A new floor of ceramic tile has tiles that appear to have random patterns. However, when I examine it closely, there are groups of tiles that have identical surfaces - as identical as you might find on vinyl tiles. Is it cheaper to make glazed ceramic tile by some process that creates batches of tiles with identical patterns? How are they manufactured?
My impression of making glazed ceramics is that you'd slather the glaze on randomly to make random patterns and then fire it. However, I see tiles that are not merely similar, they are as identical as you'd get by printing the same image on a batch of tiles. As I was getting ready to put sealer on the floor, I was trying to clean off a gray spot on a tile, thinking it was a spot of stray cement. Then I noticed other tiles in the floor with the same pattern and the same gray spot!