Large-area high-performance thin-film titania photonic crystals have been prepared through a dip-infiltrating sol-gel process using a silica colloidal crystal template. The effects of immersion time, drawing rate and dipping times on the film formation were studied. It was found that by carefully choosing all these factors, both a high filling fraction and a good surface quality could be obtained, which results in strong photonic properties in transmission spectra. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.