In this method the design is silk-screen or litho printed onto special paper, then cover-coated. The resulting print is then treated as a water slide transfer and applied by hand to the ware. The process is significantly slower and more labour intensive than direct screen printing. Transfer or Litho printing is employed when:

Producing larger than average prints.
Working with bone china.
Printing in 4-colour process.
Cases where more than 4 line colours, very fine detail or tight registration is required.

With both decorating methods, the ware is fired to make the design permanent.