gloss glazes: printable, and the case where preparation matters most.
  • Unglazed and biscuit tile: porous, which changes how colour reads.
  • Mosaic sheets and small formats: real mosaic sheets and small tiles, printed as a set so a pattern runs across the sheet, then laid as normal. For the look of a mosaic printed on one panel, see mosaic-effect wall art.
  • Large-format tiles and slabs: where one image covers a whole panel rather than repeating. Send the size, thickness and weight first so we can confirm the slab fits the press.

Printing capabilities

What is available depends on the tile and where it is going:

A white glossy tile printed with monstera leaves and palm fronds, standing upright on the workbench
Printed onto the finished tile, so any stock tile can become a custom one.

Printed tiles or kiln-fired decoration

This is the distinction worth understanding before printed tile goes into a specification, because the two are often described the same way and behave very differently.

Kiln-fired ceramic decoration

Inorganic pigment inks, often with glass frit, are applied and the tile is fired, so the decoration fuses into the glaze and becomes part of it. That is how patterned tile is manufactured, and it is what survives floors, heavy abrasion and outdoor exposure.

It happens at the tile factory, in volume, which is why it is not a route for fifty tiles of your own design.

Direct UV printing onto the glaze

What we do is print onto the finished, fired tile. The ink is a cured layer sitting on the glaze rather than fused into it.

That is what makes short runs, one-offs and bespoke patterns possible at all. The trade-off matters: a surface layer is not a fired glaze, so printed tiles belong on walls, splashbacks and decorative panels. We do not recommend printed tiles for floors or for anywhere facing heavy abrasion. If your project needs a printed floor tile, fired decoration from the tile manufacturer is the right specification.

Who this is for

Tile work reaches us from:

  • Interior designers: bespoke pattern where a stock tile does not exist.
  • Fit-out contractors: feature walls and splashback packages.
  • Kitchen and bathroom companies: splashbacks matched to a scheme.
  • Hospitality: restaurants, cafés and hotels wanting a wall that is theirs alone.
  • Homeowners and villa projects: majlis panels, feature walls and heritage pattern work.
  • Artists and studios: short-run decorative tile.

What to send before we can quote

Tile is one of the services where a physical sample is worth more than a description:

Get a tile printing quoteSend a brief
  • A sample tile if at all possible: the glaze is the deciding factor and it is easier to test than to describe.
  • Tile size and thickness.
  • Ceramic or porcelain, and gloss, matte or honed glaze.
  • Quantity, and whether the artwork repeats per tile or runs across a set.
  • Where it is being installed: wall, splashback, floor, wet area, outdoors.
  • The artwork: vector for pattern and geometric work, high-resolution raster for photographic and material-effect artwork, and the layout if it spans several tiles so grout lines can be planned.
  • Cleaning regime: a kitchen splashback wiped with degreaser is a harder ask than a decorative panel.

Not sure which file to send? Our artwork preparation guide covers file formats, vector conversion and what each surface needs.

How it works

Step 1Send

A sample tile if you can, plus sizes, quantity, location and artwork.

Step 2Review

We check the glaze and the application, and say what is sensible for where it is going.

Step 3Sample

We print your actual tile and you see the finish before a batch is made.

Step 4Produce

The set is printed, registered where the artwork spans tiles, and packed in laying order.

Printed tile examples

The first three pictures are tiles printed in our Al Quoz studio. The other three show one restaurant interior, photographed in 2021, with a blue dot-patterned tile on the counter front and along a strip of floor. Our advice is the same for every project: printed tiles go on walls, splashbacks and decorative panels, not underfoot.

A square tile printed with a Versailles parquet pattern, leaning against a shopfront outside the studio
Versailles parquet effect printed on a large square tile.
A white tile printed with green monstera leaves and palm fronds, on a bench in the studio
Monstera and palm artwork printed on a white gloss tile.
A tile printed with a wood-effect parquet design, the pattern running to the edge of the panel
Wood-effect parquet design printed to the edge of the tile.
A restaurant interior with blue dot-patterned tiles on the counter front and along a strip of floor beside timber-effect flooring
Restaurant interior, 2021: blue dot-patterned tile on the counter front and along a strip of floor.
A restaurant service counter clad in blue dot-patterned tiles, with the same tiles on the floor around it, beside timber steps with red handrails
The same counter, closer: patterned tile on the vertical face and on the floor around it.
The same restaurant interior seen from the entrance, blue dot-patterned tiles on the counter and a floor strip under red signage
The same restaurant interior from the entrance.

