CD Labeling

[Warren]

Without breaking the bank (since none exists) what do you all use for labeling the final CD's that you give your customers?:confused: Just giveing them a CD with Sharpie scribbles on it wont do and the cheap ones peel off after three plays.:p and get stuck in there players:o

"W"

[Marvin]

I've had some misfortunes with labels in the past, and heard of plenty more who've had trouble with them as well. So I would really advise against any labels that you stick on the cd. I've had no complaints when delivering cd's with just the info written on the cd (in fact I've actually gotten compliments for my hand writing...).

If I want to impress them, I'll give them a "fancy" cd cover such as the amaray, with my logo and stuff printed on the inlay. Works everytime :)

Marvin

ps but those cd printers do look nice... ds

[Warren]

Thanks Mark !!!

I will look into both, I have not used CD Stomper so worth a try
and I have a large control room or a lot less stuff:D so the CD Printer sounds goooood also.:D

Thanks Again
"W"

[AlanH]

I would second Mark's suggestion about printing direct onto CDs.

I've used Canon printers to do this, currently an iP4300. Very happy with it - less than £100 ($200) - wonderful printer for all media.

CD-Rs with plain white inkjet printable faces are readily available (can even get silver-ish printables, too). The printer comes with simple layout software, so it's easy to echo the inlay design on the CD. People are flattered when you use some element of their identity on the presentation packaging (school logo, musician mugshot etc.) :D

Results are matt in appearance, but you can get spray-on gloss lacquer to render a more 'conventional' look - I have some but generally don't bother.

Gives you the opportunity to develop a standard house label style, tweaking for individual clients etc.

I'd never go back to sticky labels - what a pain they were!

Cheers,

[Warren]

I've had some misfortunes with labels in the past, and heard of plenty more who've had trouble with them as well. So I would really advise against any labels that you stick on the cd. I've had no complaints when delivering cd's with just the info written on the cd (in fact I've actually gotten compliments for my hand writing...).

If I want to impress them, I'll give them a "fancy" cd cover such as the amaray, with my logo and stuff printed on the inlay. Works everytime :)

Marvin

ps but those cd printers do look nice... ds

Hi Marvin I would do hand written but mine is poor and very shakey (Old Timer):D

[TotalSonic]

The easiest to use , most comprehensive, along with very affordable, label design software I've found is Discus - http://www.magicmouse.com/h_discus_detail.html

I strongly recommend avoiding stick on labels as they can come off of the disc or if not put on carefully can unbalance the disc causing more errors on playback.

For master and reference discs I use a Primera Signature Z6 inkjet dedicated CD printer - it's simply built better than others I have tried and gives a quality print every time. The critical thing for me is that there is a dedicated CD tray for it instead of a caddy which the CD is pulled through the printer - which much better guarantees that the playing surface won't get scratched while the disc is being printed. At the $975 street price this is most likely way more than you want to pay, but again the Primera stuff has better looking printing, great drivers and excellent durability in comparison to the other stuff I've tried - so since my business needs to have professional looking labelled discs all the time it was an easy expense to justify in order to get in something reliable.

Other options are the inexpensive thermal ribbon printers such as the Primera Z1. These have less dpi resolution and can only print a single color in a few areas on the disc but at street prices of around $150 would offer an affordable way to just get discs labelled with text info. Thermal printing has the advantage over inkjet printing of being waterproof and smudge proof.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Sean McCoy]

I have a Bravo II disc printer for any serious CD or DVD projects, and it looks great. Kinda pricey, though. But for one-offs and tiny runs or super low-budget projects I still use my old Neato label applicator and Neato paper labels made with Sure Thing or Media Face software. I've sent out thousands and thousands of these and have had nearly zero reports of labels coming off. They are highly succeptible to humidity, but otherwise completely reliable. The Neato labels are more expensive than Ace or other generic brands, but they're more stout and easier to apply. And they seem to stay on.

[Warren]

Thanks All :)

The epson, at least for now, seems like the ticket. There is not for the moment lots of projects going, so it should do the trick.

Thank you all for your input and insight helps a lot.:)

"W"

[CurtZHP]

I use an Epson R220. It cost me all of $80 when I bought it. It's more for printing one-offs or a handful at a time. I wouldn't recommend it for volume printing, unless you have all day to feed it one disc at a time. It came with software for designing labels.

