View Full Version : Printing DVD faces


Ron J. Wildhaber
September 23rd, 2009, 09:49 AM
I have been doing weddings for several years and upon delivery of my DVDS, I have been using Lightscribe for the face of the DVD. I try to get a sharp image of the couple with a digital camera and that has been working well, but I would like to make the disks look more attractive by adding color. I do not want to spend a lot on a printer and thought the Discpainter by Dymo would be just the the thing but reading the reviews on Amazon, I was discouraged to hear that the resolution was poor, showed banding rings, and generally poor quality. The Epson RX680 seemed to be a good choice until I read their reviews and the printer not recognizing their own ink cartridges seem to be a real problem. Can anyone suggest a printer in the $200.00 range that will give satisfactory results? I am much more concerned what is in the DVD rather than the cover but I would like to improve the appearance a little. Thank you…..Ron

Jon Geddes
September 23rd, 2009, 10:01 AM
We have used multiple Epson RX series printers that have done a pretty good job at printing to disc. We design label templates (to go with our Pro Motion Menu Kit (http://www.precomposed.com/products/pro_motion_menu_kits/) products) which use a full range of colors and look amazing when printed directly on the disc with the epson printer.

Even if the RX680 model is not detecting the epson ink cartridges as being genuine, it still shouldn't effect it's ability to print, nor the quality of the print. It's possible they will release a driver or firmware fix for it.

Jim Snow
September 23rd, 2009, 10:19 AM
I have used several Epson printers over the years with very few problems. They do a great job of printing discs. The only annoyance that I have had is sometimes referred to as the "Epson Dance". This is when the disc caddy cycles back and forth in the input tray and then aborts the print which requires that the print be restarted. It doesn't happen often but just enough to be a minor annoyance.

Steve Shovlar
September 23rd, 2009, 10:23 AM
Hi Ron, I use the Epson PX700 printer and it gives super results with printable DVD media. I also use Taiyo Yuden watersheild DVDs ( nothing else even close to them) and the results look as good as a professinal DVD.

In the UK these blanck DVDs cost around 50 pence each ( 35 cents) but are easily worth it.

As for ink. Don't fall into the "have to buy Epson" ink. It's extortion. I purchased the Epson then went to Ebay and purchased one of those CIS ( Continuous Ink Supply) and the results are brilliant, and the ink costs a tiny fraction of the Epson prices.

For about $60 you will have a supply of ink that will last months and months, and the refills cost next to nothing.

I tried Lightscribe but you have to wait ages for one disk with no colour, when you can get a Tayo Yuden disk printed for next to nothing.

Just my opinion of course

Dave Blackhurst
September 23rd, 2009, 11:46 AM
HP makes a couple inexpensive printers with DVD/CD tray - their software is clunky, but easy to workaround (I just create a graphic for the full CD front, and import it into their program rather than trying to create a suitable graphic with their program). Not sure if they will continue to offer the option, Epson's sort of the "leader" in this particular technology, and HP has only offered the option on a couple models each year - the new models just released didn't have the option, so not sure what that means... maybe they will release some later, or pick up "last years model" on the cheap.

I've got a two model year old HP D5160 I'm selling (upgraded to "last years model", as it's easier on the ink for all around printing - I do a lot of straight text... 5160 used 2 "multicolor" cartridges, the new one uses 5 separate).

Ken Diewert
September 23rd, 2009, 11:57 AM
I just picked this Epson Artisan 50 up a month or so ago - it's cheap and it prints beautifully on the imprintable discs, it's pretty quick, and the software works very well. Of course I haven't replaced the inks yet - I may look into the ebay CIS system.

Epson Artisan 50 Ink Jet Printer, Overview - Product Information - Epson America, Inc. (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?oid=63083139)

Bill Koehler
September 23rd, 2009, 12:21 PM
I tried the Dymo DiscPainter. I was so impressed with its lack of quality that the instant the ink ran out it was replaced by an Epson Artisan 800, which I got for just a bit over your $200 price limit. Combined with the Taiyo Yuden Watershield disks, the print/image quality is superb. Absolutely no complaints.

