CD printing for a short mileage CD printing project
There are three main methods that can be used to print a short run of compact discs. If you do it yourself, you will most likely be limited to the first option, which is a digital (inkjet) seal. A professional printing company usually offers screen printing and lithographic printing services. Each CD printing process has its strengths and weaknesses, and we will take a closer look here:
Digital Printed CDs
A digital CD printing machine uses a similar method of printing on your standard desktop inkjet printer. In fact, many modern home printers are equipped with a CD for CDs that allow you to load an inkjet CD into it and run it through the same print heads that are usually printed on paper. A professional digital CD printer is a more specialized computer that is configured to print only on CDs and has an automatic loading and unloading system for discs. This system means that a machine can print up to 200 CDs unattended and, since printing on these machines tends to be rather slow, they can be left to print, while other aspects of the project are present.
This CD printing process is really suitable for small CDs, as it is the slowest of the three main methods. The speed of the process is not facilitated by the fact that after printing is completed, the use of a clear lacquer coating is still required to protect the printing surface from moisture during processing. There are inkjet printable CDs on the market that claim to have a waterproof finish for printing, but they are still inefficient and do not look as good as a varnished disc. On the positive side, this process can be used to print high-resolution images, and the finished element can look fantastic when done correctly. There are also no fixed installation costs for digitally printing CDs, which is great if you only need 50 discs.
Screenshot
Printing on a CD is a very popular, widely used process for printing CDs. This process is an adaptation of screen printing process, which has been used for many years to print on paper products, and indeed it was adapted to print on all surfaces for the manufacture of branded items such as mugs, t-shirts and USB drives. As follows from titles, the process includes the manufacture of printed screens, where each of them is used to print a different color on the disc. The printer on the CD has 5 printing stations and using a disc that was previously printed with a base color, you can print with 6 different colors. The machine is basically a rotating roller, and since each color is applied at each station, the disc passes under UV light that cures the ink before applying the next color.
This process can only be used to print areas of solid color and is not ideal for printing photographic images or subtle color gradients. However, when art was specifically designed to use this printing technology, the results can be truly outstanding, especially due to the presence of fluorescent and metallic UV-sensitive inks. The use of super-thin mesh screens means that printing is clear, sharp and has an amazing texture. When installing the ink is very durable and waterproof and can not be easily damaged when rough processing of the disk.
When it comes to short printing a CD and using screen printing technology, there are fixed costs, previously screens and films used to create screens. Thus, it is not an ideal process to use for less than 100 discs if the cost is related to the project. However, the more disks that are printed on the screen, the lower the unit cost, plus there is an extra bonus that, after the screens are made, they can be reused for reprints.
Lithographic (offset) printing -
This is another very popular method for short-term CD printing projects. The lithographic printing press does not have a rotating platform, such as an on-screen printer; instead, it has rotating cylinders. The cylinder that applies ink to a CD has a rubber coating wrapped around it that turns the CD over and transfers ink to the surface of the disk. Lithographic printing is ideal for printing complex photographic images on a disk, as well as for printing images with a thin color gradient, but it is not ideal for printing images with large areas of solid color, as it tries to maintain a solid solid color over a large area. spots on the finished print.
As with screen printing, there are fixed costs associated with lithographic printing, since printing plates need to be made for each set of works of art used. Jobs that require fewer than 100 disks can run more expensive per unit than if the digital printing process were used instead. But, again, as the number of jobs increases, the unit cost will drop, and if reprint of the job is required, the printing plates can be saved and reused.
Printing paper pieces
When it comes to printing paper parts for a short-term CD printing project, if you are in no hurry and do it carefully, you can make very professional looking prints. The print quality of a reliable cheap desktop inkjet printer is usually excellent.
Print CD Jewel Case Paper Parts
You can buy the right sizes of templates online in order to make paper pieces to get into the pearls of CDs, or you can simply buy high-quality semi-gloss A4 photo paper or inkjet paper for 150 g / m2. The advantage when buying templates for the back panel of the tray is that the edges of the spine will be clogged to facilitate folding, but this is something you can do yourself if you are careful. The front booklet can be a folded sheet, printed on both sides, to be 4 pages, and if necessary, you can add any additional pages and stitch along the spine. As long as you are not in a hurry with cutting (using a guillotine, not scissors) and be careful with stitching, then there is no reason why you cannot come up with something very attractive.
There are a few things to keep in mind when printing paper pieces for a jewel case, for example:
- A front brochure can consist of 2 pages if you print on both sides of one panel, which is 120 mm, and 4 pages if you print on both sides of a double panel. After this, the booklet should consist of four pages due to how they are constructed. Take a look at the CD booklet from your CD collection, which has more than 4 pages, and you will understand why. One sheet of a 240 mm x 120 mm booklet folded in half is 4 pages, but to add another sheet in which the back is sewn, you must add 4 more pages. Content is usually designed with this requirement in mind.
- The back tray card can be printed on both sides, but then you need a transparent tray to hold the CDs in your case so that you can see the print inside. In addition, the folded spine strips are very thin, and it can be difficult to get a quality folded edge without first taking the first one. Any text printed along the spine should be small enough to fit and be centered for a better appearance.
Print wallets with a card
Once again, you can buy templates to create your own CD wallets that you can print, and then “pop out” from the template, since the edges are partially pre-cut for you. You can also print your own on a 250 - 300 g / m2 silk or semi-gloss A4 card. Bookmarks can be hammered, folded and glued together with strong glue to achieve excellent results.
This is very good if you do not have a tight deadline for the project, but printing, cutting, bending and gluing can take some time, and if you do not have time to work well with it, ask the professionals to do it instead. They will have automated processes to produce consistently high-quality packaging, quickly.
