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Background
Information
The “Compact
Disc” was developed jointly by Philips and Sony, and
was initially launched by Sony in 1982. Various specifications
cover the basic attributes of the CD and the formats; these
specifications are laid out to book standards. The first specification
was Red Book, which covered the general details of the compact
disc, and the digital audio encoding, all subsequent book
standards are based around the basics of the Red Book.
The manufacturing
of CD’s, commonly known as pressing, involves pre-mastering
the information to make a glass master from which a stamper
disc is made. This is then used in an injection moulding unit
to produce a clear polycarbonate disc. The next stage is to
coat the disc with a very thin coat of aluminium to create
the familiar silver finish. Which is then given a protective
coating lacquer. The disc can then be printed on and packaged.
Although, a complex process when producing many 1000’s
of CD’s, it is very cost effective, but there are two
major drawbacks in using this method to produce CD’s.
1: There is normally a ten working day turn around for the
finished disc
2: The usual minimum order quantity is 1000 discs
Why
Use a CD Duplicator?
The market
for CD-R duplicators is varied and diverse. Individuals and
companies that require a large number of CD’s will have
them pressed and screen printed, as this is the cheaper solution
when 1000’s of CD’s are involved. But should you
require less than a 1000 CD’s, perhaps containing information
that is changed or updated on a regular basis then a CD-R
duplicator is for you.
Many organisations
need to produce a small quantity of CD’s on a regular
basis and in a short time frame, this can be done by purchasing
the necessary equipment themselves, or going to a local duplicator
for this service.
With the
cost of CD-R media becoming less and less, more and more organisations
are looking at CD-R as a way to provide information to their
clients, or as the main medium on which to sell their product.
CD
Duplicators
Our
range of duplicators is comprehensive, from small one to one
duplicators to fully automatic 16 writer network connectable
systems that can be operated remotely and unattended. Which
machine is suitable for a particular customer is dependent
on a number of variables. The most important being how many
CD-R’s need to be produced and in what time frame. Manual
systems are cheaper than automatics, but they need regular
attention (about every 3 minutes with 48x writers), and unless
an operator is present they can not be used outside office
hours.
CD
Printing
There
are four methods of printing on to the surface of a CD-R.
We offer solutions for two methods. The pros and cons of each
method are as follows:
- Screen
Printing: Screen-printing is only really suitable for large
production runs, typically over 1000 CD’s. This process
is usually used for pressed CD’s, although companies
will use screen printing for CD-R’s when the printed
information doesn’t change that often, the blank printed
CD-R’s are held in stock and used when required with
a CD-R duplicator. The printing resolution is not particularly
high.
- CD
Labels: This is often the cheapest way of customising a
duplicated CD-R. The resolution can be high (depending on
the printer used), and for short runs the costs are low.
We offer a CD labeller in the form of the VS450 CopyDisc
Imager which accurately applies 1000 labels an hour to CDs.
- Ink
jet Printing: Ink jet printing directly on to the surface
of a suitable CD-R (all the major CD manufacturers produce
an ink jet compatible CD-R) provides a high quality customised
finish which is far superior to screen printing. With resolutions
up to 4880 DPI, photo quality production is achievable,
individually customised CD-R’s can be produces and
short run on demand work can be quickly supplied to a customer.
The consumables are cheap and easily available (standard
Epson ink cartridges are utilised). The downside to ink
jet printing is that the ink is water based and can therefore
be easily smudged, a lacquer spray is available, but not
everyone wants to spray CD-R’s. Typically it is our
experience that those wanting a quality product (marketing
material or products that will actually be sold) will want
to spray the finished CD, those producing, promotional or
internal material that does not have a long user life will
not bother to spray.
- Thermal
Printing: The alternative to ink jet printing is thermal,
its immediate advantages are that it is smudge proof, standard
CD-R’s can be printed to directly (no coating is required),
the finish is immediately durable and printing is quick
(about 20 seconds for mono, and 1 minute for colour). The
downside to thermal printing is the capital cost of the
equipment (compared to ink jet), and the printing resolution
of only 300 DPI.
We
have available solutions for both manual and automatic ink
jet printing and automatic thermal printing, with or without
duplication.
CD
Pacakging
We
offer a selection of equipment to package your duplicated
and printed CD’s.
- CD
Sleevers: These are automatic units which insert your CD’s
into a sleeve which can be made from Paper, Tyvek or Plastic)
- CD
Jewel Case Wrapper: Enables users to wrap small to medium
quantities of jewel cases to a high professional quality.
- Universal
Labeller: This unit will apply labels to a wide variety
of products.
- CD
Packer: packs CDs and inserts into jewel cases.
Sounds
Complicated!
We
offer a “Complete Solution” to CD duplication and
if all the information sounds complicated don’t worry
just call us. We will be happy to give you all the advice
you need to set up your own “In House” CDR Duplication
System.
What
Do I Need to Get Started?
1:
PC fitted with a CD writer and ZIP Drive (if using automatic
printing) To make your original master.
2:
CD Duplicator: This can be manual or automatic depending on
the level of output you require. 3: CD Printer: Manual or
automatic, Thermal or ink jet depending on the output and
the quality of print required.
What
Are My Set Costs?
These
depend on your CD dupliction and printing requirements. A
basic setup of a manual duplicator and a manual inkjet printer
is relatively inexpensive,
whereas a complete networked automated duplication solution
would cost more.
What
Are My Copying & Printing Costs?
Blank
CD-R media is very cheap to buy today, while most of our printers
take standard ink cartridges available from PC printer retailers.
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