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Any luck with Printable CD/DVD's?

ErikAndre

ErikAndre

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 14, 2007
719
0
Florida
Anyone have any luck with these and if so, what would you suggest is the best printer for these? I don't need multifuntion... just need to print CD/DVD's (but I'll buy whatever under $200 for quality).

EDIT: Also, how professional is the look of these?
 
I recently installed two DVDR drives one in my G4 the other in my fiances Dell that use a disc label printing app called lighscribe where you just flip the discs over after burning the data and use the DVD drive to print the label. I am awaiting an order of the special discs these drive use to see how this goes. They are a pair of Samsung DVD burners that only cost me 25 bucks a piece hopefully if they work as expected I won't need any special printer hardware since I don't plan on making any color labels anyhow.
 
mperkins37 said:
epson makes several that print to CD DVD's decent quality.
Have to get the newer version software if you have leopard.
Click to expand...

Would you reccomend Epson over the others?

I don't necessarily care for the software (I've heard they are all terrible). I'm looking at getting DiscLabel for some of its features (thoughts?).

Ttownbeast said:
I recently installed two DVDR drives one in my G4 the other in my fiances Dell that use a disc label printing app called lighscribe where you just flip the discs over after burning the data and use the DVD drive to print the label. I am awaiting an order of the special discs these drive use to see how this goes.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to get away from lightscribe. Great technology, but about 2-3 hours to get 15 DVD's out the door.
 
ErikAndre said:
I'm trying to get away from lightscribe. Great technology, but about 2-3 hours to get 15 DVD's out the door.
Click to expand...

Quite understandable if it is quantity in efficient amounts you seek, I wonder though is there a way to make multiple copys and use lightscribe on a stack of DVD burners simultaneously or is there a limit to that in the app?
 
Ttownbeast said:
Quite understandable if it is quantity in efficient amounts you seek, I wonder though is there a way to make multiple copys and use lightscribe on a stack of DVD burners simultaneously or is there a limit to that in the app?
Click to expand...

Possibly. With lightscribe, however, the image just isn't vibrant enough for my taste. I like the concept, but I look forward to seeing this technology advance a bit more.
 
Mac user.....love this printer, May 7, 2009
By C. Parreira

First off.....I had a problem with errors when trying to print on dvd and all you have to do is install the software THEN restart your computer.....didn't find this on any forums. That being said, this printer does really great prints. I'm a professional wedding photographer that needed a printer to print directly on DVD's for presentation (high quality) and this printer does exactly that. I have also printed 4x6 and the pictures are awesome! The only drawback to this printer is that is sucks out ink like a mad man. I've printed about 4 dvds (full color) and all colors are below half (not sure if this is normal, but to me it is lame)
Click to expand...

I read this review (shown above) on Amazon for the HP Photosmart D7560 Printer , but do printable DVD's really drain that much ink?
 
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I prefer the Epson printers for disc printing. (Been using a Stylus Photo R300 for a couple years) Don't spring for the aftermarket label software until you try what's included. It actually works pretty well if occasionally kludgy.

The results look pretty professional looking, and there are different "finishes" to different printable media that lets you achieve different looks. Like anything else you'll probaly need to "play with it" a while, but you'll be cranking out good looking discs in no time.

Lightscribe is fun, but is also:
  • too slow
  • too monochrome
  • too hard to find the media
 
Epson's print CD software is hugely crappy and slow but it does produce amazing results.
 
Darth.Titan said:
I prefer the Epson printers for disc printing. (Been using a Stylus Photo R300 for a couple years) Don't spring for the aftermarket label software until you try what's included. It actually works pretty well if occasionally kludgy.

The results look pretty professional looking, and there are different "finishes" to different printable media that lets you achieve different looks. Like anything else you'll probaly need to "play with it" a while, but you'll be cranking out good looking discs in no time.
Click to expand...

How far does your ink span when printing multiple CD/DVD's?
 
ErikAndre said:
Possibly. With lightscribe, however, the image just isn't vibrant enough for my taste. I like the concept, but I look forward to seeing this technology advance a bit more.
Click to expand...

it'd be really cool if they'd figure out a way to make lightscribe print in color though, it could probably be done through the use of varying the intensity or wavelength of the laser beam and a chemical coating sensitive enough to change colors in response....or perhaps that is an idea better left for the next generation of DVD burners.
 
Darth.Titan said:
  • too slow
  • too monochrome
  • too hard to find the media
Click to expand...
I had no problem finding the media it was as cheap as regular dvds too didnt take more than a single keyword search. I'm sure you're right about the monochrome part though as for speed I'll find out when I use them
 
I use an Epson R280 (i think) and it works great. Most of my stuff I just print text on the CD's but it's much better than my chicken scratch and a sharpie.

I would imagine if you're trying to get professional looking discs you could spend some time on one and use it as a template. Also I've heard of people using photoshop with their own template instead of the Epson software.
 
Ttownbeast said:
I had no problem finding the media it was as cheap as regular dvds too didnt take more than a single keyword search. I'm sure you're right about the monochrome part though as for speed I'll find out when I use them
Click to expand...

