Disc Labeling

[Eidorian]

I've landed a nice little contract job to make a slideshow with background music into a DVD using iLife.

I want something a bit more professional that a black sharpie to label 60 discs. What are the options for LightScribe and how is the support for OS X? I already have an external FireWire/USB enclosure.

Would it be better just to get printable labels? I have access to color laser printers.

 

[fivetoadsloth]

I have not seen really good support for osX at all actually. I use labels and the labeling making software for osX is a bit better. Id go with the stick on labels.

 

[Eidorian]

I can always boot into Windows or use a VM to do it. Still I'd rather do it from OS X.

 

[mustard]

Neither get a cheap printer that will print on CD's (printable obvioulsy)

Here is an Epson R380

Pretty cheap, full color, high-res and can be used as a cheap day to day printer.

 

[Eidorian]

I do like the printer route somewhat. I've been looking into one for more professional works. I don't have one to begin with.

 

[mustard]

I do like the printer route somewhat. I've been looking into one for more professional works. I don't have one to begin with.

I would look at the Epson R1800 / R2400 - they are both solid printers and can do up to 13 X 19

I have the prefious version without the ability to print on discs (Epson 2200)

 

[livingfortoday]

I'm kind of stuck in the same position. I finally got a Lightscribe burner, but can only label my disks through XP. I used to have a cheap Epson printer which printed on CD's, and the quality was really great. The discs still look good after a few years. I would really recommend the printer route if you're interested in color labels, as well, as Lightscribe can't do that. And I would avoid printing on labels and putting those on disks. I've found that after a bit of use, they start to lift around the edges and can muck up in slot-load drives and whatnot.

 

[wwooden]

You guys have me a little worried. I have an external DVD burner on the way, one of the reasons I bought it is because I wanted to do the lightscribe. From reading this thread, I get the impression that it doesn't work in OS X, is that right?

I'm a little confused, at the Lacie website, they have a link to the Lightscribe software and there is a Mac OS X version.

http://www.lacie.com/support/drivers/driver.htm?id=10082

Does this not work or something?

 

[livingfortoday]

I think that only works with their burners. I have a Samsung, which burns fine in OS X(with Patchburn), but came with PC-only software for Lightscribe printing.

 

[wwooden]

Ok, so I think it should work because I am buying a Lacie drive, and that was linked from the exact product I am getting.

Either way, I will find out in a couple days.

 

[Eidorian]

I would look at the Epson R1800 / R2400 - they are both solid printers and can do up to 13 X 19

I have the prefious version without the ability to print on discs (Epson 2200)

That's a bit too high end for me. At most I'll need a line of text for a description and a small logo on the disc.

The Epson Stylus Photo 260 Inkjet Printer is on sale for $40! Must be time for a printer update.

You guys have me a little worried. I have an external DVD burner on the way, one of the reasons I bought it is because I wanted to do the lightscribe. From reading this thread, I get the impression that it doesn't work in OS X, is that right?

I'm a little confused, at the Lacie website, they have a link to the Lightscribe software and there is a Mac OS X version.

http://www.lacie.com/support/drivers/driver.htm?id=10082

Does this not work or something?

If you buy a LaCie drive it'll work just fine. I can't find any free software for Lightscribe.

DiscLabel appears to be another solution.

 

[mandoman]

As appealing as lightscribe is (yes, there is lacie software for mac),
I find the limited selection and high-cost of lightscribe media a turn-off.

Lightscribe media is only available as dvd+r verbatim and hp branded disc. Looks like the price is at least finally coming
down though, <$1/disc in bulk. Inkjet printable disc are much cheaper (<$0.30/disc) and there is a wider variety of brands and formats (dvd-r, dvd+r, and dvd9/DL) including Taiyo-Yuden's, which are considered some of the highest quality and most compatible media on the market. Although you have to factor in the cost of ink which can get expensive, so the cost differential may not be as bad anymore.

I'd go the epson printer route.

