CD Replication DVD Replication Info Center

Information Center

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Plain Talk or What We Really Do.

Thermal Printing or Inkjet Printing?

Inkjet Print or Screen Print?

Shrink wrap, Over wrap, Poly wrap: The Wrap up

Plain Talk or What We Really Do

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We put your data on as many CDs or DVDs or USB Flash Drives as you want, and print them with your custom label. We can give you custom shaped CD/DVDs in the shape of a business card, or mini-round or most any shape you imagine such as your house, an animal, a car, a computer, a heart, your team mascot, a musical instrument, etc. You can send us your originals and we can even scan your data for you. 'Data' means video, audio, photographs, paper or any combination thereof.

Let me give you some ideas on how you can use this....

Because you asked for it, we also do ID cards and luggage tags.

Good work, affordable prices, and on time delivery.

Thermal Printing or Inkjet Printing?

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A thermal CD printer uses pressure and heat to apply text and graphics to the CD-R printable surface. The resulting print is waterproof and scratchproof and does not require any additional coating. The major limitation of a thermal print is it's inability to adequately produce photographic images. A thermal print should only be used for simple text and graphics.

An inkjet CD printer works very much like a regular paper inkjet printer. The ink is sprayed from nozzles onto the inkjet printable CD-R surface. After printing, the CDs are coated with a lacquer or laminate to ensure the CDs are highly water and scratch proof. The print quality is superb. In fact, the vibrancy and detail of an inkjet print can only be matched by an offset print (not even a screen print comes close!) Photographic images, text, logos and other graphics are all rendered superbly. The main drawbacks of an inkjet print are the inability to produce Pantone colours, some degree of difficulty to precisely colour match and time. It can take up to 4 minutes to print one full coverage CD!

We use an inkjet print as standard for all our short run CD and DVD runs. The quality print out and the low price make it the best and most cost effective option for your projects with quantities below 500 units. We would always recommend an inkjet print instead of a thermal print for all short run work.

Inkjet Print or Screen Print?

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If you need 300 CD-Rs printed in three days, do you choose an inkjet print or a silk screen print?

If you require precise colour matching or Pantone colours, you should choose a screen print. Inkjet prints cannot reliably match colours precisely. If you need to keep costs down to a bare minimum, you should choose an inkjet print. If your onbody CD artwork uses shades, tints, alot of text or intricate graphics, select an inkjet print. The screen printing process can cause images to look slightly grainy which is not best for text or complex images! An inkjet print will handle this easily. If you need the CD-Rs tomorrow, choose a inkjet print. Because of the ease of setup for an inkjet job, we can turn your CDs around very quickly (might be subject to express charge). A screen print job requires the production of films and screens which will add to your turnaround time.

If you are uncertain about the quality of an inkjet print and would automatically select a screen print, let us know. Many clients think of a cheap looking paper label when we mention an inkjet print. This is not the case at all. An inkjet print can look far superior to a screen print especially if photographic images are in the onbody artwork.

Shrink wrap, Over wrap, Poly wrap: The Wrap up

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When people are manufacturing their CD or DVD, the final preparation in order to make their product look ready for store shelves (retail-ready) is the clear cellophane-like material generally called 'shrink-wrap'.

In reality, most CDs you'll find at many of your favorite retail outlets are not 'shrink-wrapped', but are protected by a process referred to as 'poly-wrap'. More often than not, 'shrink-wrap' is a misnomer.

Poly-wrap has folded edges, and is wrapped much like a birthday present. This gives the CD a clear, smooth wrap with neatly folded edges. If you're planning to release a retail ready CD, this will be the default method of wrapping. 'Over-wrap' is just another name for poly-wrap.

Shrink-wrap is used for non-conventional shaped packaging. Cardboard products like Digi-paks, CD Sleeves, and CD Wallets are shrink-wrapped. Also, slim-line jewel-cases, and Amaray-cases (DVD box) generally are shrink-wrapped as well.

Shrink-wrap is somewhat looser than poly-wrap and the most noticeable difference is the way the edges are sealed. Unlike poly-wrap, which is literally folded, shrink-wrap starts as a very loose bag that is run through an 'oven' which literally shrinks the plastic around the product. The edges of the shrink-wrap melt together and create a tight outer layer around the CD or DVD packaging.

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