Low Volume Disc Printing Evolution
On-disc printing has evolved so much in low volume capacities in the last few years it sometimes amazes me. As great as sharpies and labels can be in a pinch or for onesy-twosy, I am not sad to toss them aside for direct on disc printers. Inkjet disc printers have been great step as well, especially with new smudge proof media. But to me thermal retransfer disc printers have really taken over, and pretty easily I might say.
We just did a really cool mini job on a silver disc with our Teac P-55. It was amazingly easy to switch out the full-size plate for the mini and the Versamax ribbons really do a nice print on any surface. Our client will surely be pleased with their job done in less than a day and such a high quality disc print. That’s our main goal after all! Really though, the photographic vibrancy and print quality you can get from thermal retransfer printers is just amazing. They are quick and network friendly which makes any creative department happy. And color consistent! Imagine that! Since they use ribbons instead of processing inks together you have panels of consistent color that the machine’s control.
We constantly use high quality Teac and Rimage thermal printers for super fast small run jobs and I am still sometimes amazed when the last disc looks like the first. And now they are coming up with so many options like mini disc trays and CMY+White ribbons that allow you to print on silver media. When printing with optional white you can have areas of your artwork show the silver of the disc, while allowing white to go under other areas of art. CMYK+White printing is something we do a lot with our PhotoPro Printing duplication services if you need to outsource a job you usually do on an Everest printer in-house, keep us in mind.
Inkjet printing has always been good for short run paper printing, and when it expanded to on-disc printing it is easy to do since most people are familiar with the printers. Some printers have great adapters for mini and business card discs too. But to me, the inkjet disc printers downfall was always the fear of water and smudging. People can be slobs you know, even professionals. As long as the disc was going to be packaged nicely and just a quick small job for someone inkjet printing works great. Then finally the smudge proof and water proof media really helps the existing inkjet printers try to keep up with the thermal retransfer printers in look and disc shelf life. The discs are a little more expensive, but if you have an inkjet disc printer or publisher already these awesome discs have a great photo finish and look awesome.
If you are pondering purchasing a small in-house CD/DVD duplication printer I totally recommend going with thermal retransfer disc printers! Our creative department swears by them.
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