View Full Version : Which printer do you use for disc printing?


Jason Donaldson
June 17th, 2008, 05:33 PM
My Epson R220 just tanked on me. I need a printer capable of printing on disc. I know that the Epson RX595 is capable of this, but if possible I would rather stay away from Epson all together. I seem to have grown to hate them. Anyway, that seems to be the obnly one I kow of that can print on disc...any suggestions from you would be welcome.

Monday Isa
June 17th, 2008, 05:50 PM
My Epson also died over the weekend. I was considering stand alone DVD printers but decided on the HP 5360. It works fabulously! The only problem is that they leave a roller mark on watershield discs. The mark is more of a mark caused by to much pressure from the rollers and the printer prints right over them. It's ok, the DVD inkjets from Prodisc look incredible compared to the Pro Disc inkjets printed from the R220. I give a thumbs up if you don't mind not using watershields.

Jason Donaldson
June 17th, 2008, 06:18 PM
Are the Prodisc you mentioned glossy like the watershields?

Monday Isa
June 17th, 2008, 06:20 PM
No they only come in matte white and matte silver inkjet printable. The TY Watershields and Verbatim are the only ones that have glossy coats available I believe.

Jason Donaldson
June 17th, 2008, 06:24 PM
Are the marks really noticable...will the client complain about them?

Monday Isa
June 17th, 2008, 06:53 PM
At first glance they are not. It's impeccable. Then when you turn the disc just a hair towards lite you will see 5 marks the length of the disc. Let me see if I can upload a sample. Bruce has a very good suggestion which I was looking at, the Dymo printer

Bruce Patterson
June 17th, 2008, 06:55 PM
Have you tried the Dymo Disc Painter? We've had great luck with it if you're doing a small quantity of DVD copies.

http://global.dymo.com/enUS/DiscPainter/default.html

Matt Bishop
June 17th, 2008, 06:58 PM
I'm using the Epson R380 with TY watershield and the results are quite stunning. I went from an R300 and had a few issues with that here and there. I haven't seen any of those issues with the 380 and the glossy print is amazing.

Matt

Dawn Brennan
June 17th, 2008, 07:20 PM
Have you tried the Dymo Disc Painter? We've had great luck with it if you're doing a small quantity of DVD copies.

http://global.dymo.com/enUS/DiscPainter/default.html

That looks really great... any others use this or can you tell me more about it? I read the FAQ but would love to hear the good and bad from you as well. THANKS! (I use a DYMO postage and label printer for mailings and it's a great product)

Robert Bec
June 18th, 2008, 02:47 AM
Epson R210 and i never use genuine ink to expensive ebay has great buys on bundles of ink
and i have never had a problem

Rob.

Dean Fairburn
June 18th, 2008, 04:25 AM
We use a Canon Pixma iP4500. We previously used an Epson R220 but this died on us. In a way I'm pleased as the Canon performs much better in my opinion. Also going to continue with genuine inks this time. Never felt happy with cheaper brands and feel this contributed to the premature failure of my Epson (just out of warranty - although no doubt warranty void anyway due to using non-genuine inks!).

Dean.

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Blake Cavett
June 18th, 2008, 07:41 AM
My Espon printer croaked as well... and always gave me fits.

Three months I got this sucker from Discmakers: http://www.discmakers.com/duplicators/printers/BravoSE.asp

I love this thing!

Jason Donaldson
June 18th, 2008, 07:50 AM
Epson R210 and i never use genuine ink to expensive ebay has great buys on bundles of ink
and i have never had a problem

Rob.

That's what I was doing...getting the continuous ink from ebay for my R220. I honestly could not see a difference. I would like to be able to get a printer capable of printing to disc, but also capable of using the CISS

Niall Megahey
June 18th, 2008, 09:50 AM
I have the Canon Mp600. It a great scanner and photo printer too. I only use genuine inks aswell.

Carl Wilky
June 18th, 2008, 12:43 PM
I purchased a Canon 6700 with a DVD/VD printing tray and i must say the speed and the print quality is superior than any other inkject printers available on the market.

What i don't like about the dedicated DVD/CD printers is the quality, they seem to be pixelated and the media always seem to be very glossy.

