What can you tell me about home CD printers?

January 29, 2007 8:43 AM

What can you tell me about home CD printers?

Having the ability to print on the surface of discs -- while not having to deal with labels or inserts or sleeves -- could really help my personal organization. I'm just not sure what small-scale printer I need. (Some examples are scattered on this page).

Between the thermal, laser, and inkjet printers, which type has the best value in terms of toner/ink costs per disc? I really only need a monochrome setup.

I'd like to use any old disc if possible, even if that means I print right over the branding, instead of having to buy discs with a blank surface or specific type disc for the printer. Does this rule out, say, LightScribe because I'd need to get LightScribe-capable discs?

Do you have any specific product recommendations, or is there anything else I should know? Thanks.

posted by glibhamdreck to computers & internet (11 comments total)

i've been running a (very small!) record label for the last 3+ years & have had decent luck using epson printers (specifically the r300 & the r330). they're ink jet printers, so you have to use CDs that are ink jet printable, which isn't a problem for me as i do runs of 100-300 at a time & buy in bulk, but which i could see as maybe being a problem for you.

that being said, from what i remember from my research when i first started this venture, the ink jet printers were FAR cheaper than anything else i could find.
posted by oh really at 8:58 AM on January 29, 2007

Yeah, inkjet is really the way to go. Lightscribe seems OK if you are doing monochromatic, but the discs are really expensive and it is a very intense process as far as time is concerned... I seem to recall figures of 15 minutes per disc for the inscription process alone.

Like oh really, I've got an Epson (R220), it works really well with media that has a printable surface that extends over the traditional stack/hub ring. This provides a very professional appearance as there is no branding visible such as "VERBATIM - INKJET PRINTABLE DVD-R" glaring at you through the transparent ring. It's a little more expensive than the standard discs but it's worth it IMO.
posted by prostyle at 9:17 AM on January 29, 2007

If I can tag on, how is the permanence of the ink? In my experience, inkjet output gets smudged easily on paper if it gets damp.
posted by exogenous at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2007

Can I also jump in with a related question:Any thoughts/experiences with the LightScribe CD printers? How legible are the finished CDs?
posted by mosk at 10:32 AM on January 29, 2007

I also use an Epson R220. Great results every time. The ink dries almost instantaneously, and after 24 hours is nearly impossilbe to remove.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find any solution that allows you to print directly onto conventional discs. Personally, I'd pick Inkjet CD printers over Lightscribe just because I like to be able to print in colour, and it's much cheaper for my setup (using Epson compatible ink from eBay).
posted by reformedjerk at 10:55 AM on January 29, 2007

I found out that my new DVD/CD RW had lightscribe, so I bought a couple of discs. The results are disappointing. I'm back to using labels. The contrast is poor, and as was mentioned, it is a poor monochrome. I'd stick with labels or inkjet until they get something good with lightscribe.
posted by Eekacat at 11:30 AM on January 29, 2007

Definitely do an inkjet... I have the Epson R200 and it's great.

Lightscribe is terrible and is not even in the same ballpark as inkjet in terms of quality. It's the Cuecat of label printing. Burning one Lightscribe label takes at least 20 minutes, and the quality of the burned images is very poor... too light and not enough contrast. What should be "black" or the darkest is a very weak and unimpressive gray.

By contrast, inkjet is fast, the image quality is highly colorful and legible, and I haven't had any problems with smearing.
posted by MegoSteve at 11:32 AM on January 29, 2007

I've heard that the better the media, the better the contrast on LightScribe discs. I've just started as I just picked up a LightScribe capable drive, and I'm not disappointed, however I knew that it would be monochrome, and was not expecting anything dramatic. It reminds me of the monochrome labels that Netflix discs have.

I think experimenting first with LightScribe is smarter than just jumping into the InkJet printers/media. Drives can be had for ~$40. If you decide that LS is not for you, then move up to the printers.
posted by tdischino at 11:56 AM on January 29, 2007

Lightscribe is monochromatic so it depends on if that's good enough for you - plus you have to buy specialized discs.

Inkjet discs are pretty cheap - basically close to the cost brand name CD/DVD-R's if you shop around. even Costco sells them now but it's not the absolute cheapest - check out dealnews.com for a roundup of the cheapest prices.

The Epsons' are pretty nice. The software - whiel very WINdows 98' looking (I use a Mac) still works pretty well and actually offers a lot of features. The best is that you have access to every & any font you have in your system. The app opens up and is basically a disc outline. You can drop in jpegs, tiffs and gif's and then you create a text box and type in it. You can choose any font and any color text.

You can even manipulate the artwork slightly - you can lighten, darken and sharpen it - you can make it sepia, etc ... you can even do text effects like following the band of the disc, etc ...

The latest higher end Epsons come with smudge proof ink so but yes for the lower end versions, if you get it wet, it will smudge but like photos, don't handle near water so yea, it's not perfect but for $100-$250 (for the low end), it's pretty cool to make exactly the CD artwork you want ... Ink costs about $60 to replace 6 cartridges - again depending on coverage of the disc, hard to say how many you will get out of it ... you also have two choices - one "silver" which if you use a pastel color will create a nice shiny effect or the white which comes in two version - pebbly (cheaper) or smooth (slghtly more) - there's till an art to it but it's a very classy way to show off a portfolio or a music mix - for less than $1, you have a personalized classy disc.

The other choice is dyesub which is much more expensive but if you want "water resistant" and if you want to make dozens or more of that disc - they generally will cost from $600 to a couple grand - the ink is cheaper than inkjet in one sense but your upfront costs are obviously much higher.
posted by jbelkin at 5:39 PM on January 29, 2007

i've read that the canon pixma iP5000 (i think the 3- or 4000 series also) can do this, but that they don't sell the necessary component in the u.s.a. You'd have to order it from abroad. I have the printer for general use, and it works a charm, especially on index cards, which is awesome.
this link might be useful:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=58907&forum_id=40
posted by prophetsearcher at 6:06 PM on January 29, 2007

Here's a two-part article from 2006 about water-resistant inkjet media which I thought was fairly interesting (the site it's on seems to be geared toward those in the CD/DVD reproduction industry). Water-resistant inkjet media is apparently more expensive than regular printable CDs, but also quick-drying and not prone to smears. The second part of the article goes on to describe the differences between this and thermal printing technology.

I'm planning on moving to these myself, since I've discovered that a good deal of the mix CDs I made for friends tend to stop working after a few years, and I'm suspicious of the (fairly cheap) paper labels I stuck to them.

(Sorry to necropost, I just found this while researching the very same question.)
posted by whir at 12:55 AM on August 16, 2007