Printing on DVDs

I use primera's bravo II inkjet printer. Although it dups too, I only use it to lable.

http://www.primera.com/

I use the Epson R200. Works like a charm, as it was specifically designed to support disc burning. I think the current model is the R280. You might also look at the DYMO DiscPainter.

Goldfish,
We use the Epson Photo R320 for our disc printing, and the results have been very acceptable so far. I was wondering what program you are using to design/print your discs? We use Discus 3. The only time I have had a disc printing job rejected was back when we used the Epson PrintCD software that came with the printer. As I remember, it would usually spit out the first attempt to print, and we would have to resubmit it almost every time.

Jeff

I've also used the Primera series, the Bravo XR which is the rack mount version of the Bravo II.

I will say this about them, the software they use is better on the PC than the mac. I've always been able to get better colors printing via PC than mac. They coudln't tell me why, but it's something to do with the printer drivers.

Not to say that the Mac version looks bad.

Epson 200 still works.

There's the Dymo DiscPainter, but it has banding in some tests, but it works reliably unlike the Epsons.

And Canon also has one, but to mixed reviews.

Other than that, you have to spend the bucks to get a dye sublimation or thermal printer.

Epson R320 - rarely, no NEVER, had a failed disc print. I don't use any Epson supplied software though, using InDesign to layout and print the discs. Taiyo Watershield discs - don't need laquer, yet give full-colour high-gloss finish.

I have an R320 and I curse it's and Epson's existence.

I also use a third party piece of software for printing and it's just okay. That is interesting about using InDesign to design, layout and print. Did you create an InDesign template or grab one from somewhere?

I'd been soured on my own experiences with using Epson inkjets for disc labels, but unfortunately there aren't many reasonably priced alternatives for the amount of label printing I do, which is not that much. I decided to give the RX680 All-In-One a shot, since my scanner was made obsolete by Intel Macs. The disc printing mechanism is much improved, with a dedicated module that pops down to receive the tray, making it easier to position correctly. I found myself up and running much faster than I had on the last two standalone inkjets I had, so it looks like Epson finally got it right. I know it sounds like a clunky way just to print discs, but for an all-in-one it's pretty reasonably priced, and even though I don't think much of its Print CD software, I do all of my stuff in Photoshop and import it, and the results look quite nice.

I had the older R300 printer which also rejected the disk 3 out of 4 times (or more). I found that if I used my finger to place "slight" pressure on the disc tray just as it was ready to feed the tray in, it would work fine. Don't push, just help it along.

I finally got tired of it and bought a Canon IP4500. It doesn't come with a CD/DVD tray in the US, but you can buy it on Ebay. It requires you to remove the filler strip from the printer where the tray feeds in and also to change the printer's firmware setting to Europe. Instructions are linked in the Ebay auctions for the tray. The Canon has printed DVDs perfectly every time.

You'll need to obtain your own disc printing software because the US Canon printers don't include it. I use DiscLabel software.

I've been using an Epson Stylus Photo 960 (Epson's first DVD capable printer) for the past 7 years without issue. It's faster than the newer Epsons and prints great, although I only use it to print about 300 to 400 discs per year. I also have an RX580 and an RX595 (both all-in-one models) but seldom use either for printing discs.

For large quantity jobs (over 50 per run), I use a friend's Bravo II printer. While it works good and I love the fact that it prints multiple copies unattended, the print quality isn't as good as I get with my Epson 960.

-DH

I use a CANON MP830 all on one. Prints greta on DVD media as long as you buy the Imation or similar DVD/CD's that you can print on. Software is very good for OSX. DRivers work great..
w

In REPLY TO:
+"That is interesting about using InDesign to design, layout and print. Did you create an InDesign template or grab one from somewhere?"+

I created an InDesign template from scratch - using multiple layers for masking the outer ring, adding copyright notices round the circumference, selectable alternate masks for various sizes for the centre hole, etc.

Switchable visibility for the layers with these elements makes laying out and printing quick, easy and yet unconstrained in terms of possibilities - photos, text, graphics, etc...

!http://www.pamenter.plus.com/headspin/HeadSpin DVDSR.jpg!

I am always dismayed when I hear of people's problems with the Epson-supplied software, and I wish they'd just try something else. There is no necessity to use the printer-supplied software - you just need to position (and mask) the content correctly.

Epson has a downloadable Photoshop (PSD) CD/DVD template available on their web site: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid= 18403&prodoid=22403490&infoType=Downloads&platform=Macintosh

-DH

I'm using the Epson 280 on a mac. Does anyone know how to get it to print from Photoshop to the DVD? It says that the printer type isn't compatibale with my DVD template (which has worked fine on many other DVD printers).

I'm sure there's a setting I missed somewhere, but epson didn't even know what to do.