Oh, and whatever you do, don't go the sticker label route! Those can
peel off and get all messy and sometimes won't play in some players.

Your first objective should be to determine the most compatible media
for your client, and than proceed from there.

Hope this helps,
Mandoman

 

[shellbryson]

I've landed a nice little contract job to make a slideshow with background music into a DVD using iLife.

I want something a bit more professional that a black sharpie to label 60 discs. What are the options for LightScribe and how is the support for OS X? I already have an external FireWire/USB enclosure.

Would it be better just to get printable labels? I have access to color laser printers.

Lightscribe drives are awful. It can take 20 minutes to burn even a simple image onto the surface of a disc with a fast LS drive. We have one in our office and it got used for about a day before we gave up and switched to inkjet printable DVD-Rs (and here at my home office I bought a bulk load of printable DVD-DLs for my RX640 color printer). Printable discs not that fast, but waaaaay faster than Lightscribe!

 

[shellbryson]

...plus the discs can be printed in full colour. Don't go with stick on labels, they can look messy. Many inkjet printers allow you to print directly onto an inserted disc.

 

[hondak24]

As appealing as lightscribe is (yes, there is lacie software for mac),
I find the limited selection and high-cost of lightscribe media a turn-off.

Lightscribe media is only available as dvd+r verbatim and hp branded disc. Looks like the price is at least finally coming
down though, <$1/disc in bulk. Inkjet printable disc are much cheaper (<$0.30/disc) and there is a wider variety of brands and formats (dvd-r, dvd+r, and dvd9/DL) including Taiyo-Yuden's, which are considered some of the highest quality and most compatible media on the market. Although you have to factor in the cost of ink which can get expensive, so the cost differential may not be as bad anymore.

I'd go the epson printer route.

Oh, and whatever you do, don't go the sticker label route! Those can
peel off and get all messy and sometimes won't play in some players.

Your first objective should be to determine the most compatible media
for your client, and than proceed from there.

Hope this helps,
Mandoman

Besides Taiyo Yuden inkjet printable ones, I would also recommend Maxell (made in Japan) for compatibility and quality.

 

[Keebler]

epson printer will do the trick with printable DVDs.

labels are terrible. dvd lasers are too hot and can warm the label glue too much, making them unbalanced possibly causing playback issues. and plus, who wants to spend time putting them on...yuck

 

[RedTomato]

We released a DVD film version of one of our theatre plays, and I sent a master dvd off to a company to make 300 duplicates. They also printed on the dvd itself, and it came out very nicely and very professional - much better than a label.

As you want 60 doing, you can either find a company to print your design on 60 dvds, (have a look on the internet for a cheap local one) and burn them yourself, or if your time is valuable, tell them to duplicate your dvd, and optionally supply you with jacket and colour insert cover.

It works out cheaper than you'd think. Having them print the colour cover was a real money saver for us - we received a box of DVD jackets (with DVD inside) and a pile of covers, and spent an hour inserting the colour covers ourselves and and that was it really.

 

[fred_garvin]

http://duplication.discmakers.com/mcm/discmakers/index.jsp

They do short run sets. 25 Full color dvd's for $4.29 per.

A bit expensive until you get up to around 300 discs. I'm checking out the printers, but it seems that its just Epson and the expensive duplication machines. I did read that a canon ip3000 could direct print dvd's, but only the European version for some reason. The only HP that looks to do it is the D5160, but the reviews on amazon say the tray loader scratches the discs.

I think I'll get the Epson, even though reviews say they use ink like crazy.

I was very surprised it was so difficult to find a nice inkjet that could print discs.

 

[Dazzler]

I've got a Lacie Lightscribe burner, and couldn't be happier with it.

Yes, the media are a little more expensive, but at the end of the day, who remembers?

Yes, they can take 20 minutes to burn a label. The software it comes with is pretty basic, but you can paste art from anywhere into it, so it doesn't really matter.

From a quality point of view, I've yet to see a client be given a Lightscribe labelled disc and not be blown away (I work in a law firm).