ink stamp to label CDs?

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Will Fly
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 10:28 AM

It seems I do spend a fortune on ink.

That's how these firms make their money - sell the printers quite cheaply and make the hard cash on the ink that you have to buy!

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Arkie
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 09:58 AM

I have used an HP Photosmart D7560 which has probably been discontinued or replaced by now for close to three years. This is my second HP printer that prints to disc so I can testify that they do not last forever. This one works quite well so far and does, as far as I am concerned, a decent printing job on CDs and DVDs. It uses a tray to run the CD through the printer. I have never used the software that came with the printer. Reviews of the printer were satisfactory. Reviews of the software that I read were all negative. Since the software I was using for labels upgraded to discs I have kept using that. The cost of printable CDs is now not much more than other CD-Rs. You can get as fancy as you want or just print a title. I like to print the track names which is handy. The software also reads discs and will read an MP3 compilation and print all 170 plus track names if printing a case label. Since this is mostly for my own use and I never sell these things, I do not get complaints. It seems I do spend a fortune on ink.

I have not been keeping up with CD printers, but there were several brands at one time that sold CD compatable printers and there were printers designed specifically for CDs.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 07:10 AM

Felt tips - what about ink related CD rot ?

Are the marker pens sold as safe to use on CDs genuinely any less damaging
than normal cheap stationers pens ?

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,Charles Macfarlane
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 07:00 AM

I have a Canon iP4000, which has a special CD tray that you insert into the front. I can use Nero Cover Designer to send the print job to it, and have designed my own template.

I have a range of CD-R makes, and, although the readability and permanence of the results varies by make, I would say that generally the ink takes weeks or months rather than hours or days to dry, and for ever after you have to be careful not to smudge it by, for example, fingering the top surface ... but then, as with vinyls, you should be handling them by the edges anyway, shouldn't you!

It's quite a business, because the length of time that the ink takes to dry means that you can't just put them back in the boxes with their booklets. I leave the booklets out of the boxes and leave the boxes right way up horizontal for a few weeks, and use them only in the tray rather than the slot type of drive until I think the ink is well and truly dry.

Legibility is highly dependant on the pre-existing surface. An all-white background is obviously best.

I've not tried colour printing.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Will Fly
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 04:27 AM

I've used an Epson inkjet printer for CD/DVD label printing for 3 years, and it works very well. The printer came with "Print CD" software which installs on your computer. The software allows you to design the label either from house templates or your own graphics. When you invoke the Print CD command, a special plastic tray in the printer pops out, you lay the disc in it, press "Start", the tray retracts, prints the label and pops out again. All very slick.

I always buy printable CDs and DVDs - the surface is generally matt white to take the ink and dries in a reasonable time.

The printer also has the facility to print inner, square label inserts, but I now always use a local print shop. I email them my design and they laser print and guillotine the labels for me to fold and insert myself. Looks much more professional.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: nickp
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 04:12 AM

I've got a couple of Epsons that print cds well. Note that the majority of white printable cds/dvds (best using full face coatings) are matt and don't quite have a professional look. Gloss photo quality ones are available but you are likely to have to order them and they are not as cheap. Having said that I shall be getting some for the (hopefully) improved results.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 01:09 AM

lysdexia strikes -

"dark ages of the 50s" was intended to be "dark ages of 05s" - i.e. back in prehistory when the thread started.

John

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 01:07 AM

Since 'way back in the dark ages of the '50s, "printable CDs" and DVDs have become quite commonly available, and there are a number of inkjet printers that claim to be able to print on disks.

The critical requirement for printing on them is that the printer has to be able to pass the disk through without any flips, folds, turns or bends, and has to be able to handle the thickness of the disk - which is a little more than the heaviest paper most printers are meant to handle. All of the CD/DVD-capable printers I've seen, that give enough info up front to tell, require the use of a "carrier sheet," presumedly something like a piece of cardboard with a hole to fit the disks(?), although I haven't found a picture of one of them.

I find that the nice white surface of the printable CDs/DVDs gives a much more legible mark when you use a felt-tip pen on them, and there's no price difference for the printables vs unprintables. I've been using quite a few "printable" disks even though I still just scribble on them with a felt tip.

I have had two printers that claimed to be able to print on CDs, but they were both HPs so of course neither of them lasted long enough for me to order a carrier to try it out on a disk.