Jason Donaldson
June 18th, 2008, 12:51 PM
Monday, thanks for the picture. I think I will go with the printer and hope that it may be a glitch on your's only.

Peter Manojlovic
June 18th, 2008, 09:30 PM
Canon iP4200...
Absolutely thrilled....

Joel Peregrine
June 25th, 2008, 12:01 AM
Hi Peter,

Canon iP4200...
Absolutely thrilled....

I was too, for six months or so. I don't want to jinx you! But within the last few weeks both my ip4200's have given me fits. They can produce a decent print. Standard printing, documents and graphics, are fine. But photo quality inserts and disc labels are horrible. I've tried everything. I've used a mixture of generic and Canon ink but really don't think that is the cause. There are just so many variables. I just switched from Photoshop CS (ver.8) to CS3 (ver.10) and thought that might be the problem, but I booted into a new partition that and loaded CS and it still got crummy prints. I also just upgraded my OS and thought the 4200's drivers were screwing me up so I tried the old OS. I still got soft, red tinted prints with banding. Finally I called Canon and they are going to replace the print head under warranty on one of them. The other is out of warranty so it will be just for paperwork. I also ordered a third because it was cheaper than buying a new set of ink. Something about that isn't right....

Jason Donaldson
June 25th, 2008, 11:35 AM
I ended up going with the Epson RX595. I got it for an incredible price of $49.95, brand new sealed box, not refurb either. Futureshop had 7 of them on clearence for whatever reason, so I bought all of them and 6 will be listed on Ebay soon.

I am very pleased with the results so far, and have ordered the CISS for it on Ebay.

Franklin Bencosme
June 25th, 2008, 12:32 PM
Hp 4380 Amaizing .........

Dustin Sims
June 25th, 2008, 12:42 PM
canon mp600. i love it. i use TY watershield and silver printable discs. I actually prefer the silver because they still look professional (better than white matte) and cost half as much as the watershield.

Alastair Brown
June 25th, 2008, 01:54 PM
Just jumped ship to a Canon IP4500 after Inky, my trusty Epson Photo 900 finally succumbed. Having a small service for him tomorrow. All Welcome!

I'd post a picture of him, but it's still just a bit too much!

Hubert Duijzer
June 25th, 2008, 02:46 PM
Here's another Canon IP4500 user. Bought it last week on ebay from a Canon outlet store.
It was a brand new printer in a slightly dirty box. Paid € 40,- wich is less then half the price. Only printed one disc so far, but that one looks great.
I couldn't get it to print the full disc with the Canon label printer. (TY white full printable) It leaves the inner part white, any suggestions?

Jason Donaldson
June 25th, 2008, 04:00 PM
I couldn't get it to print the full disc with the Canon label printer. (TY white full printable) It leaves the inner part white, any suggestions?

Sounds like whatever app comes with the printer for printing on the disc needs to be calibrated. I know my Epson application prints perfectly when I set the inner diameter and outer diameter to 18mm and 120mm respectively

Alastair Brown
June 25th, 2008, 11:19 PM
Here's another Canon IP4500 user. Bought it last week on ebay from a Canon outlet store.
It was a brand new printer in a slightly dirty box. Paid € 40,- wich is less then half the price. Only printed one disc so far, but that one looks great.
I couldn't get it to print the full disc with the Canon label printer. (TY white full printable) It leaves the inner part white, any suggestions?

Hi Hubert,

Hows the Glidetrack going?

To change the diameter of either the outer or inner circle size in CD-LabelPrint for either Mac Or PC, simply follow these easy steps:
open CD-LabelPrint
click on File and go down to where it says Select Paper
Release your mouse and a Paper Selection dialogue box will appear
Click the New button
Another box called the Add/Edit User Defined appears in which you will see two adjustment sizes, one for the outer circle and one for the inner circle size
Simply set your desired sizes (the smallest I can get my inner diameter to is 17mm)
In the Media Name Box at the top, type in whatever you wish to call it and click the OK/Save button
Finally, make sure you click on your newly created masterpiece in the list to highlight it, before you exit the Paper Selection dialogue box
that's it;)

or

Hi, it is possible to print full face in CD LabelPrint.