I get ink-jet printable CD's from The Tape Company. Good prices and outstanding service.

[Steve L]

Highly recommend the Epson. I use 3 continuously ( 2 - 320's
and 1 - 340) Ink cartridges were expensive till I found inkandbeyond.com
now 2 sets of 6 cartridges are around $30 as opposed to $80+ for one set
of the originals at Office Max. The black ink is not quite as dark as the
original but the color ones are perfect. Tayio-Yuden watershield CD/DVD's
will give you a professional look. I used to use Neato labels but am slowly
getting away from that. Never had a complaint though.

S. Lewis
Audio-Video Electronics
Mountain View Recording

[Bill Park]

Without breaking the bank (since none exists) what do you all use for labeling the final CD's that you give your customers?:confused: Just giveing them a CD with Sharpie scribbles on it wont do and the cheap ones peel off after three plays.:p and get stuck in there players:o

"W"

I've been using the Epson R300 for years, printing on the white surfaced TY disks.

I just bought a LightScribe-enabled DVD burner, we'll see how that works out.

Bill

[Pedro Itriago]

I've been using the Epson R300 for years, printing on the white surfaced TY disks...

Ditto. R320

[lofi studios]

I've been using the Epson R300 for years, printing on the white surfaced TY disks.

I just bought a LightScribe-enabled DVD burner, we'll see how that works out.

Bill

heard they are slow, but am interested in them from a master cd for the band, cos they look sooooooo gooooood

[William Bushnell]

Hi Warren,

I have used Epson ink jet printers for several years and have been pleased with the results. The newer Epson printers such as the Stylus Photo 260 use the new Claria High Definition inks that greatly improve the smudge and scratch resistance.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/Landing/Claria.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

Also, as Steve mentioned, the Discus labeling program works great and the present version has lots of neat features. This is the link to Discus.

http://www.magicmouse.com/
____________
William Bushnell

[Ed Snape]

Hello Warren,

We have used the Epson Stylus R300 with Nero label software for several years with satisfactory results for one-offs and short runs.

Our Plextor 52X burner burns at about the same speed the printer prints. Needless to say, a label image that covers only part of a disc with a few lines of text will print faster than a fancy graphic that bleeds across an entire disc surface.

The software allows use of the same label file to print stick on labels or print directly to discs (with just few changes to printer selection and setup parameters). Sometimes, I will complete an edit and burn an approval CD on my laptop when I am away from the studio. At those times it is convenient to print a stick on label on whatever printer is handy at the remote site.

Earlier on we had occasional problems with the R300. Sometimes it would feed
the caddy out the back side and into the wall behind the printer. Crash! I finally caught on to what was happening, and now allow sufficient room behind the printer for this occasional abnormal behavior.

Best,

Ed

[tuxcode]

FWIW... this is what I use:
http://www.casio.com/products/Label_&_Disk_Title_Printers/Disk_Title_Printers/CW-K85/

You have to be sure that you use a smooth surface with it... so no injet printable CDs or most off the shelf CDs as most have some sort of design on the surface. It's a thermal printer (no ink smearing here) and you can get different color ribbons if you're after multiple colors. The software is alright... not exactly "pro" quality but the results are pretty good. You do not get full disc coverage though. There are 2 editable zones (top and bottom). The software has a template for printing around the edge of the CD but I have yet to use that one. I paid $90 for it. Buyer beware... the thermal ribbons are about as expensive as buying a multicolor inkjet cartridge if you buy from an office supply store. You can get them direct from Casio for $9.99... see http://www.casio.com/products/Label_%26_Disk_Title_Printers/Disk_Title_Printers/CW-50/accessories/Ribbons/. Each tape cartridge will print approximately 20-40 CDs.

Later

[Warren]

I want to thank all of you for your help. The Epson R380 is the winner, price is right good reviews and a lot of users here have been very happy with the Epsons.
This is still a great place for info and help. It may seem as a miminal concern but I hate sending out a product with Sharpie chicken scratches all over it.

Again thank you all :)

Warren
The Masters Tracks .COM:D

[Demodave]

This thread has me thinking about moving from CD Stomper labels to the R380. I read some reviews for the R380 and the only downfall seems to be the fact that you have to wait 30 minutes for the ink to dry when printing directly to a CD. Is that true? When I have a client here in the studio, I can't ask them to wait 30 minutes for their CD.