John

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: beeliner
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 12:40 AM

I have sold HUNDREDS of CD's and DVD's with rubber-stamped info and have never had a complaint or return.

The ink I use is called StaZon (with a macron over the 'a', and is available in a variety of colors at most craft shops.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,John
Date: 11 Jul 12 - 12:58 PM

rub a permanent marker over the surface of the stamp and press it down quickly before it dries. I've done it and it works ok.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,Robbie
Date: 09 Mar 11 - 07:03 PM

Hello All,

   I have just 'stamp printed' 50 CD's using a rubber stamp. I then left them to dry and started burning. A strange noise came from the computer and I had to force quit the whole thing. Eventually one CD finished burning but it was very jumpy and basically broken. I have now 50 CDs with "Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle" printed on them which I think I may tie together and use as some sort of space age shower curtain.

Basically Rubber Stamp Style Block Printing can cause serious, fatal damage to your CD's don't do it.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,Hensley
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 06:16 AM

Why can't the same ink sprayed from an ink jet printer onto the disc can't be applied by a rubber stamp? Some technical explanation please?

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JudyB
Date: 11 Mar 05 - 10:20 AM

Nancy & John -

If I understand the issue here, yes, you do need to use CDs that are meant to be printed on with an inkjet printer. The easiest one to find seems to be Memorex - available in 30-pk spindles at Staples and most other places that have a good variety of CD-Rs. However, we were not pleased with them - my computer occasionally pauses in mid-stream for no apparent reason, takes a deep breath, and then continues (both my home and work PCs do this - one of XP's "features"?) - and whenever it did this during a burn with the Memorex CD-Rs, the disk was ruined - lots of static on the tracks. We also found Maxell printable CD-Rs at Staples in 15 packs hanging in strange places (by printers in one store and at the register in another) and those seemed to work better - no static even if the computer pauses so the burn takes twice as long as usual.

We've now found the Maxell CD-Rs in a silver matte finish that we think looks better with the label design of Charley's CD - but we had to order them from a catalog (I think Mac/PC Connection had spindles of 100 as well as a smaller package). I've heard of a silver or gold shiny-finish printable but hadn't discovered them when I was ordering 5-10 of everything I could find for testing; we like the look and quality of the Maxell CDs so are no longer shopping around.

TDK also makes printable CD-Rs and they seemed OK in limited testing, but I'm not sure we burned enough of them to stumble into my computer's "coffee break" phenomenon. We'd probably look into them if we started having trouble finding the Maxell CDs.

The Memorex CD-Rs may work well for other folks - I just found I had a higher failure rate than we wanted with my computer.

JudyB

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 11 Mar 05 - 02:41 AM

While it doesn't do much good for CD labels, there is an inkjet paper that's designed to be waterproof with any common inks. One of the larger "mountaineer" clubs pushed to get it developed for hiking maps, and it's now sold by Amazon.com, called "Adventure Paper." I've tried some and can attest that once the ink dries it really is waterproof; but that doesn't stop the ink from fading some if it's left out in the sun for a while. There's also a "UK equivalent" but since I can't get it conveniently I don't remember what it's called.

Nancy Newton - My understanding is that "printable CD" blanks are a specialty item. I don't know what the printer makers say about needing them for the inkjet printers that are advertised as able to print directly on CDs. The professionals who print-to-publish have complained quite a lot about inconsistent quality in printable blanks, but I haven't seen any mention of where they get them. I do know that I've looked, unsucessfully, in local retail stores - just to see what they look like. Even the guy who tried to sell me one of the printers had never heard of them. Since the label side of all CDs does have a laquer coating, it would seem that they could use a coating suitable for printing, but probably wouldn't for general use disks - at least until direct printing becomes a lot more common.

John

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,Nancy Newton
Date: 10 Mar 05 - 12:05 PM

Looking forward to checking out the above threads. I've tried out several different printers like HP & Epson which we have in our office for direct labelling of CDs. Results seem not only to vary with different brands, but also the CD blanks (understand that a specific range is required.) There is also a small machine that does nothing but print CDs which appears to be out of production. Would like to see its results. Anyone tried that one?

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JudyB
Date: 10 Mar 05 - 11:30 AM

There's one on CD labeling and another on CD Production. The one on labeling has more info relevant to this thread - the production thread includes home printing as an aside in a discussion of where to get a CD printed.

