ChApter 2. digitAl workFlow
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as the Sharpie, use solvent-based inks and should be avoided. You can easily
identify the pens not to use by their solvent odor. These solvents can attack
the protective covering of the disc, even when you write just on the label side.
Over a long period of time, possibly measured in decades, this can affect the
data.
For a more professional look, you can buy press-on CD/DVD labels that you
print with an inkjet printer and stick onto the surface of the disc. One major
problem is alignment because once the label sticks, it’s stuck. Unlike life,
there are no second chances. To help you get it right the first time there are
alignment gadgets that center the label as you press it onto the CD. When us-
ing these labels, apply them after recording the disc. If you apply one first and
it’s slightly off-center, it may affect the recording process.
Most CD/DVD burning applications include software you use to lay out and
print labels and even jewel case inserts. This software, and applications avail-
able from others, usually has a number of backgrounds from which to choose
(or lets you use your own photos as backgrounds), and text boxes into which
you type your text. You don’t have to be technically proficient or very artistic
to get a decent design.
Should you ever decide to ramp up your CD/DVD distribution efforts, the
next step is a label printer. These printers print on special disks that have a
water permeable coating on one side. If a disc doesn’t have this special layer,
the ink beads up on the surface of the disc and flakes off when dry. Inkjet
printable discs are produced by several major companies and are available
from office supply and on-line retailers. A number of photo printers from Ep-
son have added the ability to print labels directly onto these printable disks.
If the market supports this feature, it will become more common. These
printers include software that you use to design and print your labels. When
ready to print, you place the inkjet printable CD or DVD into a tray that pro-
tects it as the CD passes through the printer’s straight-through paper path.
There are also printers designed for the sole task of printing labels on discs
and there are even robots available that will insert one disc after another into
the printer so you can print a quantity of discs unattended.
If you ever need large quantities of a single disk, you may want to have them
professionally duplicated and the labels silk-screened. You can also give your
own discs a professional and personal appearance. Just have a supply of
blank discs silk screened with professional graphics, leaving a space to write
in specific information such as the discs’s name or title.When copying images
between devices, USB
flash drives come in
very handy. You plug
one into a computer’s
USB port and copy
files to it. You then
plug it into any other
computer and copy the
files from it. Courtesy
of Lexarmedia at lexar.
com.
Neato makes an
applicator that centers a
label and the disc so the
label goes on right the
first time. Courtesy of
neato.com.
Drives using Lightscribe
technology can label
Lightscribe discs as they
are burned. Courtesy of
Lightscribe.com.