CD Labels

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

The epson 1400 comes to mind, it can print on discs and I believe its under $300. You can do stickers if you don't want it to look professional and want to deal with the hassle of attaching the stickers each time. It also prints 13x19" so its not a shabby printer to have on hand just for the sake of printing.

 

[Helen B]

I use an Epson 1400 for printing on printable discs in color, before that an R800 - it's a matter of preference between the Lightscribe look and a full color label. Don't use adhesive labels, especially for clients.

I just looked up the epson 1400. AT first i thought it was a regular paper printer, but saw it also prints CD's too. How is the quality compared to a Lightscribe? What do you mean a full color label?

I think the image quality is very good, using Watershield discs. It's very similar to a decent inkjet print. The Lightscribe look is different - monochrome, not so much 'on the surface' looking. By 'full color' I mean in all the colors the 1400 produces. You know: color pictures, not monochrome. Quite a lot of inkjet printers have CD/DVD trays (although my larger printers don't), and there's the Dymo Discpainter, which I have no experience with.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Woah.. I didn't know people can print directly on CD.. without a sticker?. Is that what lightscribe does?

Bitter, how much did something like that cost you?

I could be wrong but I think he's being sarcastic.

It's for reals. I has all the toys.

 

[SabrinaO]

I use an Epson 1400 for printing on printable discs in color, before that an R800 - it's a matter of preference between the Lightscribe look and a full color label. Don't use adhesive labels, especially for clients.

I just looked up the epson 1400. AT first i thought it was a regular paper printer, but saw it also prints CD's too. How is the quality compared to a Lightscribe? What do you mean a full color label?

I think the image quality is very good, using Watershield discs. It's very similar to a decent inkjet print. The Lightscribe look is different - monochrome, not so much 'on the surface' looking. By 'full color' I mean in all the colors the 1400 produces. You know: color pictures, not monochrome. Quite a lot of inkjet printers have CD/DVD trays (although my larger printers don't), and there's the Dymo Discpainter, which I have no experience with.

Wow I really have to get me one. I didn't know lightscribe only printed monochrome. I noticed the monochrome in the video I watched on their site... but i didn't think anything of it. So what do YOU think... what are the benefits in having the 1400 or a CD printer than using the lightscribe service? Does it save you money in the end?

 

[SabrinaO]

Woah.. I didn't know people can print directly on CD.. without a sticker?. Is that what lightscribe does?

Bitter, how much did something like that cost you?

I could be wrong but I think he's being sarcastic.

It's for reals. I has all the toys.

Which printer do you have?

 

[Helen B]

Wow I really have to get me one. I didn't know lightscribe only printed monochrome. I noticed the monochrome in the video I watched on their site... but i didn't think anything of it. So what do YOU think... what are the benefits in having the 1400 or a CD printer than using the lightscribe service? Does it save you money in the end?

As I said, my preference is for the Epson 1400 (or similar) printed labels. I don't use my 1400 for much else because I also have a 3800 for monochrome and a 3880 for color, but if I didn't have those I would use the 1400 for some normal printing. If you wanted to get into making digital negatives for contact printing onto traditional silver gelatin photo paper, then the 1400 could do that well. Cost of the printed CDs or DVDs isn't really an issue - it's all pretty cheap. I don't mass produce discs. Things would be different if I did.

 

[Vtec44]

I worked for a company many years ago and we had a proprietary printer that would print directly. The print head is Epson based but it has mechanical arms that would remove and and refill the print, so you can stack 100 CD's and it would continuously print until the stack is empty. You have to get printable CD, either glossy or matt white. Sorry, I don't even remember the brand since it has been over 10 years ago but they're out there.

 

[Geaux]

Epson RX595 here, print directly onto printable CDs also. It's the shizzit.

 

[eric-holmes]

What hardware/software do y'all recommend for lightscribe?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Eric, you need a Lightscribe capable CD burner.

 

[eric-holmes]

Yeah, I knew that, but I was looking at adding on an internal drive. They don't seem to be that expensive but there are tons of brands and options and I know nothing about them.

 

[MissCream]

Apparently I have been living under a rock.

 

[emoxley]

I use the Epson R320. Before that, I used the R200. I think that most, if not all, of the "R" series printers will print directly on printable discs. You can get printable dvds too. I see some of the "R" series printers on Craig's List fairly often. The R320 I'm using now was bought from Craig's List. I also use the remanufactured ink in it. Epson ink is expensive. I get the ink from Rima.com, and can get all six ink cartridges for just a little more than one ink cartridge of Epson ink. I only had one problem with the ink in the past four yrs. or so, and Rima replaced it immediately. The ink looks as good and lasts as long as the Epson ink, for me anyways.
Good luck!

 

[CCericola]

I use Discmakers to print my CD's and DVD's. I can get a custom printed blank DVD (or upload my content and they will burn it for me), and a custom printed case for less than $5. The differance between professionally printed material vs printing on an injet is as differant as night and day. I use to print them myself. Once I found this company I could never go back.

 

[Helen B]

I use Discmakers to print my CD's and DVD's. I can get a custom printed blank DVD (or upload my content and they will burn it for me), and a custom printed case for less than $5. The differance between professionally printed material vs printing on an injet is as differant as night and day. I use to print them myself. Once I found this company I could never go back.

Interesting, thanks for that. I'll try a comparison. What inkjet printer did you use, and are you comparing them to matte or glossy (eg Watershield) inkjet-printed discs? (There's a big difference between those two - it's difficult to conceive what the 'day' is if a Watershield is the 'night'). Shipping is relatively expensive on small runs - I've selected the classic glossy blank DVD with no packaging and they are $7 for two plus $16 shipping - ie $11.50 each.

Best,
Helen