Technical considerations

A fired glaze is a sheet of glass. It is hard, non-porous and often very smooth, which puts tile in the same family of problems as glass rather than anywhere near board or timber.

What decides the result:

The glaze finish
A matte or honed glaze gives ink more to hold to than a high gloss. Gloss tile is printable, but it is the case that most often needs preparation.
Pre-treatment
An adhesion promoter suited to glass and ceramic is used where the glaze calls for it. That is a judgement made per tile, not a blanket step.
Where it is installed
Walls, splashbacks and decorative panels. Not floors, and not anywhere with heavy abrasion: a cured surface layer is not a fired glaze. Tiles already fixed to a wall cannot come to the flatbed, so this service prints loose tiles before they are laid.
Cleaning
Abrasive pads and aggressive chemicals act on the print, not on the glaze underneath. A splashback near a hob is worth discussing before we quote: see the splashback question below.
Wet areas
Steam and standing water raise the bar. Tell us if the tile is going into a shower rather than onto a feature wall.
Batch variation
Tiles from different production batches vary in glaze and colour. Send them all from one batch if the artwork spans a set.
Registration across tiles
An image running over many tiles has to account for grout lines, so the layout is set out before printing and the tiles are packed in laying order.

Common questions

Is this the same as printed tiles from a factory?
No, and the difference matters. Factory-decorated tile is fired, so the decoration fuses into the glaze. We print UV ink onto the finished, glazed tile you supply and cure it at once, so the ink is a cured surface layer. That is what makes custom designs and small quantities possible, and it is why where the tile goes matters.
Can printed tiles be used on a floor?
We do not recommend it. Foot traffic abrades a surface layer in a way it does not abrade a fired glaze. For a printed floor tile, fired decoration from the tile manufacturer is the correct route, and we will say so rather than take the order.
Can printed tiles be used as a kitchen splashback?
Yes, a printed tile splashback is a common request. Tell us how it will be cleaned: a surface behind a hob that gets degreaser and a scouring pad is a harder ask than a decorative wall. There, compare a reverse-printed glass splashback, where the print sits behind the glass, as in our hotel apartments splashback project.
Can printed tiles go inside a shower or outdoors?
Tell us first, and expect a cautious answer. Standing water, steam and direct sun are the hardest conditions for a printed layer on glaze, and we will not promise a result for a shower enclosure, a pool surround or an outdoor wall without testing your tile. Kiln-fired tile is the safer specification there. A bathroom feature wall away from direct spray suits printed tile better.
Can one image run across several tiles?
Yes. The artwork is split across the set with the grout lines accounted for, and the tiles are printed registered and packed in laying order so the installer can lay them in sequence.
Do you supply the tiles, or do I?
You do. Sun Studio prints tiles the customer supplies and does not sell tile. Laying is done by your tiler or fit-out contractor. Buy all the tiles from the same production batch if the artwork spans a set, because glaze and colour vary between batches, and include a few spares for the sample and for cuts on site.
Is there a minimum order for printed tiles?
No. One tile, a single splashback or a full wall are all normal jobs, because nothing is tooled: the artwork goes from the file straight onto the tile. A sample tile is printed first either way, so you see the finish before the batch is made.
What does tile printing cost, and how long does it take?
Both are quoted per job, once we have seen the tile. The price depends on tile size, quantity, ink coverage, white ink and varnish, and whether the artwork runs across a set. The lead time is confirmed with the quotation after the sample tile is approved. Tell us the installation date and we will plan back from it.
How should printed tiles be cleaned?
With a soft cloth and a mild, non-abrasive cleaner. Scouring pads, abrasive creams and aggressive degreasers act on the printed layer, not on the glaze beneath it. If the wall will be cleaned hard and often, say so before we quote, because it changes what we advise.
Are these the same as photo tiles?
No. Photo tiles sold online are lightweight peel-and-stick picture panels for hanging photographs, which is a gift product. We print on real ceramic and porcelain tiles that a tiler fixes and grouts as part of a wall or splashback.

Have tiles to print?

Send us the tile size, the quantity, where it is being installed and the artwork, plus a sample tile if you can get one to us. We will print a test, confirm the glaze takes it and quote the batch.

Get a tile printing quoteSend a brief

Or call +971 4 346 7422 · info@sunstudio.ae

Technology used

Direct Color Systems UV84: the flatbed, with a 4 x 8 ft bed, used for tile and hard-surface work. Sun Studio belongs to the same Dubai group as PRO TECHnology, which distributes Direct Color Systems equipment in the Middle East, so read our view of the machine with that in mind. See the full printer fleet.

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