Labelling CD's 2

[TonyGroves]

I've started distributing copies of TheOpenCD (see

http://www.theopencd.org

), and am labelling them by using two round-cornered rectangular labels about 65 x 35 mm, one above the hole, the other below the hole, for balance.

I think that labelling system should give no problems, but does anybody out there have any opinions as to whether the much-more-expensive option of a single round label would actually be any better, from a reliability point-of-view?

Thanks.

 

[Eguy]

TonyGroves,

Full surface or “donut-style” labels are preferable to partial stickers as the latter can potentially upset the balance of a disc when playing back, especially at high speeds, causing excessive noise, vibration and data retrieval problems. Plus they look more professional.

Ed


Please let me know if the suggestion(s) I provide are helpful to you.
Sometimes you're the windshield... Sometimes you're the bug.

 

[garebo]

HP has a new technology out where you can actually "burn" your label onto the top side of a disk and then burn your data on the other side as usual.
You have to buy special media disks that allow burning on the top side.
I dont know if the HP label burning is available for burners that are non-HP or not, but you could check it out at the HP website. Could be helpful for what you want to do.
I remember many years ago when those labels first came out, i had lots of fun making nice labels. I gave up when the disks i made were out of date a year later anyway. Now i just use a marker.
But i realize you have to do some a bit more professional so i thought i would point out the HP information.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[TonyGroves]

Thanks for those replies.

Garebo:
That technology (Lightscribe, which apparently does need a special drive) looks really interesting; I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Volk359]

There are also some inkjet printers (Epson?) that will print on a CD, again with a special media disk. Full color, looks cool however is more susceptible to damage, i.e. spills.

Lightscribe as I understand is monochrome, correct?

 

[garebo]

I dont know if lightscribe is mono or color, i havent even been to the HP site, i read a tiny bit about it a couple weeks ago and it managed to stay in my very small mind, lol.

TonyGroves, thanks for the star!

As for the full disk-sized media disk covers as opposed to partial covers, i too have heard its best to stick with full covers and for the same reasons as mentioned above, by
Eguy. I only have experience with the full covers and that went well when i did them, dont do them anymore as i am either too lazy or too busy, I'll let you guess which one!


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[TonyGroves]

The Lightscribe FAQ page is at

http://www.lightscribe.com/faq.aspx

. It says the images are produced in grey-scale.

 

[DragonQ0105]

Lightscribe is Mono-colour, and is normally black-on-gold.

Why not use a pen to mark them? They are much cheaper and do not upset balance in CD-Players.

 

[garebo]

I suspect he is looking for a more professional look or finish.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[rvnguy]

TonyGroves,

Volk359 comment about printing is correct. I do not know what the cost of the labels are and I suppose that they must be printed and then applied.

Epson RD200 (about $80 US) has a CD/DVD shuttle specifically for printing this type of media and they also have permanent ink cartridges. The media is very little more than std media I haven't looked at CD's but the up-charge on 50 DVD's is in the $2-2.50 range or $0.05. This might be a more favorable method depending upon how many you anticipate producing. I just know that with my fingers, more than half of the labels would end up stuck to everything but the CD. Good Luck

rvnguy

 

[bcastner]

I just bought an HP drive with the lightscribe feature (which I honestly thought I did not need). It has read for CD and all DVD formats, will write CD/r, CD/rw, DVD -w, DVD/ +w and has the additonal laser required for lightscribe.

US$89. Free shipping. NewEgg.

Having said that, I bought a 50-pack of Lighscribe CR/Rs, 80 minutes, for 12 bucks at my local computer store.

Now the down side -- depending on how fancy you are with the label, it can take nearly an hour to "burn" the label by itself. The end result looks great. If your label area is relatively modest, plan on 14 minutes to burn the label. Most alternative ink jet CD labelers take just as long, but you do get color.

For any CD/DVDs that I need more than 15 copies for, I send them out to a disk duplication service. Between the burning and printing the label, no matter what technology used, you will waste a lot of time otherwise. There are some autofeeding CD duplicators out there in the market. I have not used them as the established duplication firms can usually do a great job on even small orders for very reasonable prices.