Hope this helps.

JudyB

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: open mike
Date: 10 Mar 05 - 11:10 AM

can anyone post the previous thread metioned above?
I was gonna say that stickers are not a good idea-
esp. small ones like address labels, because they
add extra weight and cause the c.d. to spin "crooked"
i have atemp[eted to slove this by sticking three
of them on the even out the weight...not ideal.
"Curious, after earlier thread on problems with paste-on labels"

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JudyB
Date: 10 Mar 05 - 09:06 AM

John -

If you follow enough asterisks and footnotes, you discover that "Lightfastness rating over 100 years based on accelerated testing of prints on select Epson Papers displayed indoors, under glass. Actual print stability will vary according to image, display conditions, light intensity, humidity, and atmospheric conditions. Epson does not guarantee longevity of prints. For maximum print life, display prints under glass or laminations or properly store them." - which sounds appropriately vague for something written by Lawyers and PR types.

We use the recommended pricy Epson glossy paper for prints, and find that it does really work better than other similar-appearing paper we've tried (the ink doesn't go on as evenly on the other paper, especially in large black areas). And the prints do look a lot better than those we were getting with our good-but-not-top-of-the-line ink jet printer (and those looked pretty good until we had the new printer for comparison).

We also haven't tried sending any of the CDs we've printed through the dishwasher - there was another thread that recommended against ink jet printing of CDs in general because the ink would smear or wash off if the CD got wet. We do need to set aside test copies - I'll check this weekend to see which are the oldest ones we have around and set them aside to check at regular intevals. We'll post our real-world test results in a while.

JudyB

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 10 Mar 05 - 03:24 AM

JudyB -

Epson is one of the first I saw that advertised direct print on CDs. They have also made a big sales point of their "archival inks," although they don't say much about what it is that makes them better, and they don't say whether "archival" applies only to prints on photo paper, or to print it "anywhere on anything."

This is definitely a subject that needs more "user experience" reports before the world as a whole decides that it's the way to go; or needs some input from standards organizations (who've been strangely silent about CD labeling).

The implied difference, for "photos," between Epson's 100 year inks and ordinary ones, is that the Epson inks may actually be dye-based rather than just pigments, even though they refer to them as "super pigments." (It's a difference that only chemists should really appreciate - and advertising departments probably don't.) As with a lot of other things, if we could just get rid of the "advertising department," the people who really know what the products can do would be able to tell us - and we'd probably all buy them ... .

The "spray" from most inkjet printers is so fine that it doesn't matter a lot whether it's water based, or some other solvent, since the solvent - water or something else - is gone almost by the time "the bits hit the paper." If you actually get a chance to see whether/how your CDs stand up for a few months, I'd trust your comeback ahead of most of the hype on the company sites, so let us know how it turns out. I'm pretty gullible, so I suspect you'll get good results.

John

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JudyB
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 02:46 PM

John -

We like the CDs we're printing using the Epson Stylus Photo R800, especially once we started printing onto a silver matte background instead of the basic white (Charlie's CD, not surprisingly, has a watery look about it). However, we've only had the printer since December. I do need to set aside some of the early CDs we made to check in 6 months or a year to make sure nothing awful is happening over time. Not sure what exactly is in the ink, but I have suspicions that "UltraChrome™ Hi-Gloss pigment ink for archival quality glossy and matte photos lasting over 100 years" might not be water based.... The printer is over-kill for printing CDs, but we also needed something to print high quality long-lasting images, and we're running out of room for separate machines!

   Judy

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From:
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 01:51 PM

Wonder if it might be something like this Rimage Thermal CD Printer. It looks like a burner with a mechanism built around it for the printing.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From:
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 01:44 PM

Haven't heard of that one, Clinton. Will have to investigate. Thanks!

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 11:48 AM

Report back please!

~S~

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Pinetop Slim
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 11:26 AM

Thanks all. A banquet of food for thought, as usual at Mudcat.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: BillR
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 09:48 PM

You can get CD's that can be directly printed on by an ink jet printer that can handle CD's. (I've seen models from hp and Epson, probably others) I expect that if the top surface of these CD's hold (water based) ink jet ink they will hold stamp pad ink.

