Ceramic pigments are usually metal transition complex oxides obtained through a calcination process, and ceramic pigments have three main characteristics: (a) thermal stability, maintaining their properties at elevated temperatures; (b) chemical stability, when combined with glazes (c) have high tinting strength when dispersed and fired with glaze or ceramic matrix. Other properties such as high dispersion in vehicles, high refractive index (to avoid transparency and increase its tinting strength), acid and alkali resistance, and low abrasion strength are also suitable.

The main method of coloring ceramics is based on ceramic dyes or ceramic pigments. Strictly speaking, a ceramic dye or soluble colorant is a colored substance that interacts with the substrate on which it is applied, usually soluble in the application medium called the substrate or substrate. In contrast, ceramic pigments or stains are ideally colored substances.