CD Labels

[speedneeder]

I am doing some fundraising photos for a local hockey association and I will be providing CD's with digital files.
Anyone have experience with CD labels? I have zero. I could always use a magic marker, but that would be wimpy.

[Shadowman]

I am doing some fundraising photos for a local hockey association and I will be providing CD's with digital files.
Anyone have experience with CD labels? I have zero. I could always use a magic marker, but that would be wimpy.

CD labels have a tendency to come off and jam up your player. Try Lightscribe if your computer has the capability.

[speedneeder]

Oh, that wouldn't be good!
I don't have lightscribe - any other options?

[epmi314]

Brian,

I have used the Avery CD labels with the Avery Denison software from their site. It has a very low learning curve and I have never had a problem with the label gumming up a player as long as it is properly applied onto the CD.

[darkslide]

Depending on how many you'regoing to produce, it might be worth checking if your printer can print on CD's. Mine can, and frankly the results are pretty professional and look far and away better than labels.

One (well two actually) word of warning, labels can come unstuck, and can also create a problem simply due to the increased thickness of the disc.

Of course, I should mention that white faced CDs for ink jet printing are available pretty much everywhere.

[krispix]

I don't have the facility to print CDs in my inkjet (I don't think any coal-fired ones will) and my laser will only print on stuff that bends, which CDs don't do very well. Consequently, I've always used Avery labels on the odd occasion that I've needed to do so. I invested in a cheap label applicator and have never had a problem with labels coming off.

[speedneeder]

Good info, thanks!
I never even considered printing directly on the CD!
The question may be moot as my fundraising idea seems to have created some drama within the association!
Perhaps I will make another thread about that...

[Geoff F]

I tried printing CDs once, just as an experiment, but the ink wouldn't dry. Apparently you have to use CDs with a special coating.

And another word of warning. A friend who used to produce digital data storage for a living had one order from a UK local council office who insisted that their own pre printed labels were attached.

Two years later they came back requesting some copies because all the discs from one batch of labels had failed.

He kept copies of everything that he produced and wrote the reference details, with felt tip pen, either in the blank centre area or around the edge of the disc outside of the recorded area.

And that system never failed.

Just a thought for anybody saving their photos onto discs.

[Benjy]

Hi Brian,if your printer can print cds/dvds you can purchase printable discs,I have used these many times without any problems,white faced and silver faced are relatively cheap and easily obtained,cheers

[speedneeder]

Good info, thanks.

[Shadowman]

For $185.00 you can get an external burner using Lightscribe.

http://www.produplicator.com/lightsc...ic-series.html

[revi]

For $185.00 you can get an external burner using Lightscribe.

http://www.produplicator.com/lightsc...ic-series.html

Those things are duplicators, i.e. independent machines that contain (in this case) a DVD reader, a burner and a hard disc. Nice if you have to burn regularly small series, bit expensive for a one-off. I've seen external burners (w. lightscribe) for around 60 €, internal ones are more like 35-40 €. I'm not saying the duplicator would be a bad choice, just that it's a different beast than a simple burner.

As an aside, there are service providers that can copy CDs and DVDs for a fee, though given the context provided by OP, that might not be viable in this case.

[Shadowman]

Those things are duplicators, i.e. independent machines that contain (in this case) a DVD reader, a burner and a hard disc. Nice if you have to burn regularly small series, bit expensive for a one-off. I've seen external burners (w. lightscribe) for around 60 €, internal ones are more like 35-40 €. I'm not saying the duplicator would be a bad choice, just that it's a different beast than a simple burner.

As an aside, there are service providers that can copy CDs and DVDs for a fee, though given the context provided by OP, that might not be viable in this case.

I would have suggested the 1 to 13 burner but unless he plans to make a profit off of this enterprise $1,100 might be a bit steep of an investment. Another option would be to buy a new computer that already has Lightscribe capabilities, again you are looking at a pretty steep investment.

Brian, these seem to be your only options, unless you can find a friend with a system having Lightscribe already installed.

[revi]

If Brian has a desktop machine, installing an internal light-scribe burner isn't all that difficult, no need to buy a new computer (with a laptop it might be a different matter, though). And with an external drive there's no problem at all

Be aware that light-scribe requires special CD's (more expensive, of course), and that the process can be time-consuming as you need at least two passes: the laser used to burn the data side is the same as that used for the label side (and it is advised to inscribe the label image several times to get more contrast).

Remco

[benm]

I think Lightscribe only allows one color, though you may be able to select the color. Printing directly on the disc allows you to do anything you can think of. The disc printing software is limited in what it can do but you can always use Photoshop to create your image (graphics, photo, text) and import it.

[revi]

Yep, light-scribe is monochrome.

I think a lot depends on the number of copies Brian is thinking about, and what equipment he has access to already.
As examples, I've seen prices for DVDs with full-colour printing at around 2.5-4 €, depending on the shop and run size (25-100) (Simple google search on DVD duplication). That includes the media, so extra duplication cost would be about 1.5-3 €. Also, this is often w/o packaging etc.

I'm not giving links, as there are quite a few that pop up, and the ones that would interest me, won't interest Brian... (and I've no experience with any of those outfits). That said, the more I see and think about it, the more I'm tempted by using a duplication service as soon as I'd need more than say 25 copies. That's without taking into account small details like budget and delivery times.