CD Label and Packaging

[mayfly]

Hi Folks,

For our last two albums, we used a CD reproduction house.  We got full graphics, barcodes, and 1000 CDs in each run.

For our new album, we want to keep it much lower key and DIY.  We want to just rip and label the CDs ourselves in small batches on an as-needed basis.

Anyone out there do this?  What method did you use?  I'm looking at the various "CD Stomper" products that are out there, and I'm looking for folks with experience doing this.

Thanks!

 

[bpmorton777]

Itunes does this.

Brian

 

[jackthehack]

From my own experience, the DIY "CDStomper" type products all suck, what price point/qty are you trying to hit?

 

[Alfang]

The best DIY that I've seen is a buddy of mine made 100 CDs of a company hunting trip,  He bought a color Printer that had a special slot or tray for printing onto "printable" cd's ,they came out great, looks totally professional.

I don't know if someone makes a color laser printer that prints on CDs but that would be the shite

 

[Volitions Advocate]

We used one of those printers for our demo.  But it was  a demo, the CD graphic was black and white, and there was no jacket or anything. just a slim case.  Ended up being pretty close to a dollar a disc.  If you're doing colour graphics on your cds, printable cds are a little more expensive and the booklet is its own world.  I looked at CDwest.ca (since your canadian it shoudln't be much of a bother to order from them, they're in BC) and they had a deal where each disk was less than 3 dollars i think.  They must be hurting for funds because i got a quote, then i kept getting emails from their sales department asking if I was ready to order and offering me incentives like 100 free posters, or 100 extra discs for free.  I'd just go with another duplication service, you can do smaller runs (200 - 300) for just as cheap.

 

[Kublai]

Lightscribe maybe? They are pretty cheap. It burns the label onto the top surface of the disc. I have an older one and it is very slow though. Like 25 minutes per cd. I don't know if the speed has increased with newer models.

http://lightscribe.com/

 

[TroubledTreble]

I like new music. Do you sell online?

 

[mayfly]

I like new music. Do you sell online?

Yep,

we have a presence here:

http://www.doublestereo.com/efarm

 

[mayfly]

From my own experience, the DIY "CDStomper" type products all suck, what price point/qty are you trying to hit?

We can deal with $2-3 + per CD.  Thanks for the head's up about CD stomper - I won't waste my time with that.

I'm going to look into the CD printer - and CDWest as well.

Thanks folks!

 

[blue313]

From my own experience, the DIY "CDStomper" type products all suck, what price point/qty are you trying to hit?

We can deal with $2-3 + per CD.  Thanks for the head's up about CD stomper - I won't waste my time with that.

I'm going to look into the CD printer - and CDWest as well.

Thanks folks!

Good call.  Those CD-stomped discs can have issues with some players, balance issues if the label is not centered, and the adhesive can react with and break down the CD over time.

 

[jackthehack]

From my own experience, the DIY "CDStomper" type products all suck, what price point/qty are you trying to hit?

We can deal with $2-3 + per CD.  Thanks for the head's up about CD stomper - I won't waste my time with that.

I'm going to look into the CD printer - and CDWest as well.

Thanks folks!

You're a Canuck, eh? South of your border it's not hard to find local vendors in larger towns/cities that will do short runs (100 - 250) of simple jewel case/printed CD/single page inserts for around $2 or less.

Here's one that a couple of friends of mine have used before: http://indypendy.com/index.php?cPath=18_30&osCsid=094c20bd529e7b76bbb60b993be0c912

I'm sure if you look around you can find something similar...

 

[Alfang]

I've got light scribe and just used it to make a 30th class reunion CD, light scribe is expensive, it makes a good quality etch, but it's nothing like a color print. I wouldn't use it if I were you, but the writer isn't that expensive, and 10 discs are 10 bucks, so it's worth a try if you want, the light scribe process is slow too by the way

 

[Steve_Karl]

Hi Folks,

For our last two albums, we used a CD reproduction house.  We got full graphics, barcodes, and 1000 CDs in each run.

For our new album, we want to keep it much lower key and DIY.  We want to just rip and label the CDs ourselves in small batches on an as-needed basis.

Anyone out there do this?  What method did you use?  I'm looking at the various "CD Stomper" products that are out there, and I'm looking for folks with experience doing this.

Thanks!

Have been doing same since 2002.
My Method:

Art Work:
All finalized in PhotoShop using pretty large files and high resolution.
Often 3000px ( or more ) wide and at least 300 dpi ... sometimes 360 dpi ... sometime 600 dpi.

examples:
Trudy Holler
http://trudyholler.com/cd/cd_images.html ( design in PhotoShop by Trudy and photos by me and someone else )

Me:
http://sightsea.com/music/demo_reel_cd_art/  ( design done in Blender and PhotoShop )
http://sightsea.com/music/sven/spheres.asp ( design done in Blender and PhotoShop )
http://sightsea.com/music/ambient/ambient.asp ( design done in TieraZon and PhotoShop )

I've also done a few small projects for others but can't lay my browser on any examples.

