cd dvd duplication service for Dummies

What is CD duplication?
CD duplication involves burning off standard or special shape CD-R using a laser in standard CD or DVD writer drives. The'R' following the arrangement type stands for'Recordable' (Rather than replicated disks which are known as CD ROM where the'ROM' stands for'Read-Only Memory' as such discs can't be burnt at all and are pressed in the time of manufacture).
This sort of production is ideal for smaller print runs of less than 1000 disks, or where the disks are required very quickly. These disks are typically applied with photo-glossy tags that have been published in a really high excellent laser printer. The laser print procedure is smudge-proof and enables full colour printing that's suitable for photos or complex colour gradients.
Another benefit of replicated CDs is that we can provide them printed, but clean, for you to burn your content onto at a standard CD-RW or DVD-RW drive. This can be useful when you're sending out individual client files, or when the information which you will need to put on the discs is constantly shifting.
The other principal type of CD and DVD production is known as CD replication and DVD replication and involves pressing the disks from a glass master. This process is utilized for higher volume discs, leading to much lower unit costs for larger orders of 1000 disks or more.
Advantages:

Full colour printing
Quick turnaround times (as little as 24-48 hours)

Discs can be sterile for you to burn your own content onto
Cons:
Greater production costs for production runs of over 1000 disks when compared to replicated CDs

If you need to produce copies of compact discs, what are the most probable keywords you will search? To most people these 2 terms probably signify exactly the same. But to the disk copying industry there is a subtle difference. It's the purpose of this guide to explain the difference and assist you in making the choice when to use duplication and when to utilize replication, no matter you want CD or DVD copies.
What's CD Duplication?
With the ever decreasing prices on CD/DVD burners, building a disc backup is now as easy as making a xerox copy before. CD burning or DVD burning is just another expression people like to use with this manner of making disk copies.
Unless it's used on your own, a duplicated disc will have to be marked or tagged somehow. You can do this in a lot of ways.
Mark the disc with a Sharpe
Here is the fast and dirty way of labeling. As you can imagine, the disk will not be very appealing and attractive.
Print the artwork onto a die-cut paper label and attach the label to the disk.
Labels come as glossy and matte. The glossy labels are best for high resolution inkjet printers. Normally glossy tags are 3 times as expensive then the matte labels. Matte labels are good for laser printers.
Once a tag is printed, it is possible to peel it off and cup into some label applicator with the sticky side facing upward. The non data side of the disc is subsequently pushed against the applicator. Air bubbles onto the label need to be rubbed off instantly otherwise they will there permanently. After you print the tags, make sure that you match the paper profile for your printer. As an example, if you're using the Epson printers, choose the ideal paper type when you print the labels. Use Plain Paper for matte labels, and use Glossy Photo Paper for glossy labels.

One drawback of using paper tag on CD or DVD is that the label increases the depth of the disc. When Philips made the CD-R and DVD-R they did stipulate the appropriate thickness. When combining the thickness of the CD-R or DVD-R itself together with the paper tag, the overall thickness would most likely be thicker then the supposed specifications. Although most disc readers have the capability to re-read whenever there is error, this would definitely lessen the reliability. Another disadvantage, and probably the most negative one, is the disk might got stuck in slit load CD or DVD drives like auto stereo or iMac. If your CD is music or any audio content, then avoid using label labels.
Print the artwork directly onto the disc using inkjet printer

This is absolutely the most preferable means of printing disc label. Epson makes inkjet printers that can print art directly on a disc with inkjet cd duplication knoxville printable coating very reasonably priced. Media manufacturers such as Ritek, Taiyo Yuden, HP, and Maxell also sell inkjet printable media at only a fraction greater than the typical media. The advantages are the art could be printed at very high resolutions and this also eliminates the thickness issue for the paper tag. The downsides are the process is very slow and the disk surface is generally not water and finger print proof. Company like Primera sells and markets a disc laminator which adds a thin film coating to the printable surface. After laminated, the disk has a glossy looking and it becomes water and finger print evidence. Replicator like New Cyberian may also apply a UV dried lacquer on top of the surface to provide the glistening feel and look.

Manufactures like Teac, Microboards, Primera, and Rimage marketplace and market CD printers that use thermal transfer. The press for thermal also come in two flavor; silver or white backdrop. The cost on the press is again slightly higher than routine disk. The most costly part is the thermal film as well as the depreciation on this machine. Your minimal investment on the equipment might starts from US$4000 for both B/W and US$8000 to get a full-color unit. If you don't plan to have a major quantity of disk printed otherwise thermal should be avoided.
What's CD replication?
Compared to copying, replication is the term used for high volume industrial disc copying. In a disc replication plant, making disk copies moves through the next stages.
Glass mastering

Glass master is known as the father of disk replication. A bit of glass is shiny and then small holes are etched onto the glass surface deep into the substrate to represent the 1's of the binary content. The glass master becomes an specific replica of the first master.
Stamper Assessing
As explained before, a stamper is actually used in the making of the disk, not the glass master. A stamper is generally made from an aluminum plate. It is the compliment of the glass master meaning all the 1's on the glass master will develop into the 0's and the 0's will end up 1 on the stamper. This male/female connection between the glass master and the stamper makes the stamper the mother of the replication. When a disc is molded from the stamper the data reverse again to the first.

A disk is make by injecting molten polycarbonate on the stamper. The information on the disc will be the compliment of the stamper so they are converted back to the original since the glass master.
Sputtering
The polycarbonate discs following injection molding are all transparent. A reflective mirror coat should cover the disk so the pits of data can be read when the laser is reflected back to the disc reader. The process of creating the disk reflective is known as sputtering. The argon ions are attracted to the aluminum target by the use of a high voltage. As the ions strike the target, particles of aluminum are ejected and are hauled on the CD surface.
Art printing
Before art can be printed that the lacquer can be applied to the disk surface. The lacquer is then UV dried in several seconds. Art is then printed in addition to the transparent lacquer. There are two ways to print the artwork; i.e. silkscreen or offset. Silkscreen printing is good for vector based graphics and offset is good for photo based graphics. If your artwork is designed using Illustrator without any jpg or tiff file, then the artwork is the most likely vector based significance all of the art components are represented by regular lines and shapes. Should you use Photoshop to create your layout opportunities are the art will be picture established. Offset should be utilized for photograph based art. Color matching can only be achieved on vector based images.
To replicate or to replicate?
So when should we use duplication and when should we use replication? With the descriptions above it will be so obvious that when time is of essence, you have not option but use duplication. The unit cost will be much higher than replication but at least you can be sure that the discs you want can be ready in 24-hrs. Another situation you should use duplication is when the volume is small. You probably won't here a professional printer to print 10 or even 100 copies unless it's absolutely necessary. By the same token, once the quantity is little a duplication project will suffice. That leaves the only scenario when replication ought to be utilized; i.e. if you have sufficient time and the quantity is large, say 1,000 or more. Most CD duplication companies including New Cyberian Systems additionally take replication in the number of 500. However, when you compare the costs for 500 and 1,000, you'll observe the difference is actually not that much.



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