Putting photos onto a DVD-R- help please!

[McMommy]

I haven't burned a CD in a very long time, since getting my iPod and iPhone in the last 5 years. I burned the photos I took of baby Kaili onto a DVD-R, and made the front of it look awesome with the LightScribe program. All the files opened on my husband's PC computer (we have the same computers) and so I brought the CD over to the baby's mom and haven't heard anything else about it.

Then, I did the same thing for Emily's photos, and brought the DVD-R to her mom. None of the files would open in her Mac. So I went home, burned another DVD-R, made it look cool again, tested it on my husband's computer, and brought it back over to her. Again, it wouldn't open on her Mac. She put it in her portable DVD player, which accepts DVD-R, and it wouldn't show anything there either. Actually, her Mac told her she had inserted a blank CD.


What am I doing wrong? The files open up on both of our PCs but not her Mac? When I put the DVD-R in to burn, it pops up a menu asking what I want to do with it, and I select copy files to disc (or something like that.)


Any tips on how to do this or where to look would be helpful! I have zero experience with Macs, but want people to be able to open and view photos on their computers without any problems!


Thanks!!

 

[McMommy]

Bumping... surely somebody knows more about burning DVD-Rs than I do?

 

[Derrel]

I am a Mac user and have been for a long time, so I might not have the right answer. But I think maybe you need to make sure the disc format you select is Macintosh-compatible, such as Mac OS Extended, or Mac OS Extended and PC (Hybrid) CD, Mac OS CD, or Mac OS and PC (Hybrid) CD--one of those four formats of disc burning would be necessary for the disc to be recognized by a Macintosh.

It's also a good idea to burn in the "disc at once" mode, which will "Finalize" the disc. If a disc is not "finalized", it often will not play on another machine or a different hardware configuration. So, do not author and burn a disc in "Session" or "multi-session" modes, but instead burn as "Disc at Once". Otherwise, your discs might not be recognized or might not play on other machines.

I think the CD and DVD burning codes are under the ISO 9660 Orange Book codes, as I recall from some years ago. I'm sure somebody who's a competent Windows CD/DVD author could probably give you specific tips for the software you are authoring and burning under. It would be helpful to know what software/hardware you are using I think, so others could give you pointed advice about it.

 

[myfotoguy]

Hi, I'm wondering the same thing as Derrel. What software are you using to burn the files to the disc?

When you look at them on your husbands PC, is it simply going to windows explorer, and you can see the files in folders, or is there a program burned on the disc to view the files?

I've found DPReview to be pretty helpful for gear and stuff: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
They also have a media forum that might be good:
Storage and Media Forum: Digital Photography Review

 

[McMommy]

I played around with it, and it just pops up a file to copy what I want to it. So it seems that I'm using Windows to burn the disc. I do have a program that came with my computer, but I can't figure out how to burn a DVD that doesn't have movies on it. I'll get it, I'm sure, just need to spend more time on it.

My guess though, is that if I'm using Windows to burn the disc, that's why it's not compatible with the Mac. I bet if I use the other program, I'll have better luck.