I use Neato glossy CD Circles and since about 2006 have been using Mitsubishi dual sided semi-gloss paper for liners.
I also use ( or better to say ... started with and have since motified many times ) the Neato templates for Photoshop for cd booklets.
Depending on what cases I'm using the size changes a bit.
The Mitsubishi paper is very nice and probably still one of the only in not THE only dual sided semi-gloss available.

The earlier stuff ... Trudy Holler in 2002 ... the booklet was printed on heavy weight matt paper.
Nice look, nice results visually, but that paper sucks up a lot of ink.
The Mitsubishi paper needs less ink to look really good.

I been using an Epson Stylus-Photo 960 printer since 2002 and always get excellent results.

CD master:
1) Finalize mix and mastering on all tracks ( Sonar and or Sound Forge ) and then bring them into CD Architect.
2) Set the dithering plugin to dither 24 bit down to 16 bit and also limit the maximum peak to -0.01 dB.
3) Burn a few masters with CD Architect at a very slow speed.

4) Use one master to do a CD Copy in Nero, and choose to NOT delete the image that it creates when making that copy.

Duplication:
I have 5 PCs on my music netwok here in the studio and they all have DVD/CD burners so I get a stack of blanks and walk around
the room loading them all up.

I use pcAnywhere to access the other 4 PCs from this main workstation ( my comfortable chair )
launching Nero on the 4 other PCs and also I launch it on this PC.

I point Nero ( on all machines ... point them across the network ) to use the 1 image file for duplication,
and usually choose 5 to 10 copies for each machine, and burn at highest possible speed.
Then all I have to do is watch for trays to pop open and pull out the CD(s) and put new ones in.
I use an empty cake box ( the kind from a 100 stack of CDs ) to collect the burned ones.

While they're burning I'll be putting liners in cases and making a pile.
I let the CDs cool down and then stick on the circle using a regular old stomper and pop it in a case.

Shrink wrap with a small shrink wrapper that I bout. Works great.

I can easily crank out 50 finished Cds.

I will only use and highly recommend Taiyo Yuden CDs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817172103

For bar codes ... CDBaby will sell you 1 bar code for a tiny fraction of what you could pay else where.

Well ... that's my routene and everyones is going to be different. It took years to get it down to the method I'm using now
so be patient and try things if you have the time and figure out what works for you.

 

[Steve_Karl]

From my own experience, the DIY "CDStomper" type products all suck, what price point/qty are you trying to hit?

We can deal with $2-3 + per CD.  Thanks for the head's up about CD stomper - I won't waste my time with that.

I'm going to look into the CD printer - and CDWest as well.

Thanks folks!

Good call.  Those CD-stomped discs can have issues with some players, balance issues if the label is not centered, and the adhesive can react with and break down the CD over time.

Never had 1 complaint on the ones I've stomped and that's gotta be well over 1000 and over the course of 7 yrs. ...  but I agree that it might be better
to print right onto the CD if possible.
My Epson has an attachment for that and I also have light scribe in 4 of my burners but have never felt the need to try anything other than the Neato
glossy stomped.

 

[tfarny]

These people seem professional (nice site) and charge around $3 per cd, in batches as small as 300. http://www.oasiscd.com/products/eco.asp Seems a whole lot easier than totally DIY. I know, yay I googled for you.  :icon_tongue:
Lightscribe is not good for any volume, it's cool to make a nice looking CD for a friend though. I have it and I've used it maybe 10 times.

 

[blue313]

Never had 1 complaint on the ones I've stomped and that's gotta be well over 1000 and over the course of 7 yrs. ...  but I agree that it might be better
to print right onto the CD if possible.

The compatibility issue is mostly a problem on CD changers.  One of two things generally happen.  The changer can't get a good grip on the near the center and jams, or the heat inside the changer reactivates the adhesive and makes a mess.  Your particular brands of labels/CD's may not suffer from this issue, but generically it's enough of a problem that it's listed as a warning in some vehicle owners manuals.  I'm definitely glad your labeling system hasn't has this happen!

Side note: I've seen permanent markers do a job on some burned CD's.  I'm not sure which brands are bad, but some of the solvents contained in those markers can eat the CD material enough to cause wobbling or worse.  I haven't had an issue with fine point Sharpies personally.

 

[Steve_Karl]

No issues with sharpies here either in the past, but I stopped using them when I heard of the potential problems.

 

[bpmorton777]

Ive been using sharpies for years on my discs...no problems ever with them

Brian

 

[Steve_Karl]

Update and more info:

I was talking with a friend about the glossy CD labels in car player and the problem with them rejecting.
It seems it's because there's not enough friction on the top ( traction ? )

Anyway, I forgot to mention that I spray all of my glossy labeld with this:
http://www.krylon.com/products/acrylic_crystal_clear/

... which might be a reason why I've not had any problems.

It makes the surface of the CD label fell a bit rough, and less sticky, even though you can't see it.
It's also a water proofing.