A custom tile catalogue is a set of factory designs presented under your own brand, with your design names, codes, photography and specifications. You choose designs from the factory's range, photograph or render them, and map each to a factory code that only you hold. The factory supplies design files, sample tiles and technical data.
Done well, the catalogue lets you sell your range, and reorder it, without exposing the factory behind it.
What can the factory supply?
Ask for high-resolution design files or flat-lay images, the full size and thickness list for each design, finish options, and the technical data sheet. Many plants have their own catalogues and can share them, but those often carry the factory's name and codes. Ask whether files can be supplied without them, or whether you will need to retouch.
Request physical samples of every design you plan to show. Photographs and print files rarely match the finished tile exactly. Use getting tile samples from Morbi for how to request them.
How should you code and name designs?
Create your own system and keep a private mapping table. A simple scheme combines size, series and a number, so a customer can quote one code. Keep the factory's codes in a separate, internal sheet along with the batch and shade records.
Use design names that make sense in your market and avoid names that belong to someone else's brand. Check that a name is not already trademarked where you sell. Do not name the factory in the catalogue unless you have agreed to.
What should the catalogue show?
Include what a buyer, dealer or architect needs to choose without calling you:
- A true-colour image of the face, plus one or two room views if available.
- Size, thickness, surface finish and body type for each design.
- The number of faces, so buyers know how much variation to expect, as explained in how many faces a tile design should have.
- Pieces and square metres per box, and boxes per pallet.
- Test data for water absorption, breaking strength and slip class, with the standard used.
How do you keep it current?
Plants launch new designs constantly. New tile designs per year in Morbi explains the pace. Agree a refresh schedule with your factory, and drop designs that the factory can no longer print consistently. Mark discontinued designs so nobody sells a tile you cannot reorder. Keep digital files version-controlled so printed and online catalogues agree.
Check choosing designs from a tile catalogue before you finalise the selection, so the range hangs together.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
Do not publish designs you have not seen as physical samples, because the printed look often differs from the fired tile. Do not promise sizes or finishes the factory has not confirmed. Do not use photographs belonging to the factory or to a design house without permission. Avoid putting the factory's codes in public files, since it makes it easy for a customer to bypass you. And keep a change log, so when a factory modifies a design you can update the catalogue and tell your customers before they order the old version.
Next step
We find and audit manufacturers, check samples and documents, and supervise production and loading. Book a free sourcing review to put together a range your factory can reliably supply.