What are your experiences with this?

[Ian Alexander]

This thread has me thinking about moving from CD Stomper labels to the R380. I read some reviews for the R380 and the only downfall seems to be the fact that you have to wait 30 minutes for the ink to dry when printing directly to a CD. Is that true? When I have a client here in the studio, I can't ask them to wait 30 minutes for their CD.

What are your experiences with this?
Yikes! Lets get an answer to this. Even if you could quickly stick the cd in a jewel case, you know the first thing the client will do when he gets to the car is pop it into the player. I can't imagine joy will be the reaction to ink all over the hands and the dash.

[Sean McCoy]

Hmm, interesting that a standard inkjet printer would need so long to dry, while my Bravo II stacks each disc on top of the previous one and we've never had any bleed. Is the Epson really using that much more ink, or is the 30 minute estimate just an overly safe recommendation?

[Demodave]

Wow...This is from the online user guide for the R380:


Guidelines for Printing on CDs and DVDs

Before using or touching the printed surface of your CDs or DVDs, make sure you dry them for 24 hours.

Depending on your CD or DVD type, smearing may occur or the printed surface may be sticky even after it has dried. If smearing or stickiness occurs, see Adjusting the Print Density in Windows or Adjusting the Print Density in Mac OS X, or try a different brand of CD or DVD.

Moisture on the printable surface of your CDs or DVDs may cause smearing.

24 Hours?!?

[Pedro Itriago]

The 320's manual says the same thing. It does depend on what kind of surface your media has for the print area. The ones I use are dry a minute or two after printing. But that's my experince with the 320, not the 380 and their supposed new ink.

[Demodave]

I'd be curious as to what the drying time is for the TY glossy WaterShield CD's.

[Warren]

This thread has me thinking about moving from CD Stomper labels to the R380. I read some reviews for the R380 and the only downfall seems to be the fact that you have to wait 30 minutes for the ink to dry when printing directly to a CD. Is that true? When I have a client here in the studio, I can't ask them to wait 30 minutes for their CD.

What are your experiences with this?

Oh great a down side:p

I guess I didn't catch that when scaning there site:eek:

maybe other ink is an option?

[CurtZHP]

If you're doing a full colour label that takes up the entire CD, you might have to wait a while before manhandling the disc.

But if you're just printing some basic black text, like title and artist, on there, you needn't worry. It'll be safe to handle in a minute or two, probably less.

That's been my experience.

YMMV.

[Bob L]

I do full color labels all the time with my Epson 340 direct to printable CDs... they have a white surface... prints perfect and the ink is dry the second it comes out of the printer.

Of corse I don't attempt to smear it hard... but it certaintly is dry to the touch.

Bob L

[DaveS]

One of my MediaForm duplicators is setup to print to a Primera Signature III inkjet printer. Occasionally I would run into problems with the ink drying time being excessive. Some recomendations...

When the disk is done being printed - set it on the side with a small fan blowing on it -this will speed up the drying time significantly. NOTE: Make sure that the fan is not blowing TOO much air or your ink will spread/smear. My duplicator has an 80mm computer fan one integrated to it so that when the disk comes out of the printer, it is dropped on a staging area for 5 to 10 seconds directly under the fan then moved to the output spindle where air from the fan blows across it..

Check the print quality - most printers will have different modes - draft, normal, best, photo... A lot of the time you can get by with Normal as compared to Best or Photo - and there is a lot less ink used which means faster drying time AND less cost/disk.

The driver for my Primera has a setting - I think it's called density or something like that, which controls how much ink it uses. Some inkjet disks have bigger "pockets" on the surface that hold the ink - I think this setting is to help compensate for this...

Dave
www.ambientstickst.com (http://www.ambientstickst.com)
www.njcdr.com (http://www.njcdr.com)

[Demodave]

Resurrecting an old topic...

This is coming soon from Dyno: DiscPainter

Slash Gear Article (http://www.slashgear.com/dymo-discpainter-paints-your-cd-in-less-than-a-minute-217527.php)

Gizmodo Video of Discpainter in Action (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/dymo-discpainter-is-next-big-thing-in-stoner-entertainment-301890.php)