CD duplication - cost effective small run distribution
- Thread starter Pinky
- Start date
stevem5000
New member
I do restoration for some musicians in my area...from old R2R, cassettes, DAT, and vinyl LP's...this is stuff that maybe the musicians recorded many years ago but never published...
Here is how I do my CD's...
I built a computer with 4 DVD burners...got burning software called cdrtfe...with this I can burn 4 CD's at a time...
I have 2 Canon IP7220 printers...I print in inkjet directly on printable CD's...
So I burn 4 CD's and as soon as I have one bunch done, I put 2 CD's in my printers...I can print 2 CD's faster than
I can burn 4 CD's with this system...so production is pretty even...I can do a couple dozen CD's in less than an hour...
Then my wife and I design the liners and print them out on inkjet using a high quality brochure paper...
We have to cut the liner pages with a paper cutter one at a time and that's labor intensive...
But since we are retired we have plenty of time to do this...
I wind up with a very attractive package, in jewel cases...not figuring my time...cost is about $1.50 each, CD, paper, ink, jewel case...
Here is how I do my CD's...
I built a computer with 4 DVD burners...got burning software called cdrtfe...with this I can burn 4 CD's at a time...
I have 2 Canon IP7220 printers...I print in inkjet directly on printable CD's...
So I burn 4 CD's and as soon as I have one bunch done, I put 2 CD's in my printers...I can print 2 CD's faster than
I can burn 4 CD's with this system...so production is pretty even...I can do a couple dozen CD's in less than an hour...
Then my wife and I design the liners and print them out on inkjet using a high quality brochure paper...
We have to cut the liner pages with a paper cutter one at a time and that's labor intensive...
But since we are retired we have plenty of time to do this...
I wind up with a very attractive package, in jewel cases...not figuring my time...cost is about $1.50 each, CD, paper, ink, jewel case...
RogerL.
New member
Interesting Steven what type of DVD burner did you use, I'm dumber then a box of rocks on these things but you have my interest peaked. What speed computer was needed to run those?
PDP
There once was a note
Don't you need a special printer to print on a CD-r ?
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
The problem with using Inkjet printers for CD/DVD printing is that the result may look really good, but don't let any moisture or the sweat from your fingers on the printed surface as it can smudge or even come off.
Nothing beats silk-screening...though I'm not sure what the Kunkai "Japanese technology" is about, but based on their website info..?
I get the feeling like they may(?) be using some form printing where they then apply a clear-coat over the actuial ink for protection.
You guys that have used Kunaki.....what's the printing on the CD like....does it look/feel like a silk-screening print job, or more like the glossy photo as they say?
Is it moisture-proof?
Nothing beats silk-screening...though I'm not sure what the Kunkai "Japanese technology" is about, but based on their website info..?
I get the feeling like they may(?) be using some form printing where they then apply a clear-coat over the actuial ink for protection.
You guys that have used Kunaki.....what's the printing on the CD like....does it look/feel like a silk-screening print job, or more like the glossy photo as they say?
Is it moisture-proof?
Armistice
Son of Yoda
Wouldn't sell many CDs in the US for $15! I didn't make my mom pay for the 2 copies she asked for ...
View attachment 87421
View attachment 87422
View attachment 87423
The RRP of a new CD in Australia is $30, although you don't see many trying that any more. Normally you'll find them at $25 depending upon who it is... sometimes $20 or some other low twenties variation. $15 is a bargain, and enough to feel like I'm not giving stuff away. I'm guessing the cost of getting replication done in the US isn't nearly as high, either... so it's all relative.
RogerL.
New member
That's weird about the inkjet printing, I thought I had a CD a friend did for me a while back and I could have sworn it was done on an inkjet and the printing was fine. I never tried to wash it or even clean it with water so maybe it's not permanent. I'd like to hear from others who have printed this way, it seems funny that they would make special attachment to do this printing if it wasn't going to stay on there. I was under the impression that it was the disc that was treated right so an inkjet could print on it . . . maybe I'm wrong.
mjbphotos
Moderator
It's not glossy, but I'm not sure if it is just standard CD-R printing or something else.
The RRP of a new CD in Australia is $30, although you don't see many trying that any more. Normally you'll find them at $25 depending upon who it is... sometimes $20 or some other low twenties variation. $15 is a bargain, and enough to feel like I'm not giving stuff away. I'm guessing the cost of getting replication done in the US isn't nearly as high, either... so it's all relative.
