Best way to print directly on duplicate DVDs ?

March 22, 2017 10:23 AM

(Note: I know it's illegal to copy DVDs to sell them...I'm not doing that)...just looking to print black type headlines directly onto my own back ups.

I have a fairly large library of instructional DVDs (maybe around 80-100) Over the years I've loaned out a few and unfortunately some weren't returned. I would like to back up my entire instructional DVD library (just for myself). I have a friend who has copied a couple of my DVDs with his software, but he just handwrote the title, he doesn't have printing capability. He is willing to try to back up my library for me.

Do you have any recommendations for a standalone printer that will just print black type directly onto the DVDs? I've looked online and it is pretty confusing....maybe because this is such old technology? Any recommendations and ideas you can give me will be appreciated.

Thank you!

posted by naplesyellow to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Best answer: If you have a Lightscribe-compatible DVD burner you can use the drive itself to "print" onto the top of the disc.

Epson still sells printers that can print directly on media I think the only restriction is that you have to buy specially coated DVDs that will take the ink.
posted by GuyZero at 10:29 AM on March 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

What I would do instead is make . Iso files of the dvds and put them on a hard drive.
posted by k8t at 11:40 AM on March 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

You can buy printable DVD labels as well.
posted by foxfirefey at 11:53 AM on March 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm going to second k8t and suggest ripping to a HDD. From there, Amazon Cloud Drive, Crashplan, etc. I don't trust optical media long term. (Then again, you're talking to the guy with a 8x 8TB RAIDZ2 array.)
posted by Brian Puccio at 12:52 PM on March 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

What we do when distributing data to customers is what foxfirefey suggests -- we run printable labels through our laser printer and get nice, pretty-professional-looking disks, versus our competitors where we often see customers with CDs with Sharpie scribbles on the fronts. They don't stand up well to constant use, but for marking archives for easy identification this is really easy.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:00 AM on March 23, 2017