Ink smearing on DVD inkjet printables when wet?

[assemblage]

I read through a many posts here about the Epson R300 and inkjet printable DVD media. One thing I did come across is the statements about the ink smearing on the discs, which concerns me.

Is this a problem on discs that are truely 'inkjet printable'? Does it take some effort with a wet finger to rub the ink off or does incidental contact mess it up? If you want to run some water on the disc to clean it off good, will it completely fubr the print?

[assemblage]

Also, would ink make a difference, brand or type?

[BJ_M]

yep -- they can fubared very easy ..... after a week of drying they are better though ...

only way to prevent is to use a spray to seal them ...

[assemblage]

BJ_M I think I read your thread about spraying Krylon on them... I think that was you.

A week of curing sounds more promising.... But, how much better after a week of curing? I mean if I accidently drool or sneeze on one and then wipe it off on my shirt, will it smear the print (and dirty my shirt)? What if I have some peanut butter or chocalate on my finger, is a DVD bath out of the question?

Not to sound like a weenie, but I'm very close to getting the Epson R300, or the R200 if it comes out. I just read through these thread and got the impression that the printing is great, but they are delicate to handle.

[BJ_M]

with dry fingers -- no issue ...

normal handling - no issue

wet at any time -- big issue

after a week - DAMP (a little) fingers will not smear them unless you rub hard ..


thing is under normal handling - they are fine ..

the ink doesnt fall off or peel or smear or anything on its own ...

[baritony]

Well let me tell you... I too was concerned about the smearing ink before I purchased my epson R300 printer.

At my work, we have a Primera Signature IV printer. Thats all it does, is print on DVD/CD. There is even an option to have a loader load and unload thousands of discs automatically. Ink cartridges are $60.
The printer alone cost $1300.00

The long and short? Its a Professional printer made for businesses.

I had been printing on that for quite some time. I read about the epson R300 and also the smearing issue. Well I went to some of my well over a month old discs that I printed on the professional printer and guess what? They smeared. But just a little.

I printed on my Epson R300 and waited a week. Tried the smear test. It smeared, but just a little.
I wouldnt worry about it. Worst case? Buy your printable CD/DVD's online. I can find them for $71.00 for 50 of them INCLUDING shipping. If I was to buy larger quanity, Im sure it would be cheaper. And if by some weird chance one DOES get wet, let it dry. And if it does get smeared, make a new one.

But really, dont sweat (no pun) the smearing thing.

[BJ_M]

nice thing is you can wash all the ink off if you need to and reprint them ..

we have Primera 's also -- they use the epson engine -- great units , they just go and go ...

[assemblage]

Thanks for the replies. I guess what I was getting at was 'how bad is the smearing'.

From what's been written, it doesn't sound like its too bad.

[gmatov]

I think it's a little worse than the above replies indicate.

Granted, you are probably going to try to not get them wet, but, unless you have a dye sublimation printer, or use the Epson pigmented inks, you WILL smear the print, just as you WILL smear a printed photo print with a dye based ink.

Thermals, too, will not smear, but, as written here many times, they do not tax the imagination as to what you can print, just a few lines of text.

Inkjet printables have the same gel coat that a sheet of photo paper has, more or less, and getting wet will cause the colors to runi nto a blob, or be smeared or wiped off.

But, as above, you don't like the job, wash and do over.. BUT, I don't think that works, as you will dissolve the gel coat, and it will be the same as a formerly unprintable, but advertised as printable, disk. I think you will wash off the gel coat as well. Then the ink will never fully dry.

Cheers,

George

[Hawseman]

I have used the Krylon with great success. My 'backups' are mostly kids movies that I use to numb my kids brains on those long trips to Grandma's house. With all the chocolate milk and boogers flying around, unprotected DVD's got water marks and smudges.

It takes a little practice to get a thin, even coat. The stuff stinks bad.

I've recently had a bad batch of Riteks (becoming more common lately)...so I got to field test a couple of my disks. I tossed them in my boy's bath water (which probably had heavy traces of urine). After peeping through a post, I decided to give them the dishwasher test. I'm not sure if they'll play at all anymore, but the label still looks good.

I really liked the way the Krylon brings out the colors of my disks. I use the high gloss. The hard part is keeping the larger dust particles from settling on it when it's wet. It doesn't frig up playability, just can be seen angled in the light. For $180 printer + $6 Krylon + $1 media, I can't complain too much.

[BJ_M]

just a further to this - ive printed maybe around 10,000 - 12,000 riteks with the inkjet printer and have no one ever complain about the ink smearing ..

[Hawseman]

Further this a little more.....I only Krylon some of kid's handled dvd's. They can't read, but can tell the pictures, and use the portable.... Most of my collection is not coated and under normal (adult) handling, have never had any issues.

[chunkT]

I have an R300 and mine are always dry to the touch when done. Never a smear on any cd or dvd I print on.