-Bill

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Gypsy
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 09:35 PM

I have a stamp pad that is permeated with LAUNDRY ink, of all things. That might do the trick. However, would try on a sacrifical cd first, over the course of time.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 09:21 PM

Several of the newer inkjet "Photo Printers" advertise the ability to print direct to CDs, but I haven't seen what kind of product they produce. The CD "production machines" appear to combine inkjet printing with burning in some cases, but I haven't seen an "in the PC" one. The ones I've seen essentially "transport" the blanks from magazine to printer to burner in a multi-stage process - or give you a sequence of slots to stuff them into.

Most CD manufacturers warn against using anything but "felt tip pens with water based ink" because of the possibility that solvent(s) in the ink may penetrate and harm the mirror layer necessary for reading the CD. The adhesives used in paper labels obviously aren't water based, but shouldn't penetrate much. Trying to get an "approved" pen even to make a mark on the slick CD surface is not my idea of a good way to spend an afternoon, although you can usually get enough on to at least leave "suspicious tracks."

I haven't seen complaints about CDs failing if other normal felt tip inks are used, although some of the "permanent" markers smell like they must have pretty nasty stuff in them. Some times folk who break the rules and get nasty results aren't really vocal about it(?).

DVDs, on the other hand, appear extremely sensitive to anything on the "back side." The warnings that come with the few I've purchased define a very precise, and very small area in which you can "safely(?)" put labels - and recommend only those smudged on with "water based felt tip" ink. Some DVD blanks have outlined "label areas" where one would presume they've undercoated with an extra protective barrier of some sort. The "Combination DVD CD labels" I looked at in the store recently suggest that printable DVD labels are meant to be applied only to the "dead" center of the disk. I'll confess limited knowledge here, since I hardly ever burn DVDs (for other reasons) so I haven't really investigated. Improvement in tolerance to labels would be an expected step in DVD blank marketing - but I can't say that it's here yet.

CD blanks that I've used seem to be reasonably tolerant of felt tip markers with "normal" solvent based inks, so it's possible that stamp pad ink (usually heavy on oil vehicle) may be usable, but I'd suggest aging a few for a few weeks to see if they stay readable before charging anybody much for them. If uncertain, mark them only on the hub area.

John

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 02:59 PM

George... the one I saw the TV add for was the same size as any other drive you slot into your PC... I guess the underside has the CD writer... and the top side has the CD lable printer...

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From:
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 02:49 PM

Clinton Hammond, yes there is. I think you're referring to Primera Bravo CD/DVD PRinter.

The ink used in most stamp pads is not able to penetrate the plastic layer like a Sharpie can. Some of the others, like the common Overhead Projecter pens can. But you have to watch that they aren't so active that they penetrate through to the other side. A Sharpie seems to work just fine. Been using them for 8 or 9 years so far with no degradation of CD content.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 01:43 PM

"My" CD producer, Cheap Tracks , does that, and I'm highly satisfied with my photo and the printing on my CD, The Real Story.

If you look at the site for Cheap Tracks , it may be that the kind of printer they use is listed.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 01:15 PM

Isn't there a CD burner these days that also 'prints' a professional (looking anyway if the commercials are to be believed) lable on your CDR...

Now if only I could recall the brand name....

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 11:50 AM

Speaking from EXPERIENCE, I can tell you that:

INK will CERTAINLY corrupt the ability to access data on a CD

IF YOU STAMP [MARK] THE WRONG SIDE...

I have done that a few times...accidentally

TURPENTINE or ALCOHOL will remove the typical PERMANENT PEN INK

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 11:44 AM

The plastic is too hard and slick for the ink to penetrate and become permanent. Try it with an old cd. If there is any special ink to use, it's not well advertized.

Subject: RE: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 09:52 AM

I can only find information on using a stamp in conjuction with paper labels. I would think if stamping direct on CD were possible someone would be selling a kit for it.

There are a number of sites regarding stamp art on CD's - but they all sand off the data surface and/or boil the CD first - things like that - all designed to work with "junk" cd's - not ones containing data.

Subject: ink stamp to label CDs?
From: Pinetop Slim
Date: 08 Mar 05 - 09:38 AM

Has anyone tried labeling home-burned CDs with a rubber stamp and ink pad? This seems like it would be an easy way to label a batch to put out on the product table at gigs. Curious, after earlier thread on problems with paste-on labels, whether ink would corrupt data on disc. Thanks for any help -- Pinetop Slim