CD Printer

There are three common "on-demand" professional CD label printing technologies that exist today. The technologies are Ink jet Thermal and Thermal Retransfer disc label printing with a variation called dye-sublimation transfer printing. Here is an overview of the disc labeling technologies.

Inkjet DVD/CD Printers are based on the same ink jet printing technology that made low cost monochrome and color printing possible for the home PC market. These printers use standard ink cartridges to print on the surface of ink absorbent printable media. Cartridges are available for single color, as well as full 4 color printing. Because ink jet printing is a wet process, the CD printers require special ink absorbent disc to be used. The ink jet wet process has the advantage of being able to mix colors, and can produce excellent multi color printing results at fairly high resolutions. These CD inkjet printers tend to be lower priced than the other technologies, and are available in a broad range of resolutions. Their primary disadvantage is that most printable disc print surfaces are not impervious to moisture. There are several special water resistant disc surfaces with the notable leader called 'Watershield' manufactured and branded by JVC (Taiyo Yuden) although this option comes at a premium price

Thermal Transfer DVD printers , as the name implies, use heat to transfer the disc label print materials to the disc surface. This is accomplished by placing a thin film ribbon between the disc and the print head. Single, dual and multi colored ribbons are available to provide a variety of print output options. Thermal CD printers tend to be faster than the other two CD printing technologies, and they deliver a very durable print. The cost per print of single and two color is very low, while full color per print costs are about on par with ink jet technology. Their primary disadvantage is that the initial purchase of a thermal CD printer is more expensive than an ink jet printer, but can provide a greater return on investment when printing discs. Also, the maximum print resolutions tops out at about 300 x 600 dpi.

Thermal Retransfer DVD Printer and Dye Sublimation CD printer delivers photo realistic printing quality. Like thermal printing on blank CDs, retransfer labeling uses heat transfer and ribbon technology, but with one added step. Thermal re transfer works by 'printing' or transferring the color image to an interim ribbon, which is then used to print to the actual disc. Using the second ribbon, or 'transfer ribbon', allows colors to be better ‘mixed’ and applied to the blank printable disc surface. This on-demand disc labeling technology delivers the highest quality, and most durable printed disc label available.

You are probably wondering 'which printing method is best? How do I compare CD printers? Each DVD/CD printer method has its advantages and disadvantages. All CD printer technologies can deliver single and multi color printing capabilities with some limitations. Thermal CD printing gives you the most durable finish, but does not deliver photographic results. That's because they do not mix colors well, and use dithering to create color tones. Thermal CD printers shine however, when printing text, logos, and simple graphics. Ink jet CD printing gives you full color printing at resolutions as high as 4800 dpi, and do so at a reasonable cost in terms of initial investment, and ongoing per print costs. Thermal retransfer delivers the highest quality, most durable print of all the CD label printing technologies. Quality levels so high that it's often difficult to discern a silk screened disc from one that's been printed using a thermal retransfer CD printer. As one would expect the printer and the per-print costs are the highest of all the DVD/CD printer technologies.

At CD Dimensions you'll find today's leading brands of Blu-ray, DVD CD printers. Select from thermal CD DVD Printers, thermal re-transfer CD printers and inked based CD DVD printers, available with both color and monochrome label printing options. CD printers are compatible with DVD-R, DVD+R, Blu-ray disc and any other specially coated 120mm optical discs.
For high volume applications, we offer automated multi format CD, DVD, Blu-ray printer station solutions to print multiple CD-R, DVD, and Blu-ray in an automated, unattended production environment. These high volume units are referred to as CD DVD Disc Publishers and are available in a variety of configurations.

Standalone automated CD-R and DVD-R+R duplication systems with printer options that require no PC to operate. Easy 2 line LCD screen with keypad operation. Most systems have network capability or option. Disc Publishers provide the capacity to print and record using an intigrated printer and robotic operation.. Large capacity and multiple drives allow systems to run all night. Systems with asynchronous duplication and printing can keep up with the duplication only systems. Asynchronous duplication means that the drive is unloaded as it completes it's recording ("Burn"). Many automated duplicators run synchronous which means the system has to wait until every one of the drives has completed it's cycle before all the drives can be unloaded. This results in slower operation. We would recommend a standalone automated printer if you use a Mac and don't want to get involved with a PC.

PC-attached duplicators typically connect to the PC via either a USB or Firewire interface. When considering a PC-attached autoloader model, be sure to verify that your PC can support the additional interface hardware required, i.e., available PCI slots, and operating system support. Like standalone versions, the PC-attached autoloaders deliver unattended operation of multiple batches or jobs. PC-attached models typically provide more control over the production process. This is due to several reasons: CD and DVD mastering can be done on the production PC, full feature application and production software with graphical user interfaces (GUI) can be run on a PC and label creation software can be run on a production PC. Also additional hard drives can be added to the production PC for storage of master files (ISO Image files) for fast production of archived jobs. Networkable duplicators are often used in "one-off" disc publishing applications. These tools can be used to not only create custom content for each CD, but also customize the label information printed on the CD or DVD. If your requirements call for network duplicating, be sure to quantify and price any user access software license requirements.

PC Embedded Publishers are true turnkey DVD publishing systems that include everything you need to create, record and print DVDs and CD-Rs. These networkable PC based systems come with all the software you'll need for disc premastering, print label creation and job management.
Ideally suited for high volume and multi-user applications requiring original disc creation, high quality disc printing, and professional job scheduling and management.All units have a option to add a printer in this category or come with a integrated printer

Mac compatible disc printers are designed for use with Apple Macintosh operating systems. Most printers are capable of operating with the Mac but software drivers are very limited. Several methods are used to overcome this issue. Networking is the primary method by sharing a network with a PC as essentially a print server. The other method is using a "standalone" system that is running a dedicated operating system. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference but generally controller based automated systems are the more economical choice. Automated printer systems can be directly connected with limited success on the Mac. Network based printing provides greater choices in disc printers.

To learn more about disc duplication and label printing, request our free

And in addition to our exceptional pricing and quick delivery, you'll also get professional advice from our friendly and knowledgeable sales team. Give us a call toll free @ 888-395-6396 or email us for a quote, and let us help you select the right CD/DVD printer for your budget and production requirements.