New printing technologies have enabled Italian tile maker, the Italcer Group, to create distinctive, high-quality finishes.
The art of tile-making dates back millennia but here in Italy's main ceramics cluster in Emilia Romagna, it's all about innovation.
New technologies can add texturised finishes and create material effects on the edge of ceramic tiles and porcelain stoneware surfaces.
"I think ceramic has (a) very big advantage," explained Graziano Verdi, the CEO of the Italcer Group, a luxury company which has been making high-end ceramic floor and wall tiles since 2017.
"If we consider it and compare it to marble or stone, when you select the block of marble, two thirds of it is waste.
"'All over' - it's really an amazing innovation. It's really extraordinary because we've been able to, not only have the digital effect on the surfaces of the tile but even on the edge of the board.
"So you can have, really a three-dimensional effect or a four-dimensional tile that is unique.
"And the other one, a technology [called Advance] that we patented about three years ago, this allows to keep on the tile the same beauty and the same technical features, [plus] the capability to reduce bacteria, viruses, even coronavirus."
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