Don Bloom
September 23rd, 2009, 12:47 PM
I've got 2 Epson R200s and and Epson 1400 which prints 13X19-I haven't had any trouble with any of them other than the 200s which I have to do the Epson push/pull with but thats common with the 200 series.
I've never had a problem with any of them not seeing the ink carts.

The 14000 is about $300 but the other Epson series are a lot less and you can get Continuous Ink Flow systems for them.

Any of them combined with the TY Watershield DVDs produce and awesome product

Philip Howells
September 24th, 2009, 02:22 AM
We've used a range of Epsons, currently an R200, non-epson ink, car cellulose spray to seal. The exception is our demo disk blanks which we have printed and sealed professionally and buy by the 1000. We then burn as required, updating the demo from time to time.

Shaun Roemich
September 24th, 2009, 08:27 AM
I JUST trashed an Epson R260 that wouldn't recognize not one but THREE different complete ink set replacements. All six inks. All Epson, all the time.

Thanks but I'll be doing a Primera Auto Printer or HP Deskjet after my imminent move. And the "Epson Dance" also gets OLD.

To be fair, the print quality was near excellent but I would not consider at least the 2xx series to be even remotely appropriate for a professional environment (having used 4 distinct 2xx series printers at my office and my former 9-5).

Philip Howells
September 24th, 2009, 08:40 AM
I think one's reaction to the printer may also be influenced by the type of face printing you do.

We don't go in for pictures etc - it seems as waste of effort for a face that will only be visible for the few seconds the disk is en route from the case to the player. We stick to a very standard, almost corporate design. On the other hand we put a lot of effort into the library case insert but that's printed on a Xerox colour laser

Taky Cheung
September 24th, 2009, 09:12 AM
I have been using Epson R280 now Artisan 50 to print on TY watersheild DVDs. The output is excellent. Read here DVD cover design and DVD label printing | L.A. Color Blog (http://lacolorshop.com/blog/view.asp?id=37)

Ron J. Wildhaber
September 24th, 2009, 11:27 AM
I want to thank all for their good advice. I learn so much from this forum. It is a great place to hang out. I settled on the Epson Artisan 800 All In One. I hope it will work out OK. I plan to order some TY DVDs as many of you have mentioned. I also want to puchase a CIS system off of Ebay. I notice that there are many to choose from. Does it make much difference which to get or is there certain types that are better? Thanks again for all your advice. It is greatly appreciated.

Ron

Taky Cheung
September 24th, 2009, 11:33 AM
I have tried 2 different CISS. One of them having lots of trouble for the printer to recognize and the print out was very dull. Now I'm using 3 sets of CISS from this guy. Super Smart Electronics Home Page (http://www.supersmartelectronics.com/) It works well. The printer recognize the cartridges no problem and the print out is great.

Philip Howells
September 24th, 2009, 11:21 PM
Can I offer one bit of experience regarding CISS? I purchased one of these from a firm in France some years ago and had the devil's own job keeping the heads free.

Ink technology may have changed of course, so others' more recent advice should also be considered but my experience is that unless you have an extraordinarily high through put the cost savings may not be as high as the CISS suppliers claim.

Taky Cheung
September 24th, 2009, 11:27 PM
I think the cost effectiveness is straight forward. Assuming $12 per ink cartridge and you need 6 for a photo printer, that's already $72. For $60 already can buy a set of CISS with lots of ink to print with.

Philip Howells
September 24th, 2009, 11:32 PM
I think the cost effectiveness is straight forward. Assuming $12 per ink cartridge and you need 6 for a photo printer, that's already $72. For $60 already can buy a set of CISS with lots of ink to print with.

Sorry Taky I've confused the issue - your maths are right if you use branded ink - and providing the ink heads on the $60 of kit don't dry up before you do your second job.