It requires editing the regedit, follow these steps.

Click Start->Run-> type "regedit" and click ok.

Then click and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MediaNavigation\CDLabel Print\1.0\Settings\SizeAdjust\.Standard CD (12cm)

When you click on .Standard CD (12cm) three values appear on the right hand side. Double click Inner and change it to -200 and make outer 20, then close regedit.

When you now open CD LabelPrint the full face will be printable.

NOTE! DON'T CLICK THE ADJUST ADJUST CIRCLE SIZE BUTTON IN CD LABEL PRINT OR THE VALUES WILL BE RESET!!!!

Hubert Duijzer
June 26th, 2008, 01:36 AM
Hi Alastair,

The glidetrack is going well, i only need a cheap head on top of it. A head on top of the track should be more practical then just the camera. To bad i just sold my old tripod. :)

I'm not at home right now, but i'll try your settings out tonight. I couldn't find out how to change the diameter in the labelprint myself.

Thx
Hubert

Hubert Duijzer
June 26th, 2008, 03:48 PM
To change the diameter
.....
that's it;)

That's it indeed. I knew it must be simple :-)

Alastair Brown
June 30th, 2008, 01:49 PM
Oh Well, so much for Canon! My IP4500 has died after less than a week. Popped it's 3A fuse, replaced it with another 3A same again, now its dead. And I have a disc I HAVE to send tomorrow! Where's my felt tips?

Mike Williams
June 30th, 2008, 09:53 PM
The HP 5160 gets the job done. Never really knocked my socks off but I did get at least 300 + disks printed off so far.

It is a PITA but once you get over the idiosyncracies...it gets the job done.

The bundled software sucks though. To get to the "cd" printing it a PITA and it can't remeber the settings.

Dave Blackhurst
July 1st, 2008, 12:01 AM
Also using the HP 5160, I liked it enough to pick up another for a backup on closeout when HP brought out their "latest" models for around $35... less than the cost of ink! The included software is pretty much useless unless you're creative...

I took some time to create "blank" CD templates that I then create the entire label in (text and all), just drop it into the HP software and print - you always have to resize the inner ring for "hub printables", but aside from those idiosyncracies, it's worked well for me, printing a mix of white matte and silver printables.

You have to remember what background you're going to be printing on, that helps a lot with the final result.

I've always had good luck with HP printers, although I know Epson is the leader in CD/DVD printing and I've got one of their little portable 4x6 printers that just knocks my socks off...

Christopher Ruffell
August 11th, 2008, 12:03 PM
This is a great thread.. are disc printing options for Mac OS X similar to the PC software side? Do most printers use bundled software to print discs? I'm a heavy Photoshop user, so, wondering how I'd get the work I create in Photoshop to print...

Jeff Kellam
August 11th, 2008, 12:41 PM
This is a great thread.. are disc printing options for Mac OS X similar to the PC software side? Do most printers use bundled software to print discs? I'm a heavy Photoshop user, so, wondering how I'd get the work I create in Photoshop to print...

I use the Epson R800 with excellent results on Watershield (primarily) and other media. Epson printers include the disc printing software which labels and imports images. It's very flexible software and capable of anything.

I use Photoshop also. I typically edit the image and then import the edited image with the Epson Print CD software. You can set up a template in Photoshop (search for directions, plenty available) to print from, but it is not worth the effort IMO.

My system is color calibrated and the Epson Print CD software does not impart any color drift, allowing precise color management.

TY Watershield discs allow accurate and vibrant color reproduction. The silver surface media also look great for appropriate projects, but the lack of being water resistant is usually a deal breaker.

Tom Van den Berghe
April 22nd, 2014, 02:20 PM
I use the canon pixma IP4700 for disc printing. When printing an paper it's good but printing on disc is mostly not.

I know now that disc printing is using the little black color. But after 1 or 2 tries the colors are again washed out on disc. I already cleaned the printer.

So maybe I better purchase something new and different. Are there currently single disc printers out here?
I can still use the canon printer for paper but I prefer printing on disc with something different.