CD Labels - how do you do it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ido1957
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ido1957

ido1957

9K Gold Member
I'm tired of the magic marker thingy.

I went to Staples and Future Shop (here in Canada) and all I could find was this 29.99 label maker that prints out paper labels. It has some weird looking "stomper" that you put the label and CD together with.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?webid=45648&AffixedCode=WW

But I read somewhere that these labels get stuck in CD players all the time or cause skipping if they're not put on exactly in the center.

Is there any method of printing on the CD itself that doesn't mean taking it to a pro shop or spending a small fortune?

On a side note - how about CD insert software with lines I can cut along :eek: :D ;)
 
There are printers that print directly to CDs. Or other devices like:

Casio CW-100
Primera

The cheapest solution would be to find good software to design your CD labels in (like Quark XPress), and a printer that can print directly to CDs...

Although with the cost of the printer, software, ink, cds, etc., it might actually be cheaper just to have it done professionally.
 
I've got an Epson R220. I can usually find inkjet printable CDs on eBay for about 25 cents each in small lots.
 
timboZ said:
I'm thinking og getting a lightscribe CD drive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LightScribe
Click to expand...
lightscribe discs are still to expensive, in my opinion, and it takes too long to burn a label w/ lightscribe... still cool though ;)

danny.guitar said:
There are printers that print directly to CDs. Or other devices like:

Casio CW-100
Click to expand...
yeah, as long as you get "blank" cd's... i'd say this is the best choice. there's also a cheaper version (CW-50, i think) if budget is an issue. but they arent that expensive anyways.

Never had any of my cd's that had sticky-labels get stuck or ruin any players, but that's definately the 'rumor'. i'm sure it's happened to someone, somewhere.



Bless.
 
ido1957 said:
But I read somewhere that these labels get stuck in CD players all the time or cause skipping if they're not put on exactly in the center.
Click to expand...

This happened to a friend in their car with a 'stomper' label - the problem seems to show up in car players only.
My cd's are produced one-off by Kunaki, and they use stick on labels but I've never had anyone complain about problems. I've used the Stomper for personal stuff and it seems to work. I can't imagine how you could get a label on one of those suckers correctly without some device like the stomper.
Art
 
I used to use labels all the time. Now (after a few years) I'm finding quite a few CDs with labels coming up in certain areas...and you can't remove them. It absolutely affects the way they play once it gets to that stage...because they're unplayable. I did have issues with some playing in my car also. I bought the Epson R200 printer (less than $100) and stocked up on blank printable CDs from supermediastore.com, bought an inexpensive CD artwork package (Acoustica - I think it was $29) and now have no problems.Don't know if you were looking to spend that much, but it's worth it. There's also some free CD printing software out there, and the Epson comes with some. Just food for thought.
 
danny.guitar said:
I completely forgot about lightscribing...if I were you I'd probably go this route. The drives are only like $80 i think? Check http://www.NewEgg.com. And the blank CDs aren't too expensive either.

I may get one too now that I think about it.
Click to expand...

You can get an inkjet printer that prints on CDs for that, and Lightscribe only does a cheesy sienna on silver and the blank CDs are expensive.
 
I use an Epson R300. It works fine, but it guzzles ink. One tank goes dry and the printer shuts down. The Cyan is empty so no printy for me until I have the time to go to Office Depot.

There are 120 fully functional Lightscribe drives on a pallet not 15 feet away from me that are all going to be hit with a hammer and thrown in the trash as soon as some one important gets tired of seeing them sitting there.
 
mharr552000 said:
I use an Epson R300. It works fine, but it guzzles ink. One tank goes dry and the printer shuts down. The Cyan is empty so no printy for me until I have the time to go to Office Depot.

There are 120 fully functional Lightscribe drives on a pallet not 15 feet away from me that are all going to be hit with a hammer and thrown in the trash as soon as some one important gets tired of seeing them sitting there.
Click to expand...

My R220 isn't too bad on ink doesn't shut down when it runs out. Epson is settling a class-action lawsuit about the way the ink is handled.

I've had some really good luck getting ink on eBay, just got a set of six (all the colors) from this guy for $11.50.
 
My solution:

1) Epson R220

2) Cheap continuous ink system: http://printonadime.com/Continuous_Ink_Systems.html

About $200 all told and I haven't had to buy ink for almost a year now. Looking at my ink tanks I've used about 1/3 of all the the colors and about 3/5 of the the black. And there is still some ink left in the original bottles that I used to fill the tanks. I think it was a good deal. Hopefully I'll never use a printer with cartidges again- SO much more expensive.

It does make the printer MUCH less portable, though. So if you move your stuff around from time to time (and I do) you do have to be more carefull with the external ink tanks.

-Chris

Edit: have printed over 200 CD's, lots of full color flyers, CD booklets and tray inserts so far. Paid for it with one CD print job, as well. Software that comes with the 220 for printing CD's is kinda hokey, so you have to get good at using an image program to make your CD's.
 
hey on that class action lawsuit with epson, isn't people getting free ink or whatever? where can I get involved in that :D My printer should be still printing but it says my ink is out, which I know it isn't. Anyways, I got a HP lightscribe burner that I've had for like a year now since they came out, the disc's were hard to find first off, but now easier, I was getting my disc in packs of 10 @ walmart for like $6, then went to compusa & finding them in 30 packs for like $15. They are more expensive then the rest, but I plan on getting a thermal cd printer some time by the end of next year I hope, last time I've seen them, were for about 2 grand for the one I was looking at. I think ink cd printers look great, but I rather use lightscribe because of ink. I tend to burn at least 50 disc's a week & pass them out/sell them.

Does anyone here own a thermal printer? & what kind & where do they carry discs for those.... oh and how good are they.. consumer wise.
 
asulger said:
This happened to a friend in their car with a 'stomper' label - the problem seems to show up in car players only.
My cd's are produced one-off by Kunaki, and they use stick on labels but I've never had anyone complain about problems. I've used the Stomper for personal stuff and it seems to work. I can't imagine how you could get a label on one of those suckers correctly without some device like the stomper.
Art
Click to expand...

Man I just used Kunaki for a CD and never even realized it was a sticker. You can check out the graphics (Designed with Acoustica for free) below.

I honestly thought they were printed right on the CD. If you click on the link, rotate the case on the upper left corner to see the actual disk.


http://Kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00WH9B5F
 
I use an ink-jet Printer, a Canon Pixma to print directly on the CDs. In Europe they cost about €130. You can get cheaper copies of the ink containers on the internet and spend about half the money you spend on originals.
 
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