Taky Cheung
September 24th, 2009, 11:34 PM
It's true. If you really don't print much, it's really not necessary to get CISS. The 3 sets of CISS I'm using, I'm very happy about it. I printed full color photo as DVD covers for wedding clients. I saved a lot and not have to worry about the cost of ink printing full page color =)

Ron J. Wildhaber
September 25th, 2009, 11:25 AM
I have tried 2 different CISS. One of them having lots of trouble for the printer to recognize and the print out was very dull. Now I'm using 3 sets of CISS from this guy. Super Smart Electronics Home Page (http://www.supersmartelectronics.com/) It works well. The printer recognize the cartridges no problem and the print out is great.

I was planning to order this but reading the specs, it noted that a modification must be made to the printer. A small piece of plastic must be cut out of the lid so the ink lines will not error the printing. I suppose I will need to put up with an ink hog, at least for a couple months because if the printer has issues(which many of the Epson’s do and this one is no exception) and I return it to Epson with the lid modification, the warranty will surely be void.

Ron

Taky Cheung
September 25th, 2009, 11:34 AM
I bought the Artisan 50 brand new for $60 off email free shipping. I don't worry about modding the cage holding the ink cartrdige. Then for warranty, I really don't think I want to spend $20 to $30 shipping back to Epson to repair a $60 printer.

Philip Howells
September 25th, 2009, 10:06 PM
I was planning to order this but reading the specs, it noted that a modification must be made to the printer. A small piece of plastic must be cut out of the lid so the ink lines will not error the printing. I suppose I will need to put up with an ink hog, at least for a couple months because if the printer has issues(which many of the Epson’s do and this one is no exception) and I return it to Epson with the lid modification, the warranty will surely be void.

Ron

Taky has a good point but can't you remove the lid completely, at least for the warranty period?

Ben Longden
September 25th, 2009, 11:05 PM
Ive never used Lightscribe - the discs are a bit expensive here..

When my old HP printer died several years ago from overwork, I replaced it with a cheap (under $200) Canon Pixmar bought primarily because it could do disc printing. This has worked beautifully for the me, and I use a combination of Photoshop and the free software for doing artwork. Only takes a couple of moments, even to do just a plain disc title (Title, client, time etc) and comments from clients downstream have been super positive.

Using a template I made, I even do the sleeve art in a few minutes (while burning) The hard part is trimming the paper and inserting it into the case later on..

I was looking at waterproof discs, but gave up until I read Phillip's post, which begs the question; what sort of sealant are you using?

Ben

Philip Howells
September 25th, 2009, 11:46 PM
snipped...

I was looking at waterproof discs, but gave up until I read Phillip's post, which begs the question; what sort of sealant are you using?

Ben

I read somewhere a while back that ordinary car cellulose spray is essentially the same as the branded CD/DVD-specific sealant costing about 5 times as much. I've been using it for five years at least and have had no complaints yet. The trick (as with using it on your car) is getting the spray even but I bet you've got almost as many dud disks lying around as I have and practice makes perfect.

I've got the spraying to a bit of a fine art now so I burn first, print/spray afterwards but I've heard good arguments for doing it the other way round.

As with all spray cans it pays to clear the head after every use even though you waste some propellant each time. Best to do it in a large space as it probably does more harm to your lungs than a couple of Marlboro.

Finally, as I mentioned previously I have my demo blanks produced professionally, ie printed/sprayed. Then I can burn the demo of the moment to requirements using a small 7-station duplicator I constructed around a Wytron controller. My supplier recently started delivering the disks face-to-face in pairs since they'd discovered that over the burning face of sprayed disks stacked conventionally on a spindle tended to be discoloured.

It didn't seem to affect the burning or burned data but just looked a bit scrappy. His German spray booth manufacturer gave the face-to-face stacking advice. My supplier has also switched to the new thinner RiData disks which work well and look good.

For any similar job I'd recommend doing a deal with your local supplier for 500/1000 off printed and sprayed - mine charges me considerably less than I'd have to pay for waterproof blanks unprinted and I find face printing more boring than watching paint dry (or ink!).

