printing on printable dvd media?

[ice-berg]

hey

i have been burning on ritek printable media for a while and i am now thinking of purchasing a printer to print on these dvds.

i have browsed through some forums searching on isues concerning printing on dvds and it seems quite a few have had playback problems after labeling dvds.
however none of these posts addressed the issue of printing dvds with a professional dvd printer.

so my question is now this: has anyone had some experience with dvd printing with a printer? and has it given you any playback issues?

[chaseru]

It depends what you want to print on the disc. If you just want neat labels printed, then the Casio CW-50 for less than $100 works great. Some people have even done decent graphics with this printer.

The other benefit of the Casio is that it can print on less expensive unbranded media.

[lordsmurf]

Buy inkjet DVDs. Buy a DVD printer.

[lec668]

Buy an EPSON 900 or 950. Fine with printable dvds as Ritek.

[ice-berg]

thanks for the recommedations.
however there is one issue that is left unresolved which is: do label printing actually affects the dvd playback?

[LetsRip]

I have the Epson 900, and it does a great job printing on the white, inkjet printable DVD/CD media. Take note that it requires the DVD/CD be fed from the back of the printer via a special tray, so you need about a foot of space behind the printer (was a problem in my case). You can grab one on eBay for around $150 -- the Primera will cost you a pretty penny unless you can find one used and in decent condition.

Perhaps you can clarify your inquiry regarding a 'label' and possible playback issues. Is your definition of a label printing directly on the DVD or adding a sticker-type label to the surface? In the first case, I wouldn't consider it a label.

[watch22]

Dont froget to look at the Epson R300 it's a 6 color printer with high resolution then the 900. Its priced $179 retail. It feeds the CD/DVD tray from the front.

[dunamis]

I’ve read a number of posts about printing directly on DVDs and potential problems with putting labels on DVDs. I’ve been using labels for a long time but have had no problems at all with playback.
I recently bought an EZ/CD printer to print directly on the discs but found it to be not really very good. What I discovered however, is that the white, inkjet printable disks appear to have some kind of coating on them in order to be “printable” and they also weigh a little more than regular blank DVDs.
It would seem to me that if we use the inkjet printable blank DVDs and put labels on them, there should be no problem caused by the labels or the glue, because the coating is interposed between the label and the rest of the disk. The only other cause of problems would be possible improper application of the labels, thus causing the disk to be out of balance.
I find that I can apply the labels perfectly and it's also hard to tell whether they are a label or in fact a direct print on the DVD.

[overloaded_ide]

I don't understand why anyone would want to put a label on a printable disk? Only reason I could think of is if you printed the wrong label or something happened it turn out bad looking. Other wise why pay higher prices for printables and then buy labels too?

I only printed a few so far and the answer is no problems have occured after printing. At least for me so far!
I even messed up a few disks where my caddy stuck and printed heavy in a short band where it wasn't moving correctly through the printer. That was a much heavier ink buildup than you would normally get on a disk and it played perfectly still.

I am using a homemade disk printer, the Lexmark mod.
It's working well for me in general, though I am trying various things most people wouldn't be doing.

For $35 for a new printer I would recommend giving it a try if you like to tinker. Actually was very easy, take your time and have some fun.
I like the quality of my printed disks.

[SLK001]

What I discovered however, is that the white, inkjet printable disks appear to have some kind of coating on them in order to be “printable” and they also weigh a little more than regular blank DVDs.

"Weigh" a little more?
What makes you say this?
How much more did you measure?

A inkjet printable disc has a thin layer of permeable, white "paint" that absorbs the ink from the printer and provides a stable printing surface.

It is silly (but not unexpected) to believe that a thin layer of dried ink could unbalance a DVD. I don't believe that it could even be possible to unbalance a DVD with "dried ink", even with multiple passes through your printer.

But, hey, I could be wrong!

[iooi]

It is silly (but not unexpected) to believe that a thin layer of dried ink could unbalance a DVD. I don't believe that it could even be possible to unbalance a DVD with "dried ink", even with multiple passes through your printer.

But, hey, I could be wrong!

Well if this is the case then it has to be the same when you stick a label on as well, in fact i could be worse as there could be a uneven distrubution of glue on the label..

Just weighed a couple of dvd and i cant find a diffrence between printable and un-printable...

[SLK001]

[quote="iooi"]Well if this is the case then it has to be the same when you stick a label on as well, in fact i could be worse as there could be a uneven distrubution of glue on the label.. quote]

The glue on a label is much thicker than any layer of dried ink. If it is not distributed evenly, then the odds of your disk being out-of-balance is quite high. And out-of-balance discs are almost guaranteed to cause playback problems.

[gadgetguy]

I would not recommend putting glue-on labels on "printable" media. I learned the hard way that once the label is applied, if the CD/DVD gets bent, even a little, the label pulls the paint from the media and causes playback problems.