Yeah, the quality is amazing. Really. It's just the monochrome that doesn't really make the image stand out. I'll still use lightscribe, but I'm going to phase out of using it for clients.

dlegend said:
I use an Epson R280 (i think) and it works great. Most of my stuff I just print text on the CD's but it's much better than my chicken scratch and a sharpie.

I would imagine if you're trying to get professional looking discs you could spend some time on one and use it as a template. Also I've heard of people using photoshop with their own template instead of the Epson software.
Click to expand...

I took a look at Amazon and the Epson R280 has excellent reviews when it comes to DVD/CD printing. Is there a more updated model that would be just as good? The only complaint folks are saying about that particular model is the pricing of the ink ($~90 for the set, and the same cost as the printer). It appears the average DVD prints for set of ink is about 100 discs, which would put each DVD print at just under a dollar (which I guess is resonable).

Professional printing services charge about $2/DVD it appears and there's no way to proof the DVD's without having to do the whole shipping thing (which is more time and money).
 
When I researched printers that could print onto CDs and DVDs several years, the Epsons were the only ones I could find. I asked about it in an online forum and I believe the answer was that Epson got a patent that pretty much precluded any other manufacturers from providing this capability (in the US, anyway). I can't swear that's the case, but I haven't noticed other printers that can do this. (For instance, I looked that the link provided above for an HP model. The review mentioned printing on DVDs, but the product description did not. It makes me wonder if the printer was really designed to do it.)

I ended up with an Epson R800. It's great for printing on discs. The included software is awkward, but actually does a nice job. I do most of the work in Photoshop Elements, then import the image into PrintCD (or whatever it's called).
 
I took a closer look at the Epson R280. I think this may be the one I end up with at the end. My only gripe with Epson is that they like to use ink cartridges like crazy. For this model it's looking like $75-95 for a full ink replacement. It's still worth it at less than a dolalr for every DVD print.

I also took a look at printers dedicated to CD printing. Reviews and pricing are all terrible.
 
Another thing to think about is that with most HPs, everytime you put a NEW ink cartridge, you are getting a new printhead. With the other brands, if the separate printheads get clogged, it can be quite expensive.
 
cube said:
Another thing to think about is that with most HPs, everytime you put a NEW ink cartridge, you are getting a new printhead. With the other brands, if the separate printheads get clogged, it can be quite expensive.
Click to expand...

Have you had any experience with how much ink is consumed on a HP for DVD printing? I've read a review for the leading printer I almost purchased that it drains quickly.
 
I think both R280 or old R800 is good for dvd printing.
The R800 is more expensive but it has 7+1 colors.
R280 is a 6-color printer and may print faster than 800.
 
I use (and recommend) the Dymo discpainter. Very high quality. small form factor. i used epson printer before and frequently had trouble with the feeding mechanism.
 
I use a HP Photosmart C5280. I had an epson 200, but it reached the end of the life limit and shut down (requiring me to send it in for repair for a $100 printer.) The printer has a countdown, because they drain the ink into this sponge whenever you use it. Epson is worried that the ink will overflow and short circuit the printer. Their solution rather than a user drainable resevoir is simply to shut completely down and require service.

The epson clogged routinely, I got so sick of running the cleaning program several times just to get the thing working again. Each time you can almost see the money draining out of the cartridge.

I plan to never buy another epson printer, way to many clogging problems.

The HP I have now is much better. Never had a clog, includes the copier/scanner. Printouts also look much better and cleaner than the R200.

I use PC software under parallels, but I am going to buy the newest version of disclabel. They are running a special $10 off on the software as well until the end of june, you have to sign up for the newsletter when you download the trial and they send you a message with the discount link.
 
pprior said:
I use (and recommend) the Dymo discpainter. Very high quality. small form factor. i used epson printer before and frequently had trouble with the feeding mechanism.
Click to expand...

I read in the reviews the Amazon reviews that aside from the price, the image produced on the discs are sub-par. Thoughts?

Richdmoore said:
I use a HP Photosmart C5280. I had an epson 200, but it reached the end of the life limit and shut down (requiring me to send it in for repair for a $100 printer.) The printer has a countdown, because they drain the ink into this sponge whenever you use it. Epson is worried that the ink will overflow and short circuit the printer. Their solution rather than a user drainable resevoir is simply to shut completely down and require service.

The epson clogged routinely, I got so sick of running the cleaning program several times just to get the thing working again. Each time you can almost see the money draining out of the cartridge.

I plan to never buy another epson printer, way to many clogging problems.

The HP I have now is much better. Never had a clog, includes the copier/scanner. Printouts also look much better and cleaner than the R200.

I use PC software under parallels, but I am going to buy the newest version of disclabel. They are running a special $10 off on the software as well until the end of june, you have to sign up for the newsletter when you download the trial and they send you a message with the discount link.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at making professional DVD labels, and plan on running about 20 DVD's for each project. Hows does the ink handle on this?
 
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