Professional CD Labelling

IggyStooge

IggyStooge

IggyStooge

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Somewhere, in a field in cheshire... alright!
Hello all,

I wasn't sure where to post this. I'm trying to find out if its easy to print a label onto a CD (to a professional standard). A mate of mine wants to put out a CD Single (a quantity of 50) and wanted to know if its something he could do himself (if so what equipment would he need?) or would he need to go to a place that specialises in that sort of thing?

Any advice is much appreciated.
 
What I actually meant was printing onto the disc, not onto a label to then be stuck on. I perhaps didnt explain it very well. I looked on that site but I dont think its what I'm after. I did find some vids on You Tube of people printing onto cd's using a printer. Has anyone tried this and had good results?
 
The Canon Pixma iP4700 does this quite well I believe...

EDIT: Also worth adding, I have a friend who owns both Epson and Canon (inkjet) printers that can print onto CD/DVDs and he says the Canon is better at the task...
 
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If you get an Epson the cd printing software should come with it. Epson Print CD is very good and you have a lot of control over how the cd will look.
 
I have owned the Epson R285 and I have now got the Canon IP4700. Of the two I do prefer the Canon. I do use refillable ink cartridges otherwise the ink costs are horrendous. Both of those printers I have used to print directly onto DVD's and both do a great job at doing that.
 
Vimes said:
I have owned the Epson R285 and I have now got the Canon IP4700. Of the two I do prefer the Canon. I do use refillable ink cartridges otherwise the ink costs are horrendous. Both of those printers I have used to print directly onto DVD's and both do a great job at doing that.
Click to expand...

Which is quicker because the Epson can be quite slow?

I've still got an Epson 900 which I could kid to print at a normal speed but then feed it a CD.
 
I never found the Epson to be slow at what I wanted it to do. Printing A4 photos or a CD / DVD was acceptable in speed for me but I do "feel" that the Canon is the faster of the two.

However that is not why I preferred the Canon. I used to have the Epson R265 and then got the R285 (the R265 for some reason kept smashing its print heads into the side of the case and so was exchanged under warranty) but I had many problems with the printer and the print head blocking up - using genuine Epson cartridges only. I used to colour print a few times a week and yet I eventually had to exchange the R285 for another one due to that problem. The second one had issues when I tried to use Jettec cartdridges (it got expensive buying Epson ones all the time). According to Jettec there were around 6 different revisions to the "copy protection" on the Epson cartridges with that model of printer and thus causing issues at the beginning for manufacturers of cartridges in getting them to work consistently. So I then changed over to the Canon ip4700.

I was not impressed with the Canon's 9ml tanks for 4 of its 5 cartridges but as I can get a 100ml bottle of ink for less than a fiver that means I can have up to 11 refills. The Canon has been great (I have only used it for a handful of DVD's) but I have printed loads of photos and I do like the front and rear tray feed options.

I suppose if I had not had as many issues with the Epson perhaps I would have stuck with them I think that the Epson P50 has taken over the R285 now.

You could buy a aerosol spray that you can apply to your finished optical disc to enhance the longevity and lustre of the printed surface, although I have never used it myself.
 
I have used refillable cartridges in my Epson 360 (big brother of 285) for about 3 years now with no problems.
Open the lid, take a cap off and fill up - brilliant.
I get about 12 refills in all 6 cartridges for £10.
 
Have you considered 'Lightscribe' for etching onto special CDs and DVDs. Last year I filmed a school play and edited the video down, I created the video and burnt it to DVD, I used 'Lightscribe' discs, you will need a special drive, but all you do is flip the disc over in the drive, and once you have created you design you can burn it onto the label side of the disk, You need to be quite bold with you designs so they stand out, but I can say that it'is well worth the effort.

Have a look here for more info:

http://www.lightscribe.co.uk/
or
http://www.lightscribe.com/gettingstarted/index.aspx?id=276

If you have a HP desktop or Laptop you may find the drive already supports 'Lightscribe'

\Rich
 
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I use at work Avery label software which was quite cheap and then Avery CD labels which you get 2 CD labels to a page. It is very easy to design the labels, the software is simple yet does everything you need. Then just print your labels on a laser printer for best quality and you are done. Simple and cheap solution.

This solution will give you stickers which you attach onto the CD's, I am not sure if that's what you are looking for.
 
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