Resham Singh
September 28th, 2009, 10:45 AM
I have just ordered an inkjet fixative spray and at £4.99 delivered....you can't go wrong
7dayshop.com - Online Store (http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_2&products_id=61025)

Enrique Orozco Robles
October 16th, 2009, 07:51 PM
C'mon... nobody in the world using thermal retransfer technology ?? (rimage & teac)... very interested on one of these... the samples look AWESOME even vs. watershield discs...

good luck

Brian Luce
December 2nd, 2009, 04:33 PM
I bought the Artisan 50 brand new for $60 off email free shipping. I don't worry about modding the cage holding the ink cartrdige. Then for warranty, I really don't think I want to spend $20 to $30 shipping back to Epson to repair a $60 printer.


Where'd you get it? I can't find them for under $100.

Gordon George
December 3rd, 2009, 01:53 PM
I bought a Canon ip4600 for $49.99 at The Source here in Canada. I was going to buy used, but for $50 bucks its a no brainer.

It prints to Cds/DVDs and the results look great to me.

Canons in the US and Canada used to not include the CD tray. I tried to mod my i960 to print to Cds but I was unable to find the CD tray on eBay.

Do Canons in the US now supply the CD tray?

Taky Cheung
December 3rd, 2009, 02:03 PM
Bruce, it's on ebay.. so you have to check it once in a while to see if there's good deal. If you don't see one today, check in a week.

Also, I am using those continous ink system (CISS). So I will look for the ebay listing that doesn't include original ink cartirdiges. that's why they are cheaper.

Brian Luce
March 26th, 2010, 10:16 PM
I have tried 2 different CISS. One of them having lots of trouble for the printer to recognize and the print out was very dull. Now I'm using 3 sets of CISS from this guy. Super Smart Electronics Home Page (http://www.supersmartelectronics.com/) It works well. The printer recognize the cartridges no problem and the print out is great.

I am going to offer a different opinion on Super Smart Electronics. This is a one man band, not some big electronics store as his website might suggest. He sold me a CISS system that did not work. He's extremely rude and refuses to accept returns even though his ebay page explicitly states that his CISS systems are guaranteed. Google Super Smart Electronics and you will find numerous other complaints about this guy.

He'll take your money fast enough and then disappear.

Taky's experience has been favorable, I'll suggest it's the exception not rule.

Peter Rush
November 3rd, 2010, 05:50 AM
I read somewhere a while back that ordinary car cellulose spray is essentially the same as the branded CD/DVD-specific sealant costing about 5 times as much. I've been using it for five years at least and have had no complaints yet. The trick (as with using it on your car) is getting the spray even but I bet you've got almost as many dud disks lying around as I have and practice makes perfect.

I've got the spraying to a bit of a fine art now so I burn first, print/spray afterwards but I've heard good arguments for doing it the other way round.

As with all spray cans it pays to clear the head after every use even though you waste some propellant each time. Best to do it in a large space as it probably does more harm to your lungs than a couple of Marlboro.

Finally, as I mentioned previously I have my demo blanks produced professionally, ie printed/sprayed. Then I can burn the demo of the moment to requirements using a small 7-station duplicator I constructed around a Wytron controller. My supplier recently started delivering the disks face-to-face in pairs since they'd discovered that over the burning face of sprayed disks stacked conventionally on a spindle tended to be discoloured.

It didn't seem to affect the burning or burned data but just looked a bit scrappy. His German spray booth manufacturer gave the face-to-face stacking advice. My supplier has also switched to the new thinner RiData disks which work well and look good.

For any similar job I'd recommend doing a deal with your local supplier for 500/1000 off printed and sprayed - mine charges me considerably less than I'd have to pay for waterproof blanks unprinted and I find face printing more boring than watching paint dry (or ink!).

Philip can you please let me know what spray you use - I am using seiko specifically for DVDs but it's pretty expensive - I'm on my last can and could do with changing to something cheaper

Cheers

Pete

Philip Howells
November 3rd, 2010, 05:59 AM
Peter, current can is Car Plan Acrylic Spray paint from Motorworld.