Printer For Direct CD Label Printing

[leigh]

I'm looking for an inexpensive printer for low volume use that can print directly on to CDs.

What would you suggest?

What kind of CDs are printable onable?

**Leigh

[digitalolive]

I have 3 HP C5280 All in one printers that do a great job printing directly to CD. They cost about $100.

Steve

[twistedtom]

I have an Epson R210 it works well for me but only does one at a time and has no mass feeder.There are a few that are not to costly that you can do batches and some units burn the CD and print it. There is a special disk that is blank white and made to be printed on. I a number of CD's and DVD's that are printable on line.

[Jim]

I have an HP D5160 Photosmart, that is much much much much better than the Epson R200 coaster-maker I used to use. There's a newer, cheaper unit out now, I think it's $89. Inks are cheaper than the Epson as well: $45 vs. $75 for the full load.

Buy your HP inks and bulk Ink-Jet Printable Taiyo Yuden disks from SuperMediaStore.com, if you're in the States. Best deal going.

[HCMarkus]

Epson R280 here. Works fine and makes clients happy when they get their nice looking CDs.

[twistedtom]

I have not had any problems with the 210 but I am printing on the disks made to be printed on. All though it is nice to know when this one does not work for me there are even better printers I can get. I like the idea of paying less for ink. I get my ink on line for a lot less than the stores charge.

[James Steele]

Epson PHOTO R340 here. Fine for short runs but the plastic tray thing is a hassle, but it works. On thing I was told by Epson is it doesn't like USB hubs, so if you have issues with your Epson printer not working correctly with their CD printing software, try hooking the printer directly to the Mac. Any way, it does a good job, but I've since redesigned my standard CD label to NOT have a "cool" black background as it just uses way too much ink to do that all the time. I get good results though.

[James Steele]

I have an HP D5160 Photosmart, that is much much much much better than the Epson R200 coaster-maker I used to use.

I'll have to look into those...

Buy your HP inks and bulk Ink-Jet Printable Taiyo Yuden disks from SuperMediaStore.com, if you're in the States. Best deal going.

Not sure about the HP inks, but for Epson inks I've been having good luck with ANTonline.com. It just SO blows Fry's out of the water... especially if I order more than one cartridge. Generally think cartridges AND shipping are cheaper than buying at my local Fry's... and that's not even accounting for the cost of gasoline to drive over there and back!

[HCMarkus]

James' point about changing his background from black is well-taken. I build all CD art for do-it-myself printing around a white background. Always looks sharp, and my ink use is nominal.

[twistedtom]

Met too white save ink and me too I have an order coming from SuperMediaStore.com.

Now what software are you using? I have been using templates with Photoshop.

[Jim]

Guys, I just discovered an even better deal than SuperMediaStore: TapeOnLine.com. They charge for shipping, but their prices are lower, and depending on the size of your order, you may come out ahead. Check 'em out.

http://www.tapeonline.com/DVD-R/Taiyo_Y ... hield.aspx

I haven't tried the watershield disks yet, but I've heard good things from some friends who told me about them.

[Gingau]

Buy your HP inks and bulk Ink-Jet Printable Taiyo Yuden disks from SuperMediaStore.com, if you're in the States. Best deal going.

I use those discs from SMS too. Nice printing surface and very dependable media.

Been using the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 - A mult scanner/printer.
Not the cheapest out there, but I'm real happy with my 1-at-a-time disc printing.

The Ink I buy from Epson when they have sales.
Printing discs is with a pgm that comes bundled. Sometimes I'll photoshop a background first.
Color correction in the software allows lighter or darker printing by 3 steps each way.
I usually drop it lighter 1 step

[devinehelles]

However it is easy to print on the R800 CD directly from Photoshop, and it allows the profile of printing. In fact, it is possible to print from any application, but Photoshop and InDesign are the ones we use here. Both support the use of profiles.

[mikehalloran]

The HP printers are much better for CD printing but they have been discontinued. I recently got an HP C309a from Office Max for $138 and am loving it. It even looks good in Fast Draft B&W mode, knocking out a CD in a few seconds.

My Epson Photo R200 no longer prints CDs in OS 10.6. I never liked it anyway...

[SmilesLots]

Like James, I use the Epson R340. Got 3 refurbs and few years back for $50 each delivered. I have been very happy with them for the most part. I get my ink from eBay generally less than $50 for a set of 6 cartridges. Print a lot of cd's each month - 100 or so. I'll check out those ther recommendations, especially the Taiyo's.