Ouch! Half those prices here.
Armistice
Son of Yoda
It looks and feels just like a commercially released CD. It's like a semi-gloss full color print job. Totally waterproof. I think they look great.
I use Kunaki for my own CDs, my band uses them, and I've been part of several compilations that use them. I've never been disappointed with Kunaki's product.
PDP
There once was a note
That's cool, one looks like a speedometer and the other a vinyl record? What did you send them to make those ? Did you have to send a picture of the vinyl record with the blue center in the exact circular dimension to fit on a CD? or was it a circle you printed on a piece of paper and sent in? Do you have to use any particular paper or printer for the art work or photos?
Lol I get it the speedometer is from your drag racing CD, cool ideas bro.
Yup, speedometer and the other's supposed to look like a record. That's a picture of an actual record and my wife doctored it up in photoshop.
Kunaki has this little artwork program template that you download. With this program you enter in your artwork. Cover, liner, back cover, CD art itself, and the little side bar things. It's all in the program. It gives you the dimensions, you have to create your artwork to fit and have the right resolution. (My wife does all of my artwork layout). For the CD printing, in the kunaki software is a round template with a hole in the middle that you can use to orient your artwork for CD printing. It's all very, very simple and intuitive. You just have to make your own artwork. If you make it fit their specs and resolution, then it will be fine.
Then, when you're ready to make your test printing, first you have to set up an account. You also have to have a master CD ready that contains all of your music in the order you want it. So you pop that master CD in your computer, and the artwork software will upload your music and art to kunaki. It takes a while. Like an hour or so. It's really stupid how simple it is. Kunaki prints exactly what you give them. If something comes out wrong, it's your problem.
R
RAMI
Guest
I can totally vouch for Kunaki. I might even have been the one that turned a few people on to it here.
By the way, Greg, both the speedometer and vinyl-looking record are brilliant ideas.
By the way, Greg, both the speedometer and vinyl-looking record are brilliant ideas.
Chili
Site Moderator
I should be getting 150 CD's from them tomorrow. All school year, I recorded the 4 bands at my son's middle school then created a compilation CD. We sold about 120 CD's to the parents and will net about $900 as a fund-raiser. Not bad.
Before Kunaki, I tried to burn and print my packages. It's a lot of work... and printer ink can get expensive, especially with lots of one color like black.
Before Kunaki, I tried to burn and print my packages. It's a lot of work... and printer ink can get expensive, especially with lots of one color like black.
Pinky
and The Brain...
It looks and feels just like a commercially released CD. It's like a semi-gloss full color print job. Totally waterproof. I think they look great.
I use Kunaki for my own CDs, my band uses them, and I've been part of several compilations that use them. I've never been disappointed with Kunaki's product.
Haha
<-- Kevin
mjbphotos
Moderator
Yeah, the Kunaki software, as Greg says, takes care of all the hard stuff, not sure why the music software uploads so slow, but it works.
The one thing I liked about both Kunaki and CreateSpace (Amazon) is I could use the same files for the artwork (JPGs), adjusting the size if needed. Discmakers wants those color-separation files that real print shops use, so if you don't have Photoshop (or equal) or don't know how to do all that stuff, you have to pay them more money to do it.
The one thing I liked about both Kunaki and CreateSpace (Amazon) is I could use the same files for the artwork (JPGs), adjusting the size if needed. Discmakers wants those color-separation files that real print shops use, so if you don't have Photoshop (or equal) or don't know how to do all that stuff, you have to pay them more money to do it.
BrentDomann
Has a Dedicated Member.
Another happy Kunaki customer here.
They are dark but I've found you can just bump the brightness 10% or so and fudge it if you want. We opted to leave it dark because it makes you look harder at the cover image (which is a good thing in our case).
I looked into all kinds of services and some of them (like the old standard CDBaby) would also do digital distribution. I've been able to cobble together Kunaki for physical copies and another source for digital for much less. Here's a phone camera shot of our Kunaki CDs the day they arrived (excited bass player took the photo and hit Facebook with it):
They are dark but I've found you can just bump the brightness 10% or so and fudge it if you want. We opted to leave it dark because it makes you look harder at the cover image (which is a good thing in our case).
I looked into all kinds of services and some of them (like the old standard CDBaby) would also do digital distribution. I've been able to cobble together Kunaki for physical copies and another source for digital for much less. Here's a phone camera shot of our Kunaki CDs the day they arrived (excited bass player took the photo and hit Facebook with it):