CD duplication involves burning off standard or distinctive shape CD-R with a laser in regular CD or DVD writer drives. The'R' after the arrangement type stands for'Recordable' (Rather than replicated discs that are referred to as CD ROM in which the'ROM' stands for'Read-Only Memory' as such discs can't be burnt at all and are pressed in the time of manufacture).
For CD duplication at Wizbit we use autonomous CD duplicators that can process large quantities of CDs of all sizes quickly and economically. This type of production is excellent for smaller print runs of less than 1000 discs, or at which the discs are required very quickly. These disks are typically applied with photo-glossy tags that were printed at a very large quality laser printer. The laser printing procedure is smudge-proof and allows full color printing that is acceptable for photographs or intricate colour gradients.
Another advantage of replicated CDs is that we can supply them printed, however blank, that you burn your own content onto at a standard CD-RW or DVD-RW drive. This is often helpful if you're sending out individual client files, or when the information which you need to put on the discs is always changing.
Another main kind of CD and DVD production is known as CD replication and DVD replication and involves pressing the disks from a glass master. This practice is used for higher volume disks, resulting in considerably lower unit costs for larger orders of 1000 discs or more.
Benefits:
Ideal for print runs of less than 1000 disks
Full colour printing
Discs may be blank for you to burn your content onto
Disadvantages:
Higher production costs for production runs of over 1000 disks when compared to replicated CDs
When you have to make copies of compact disks, what are the most likely keywords you may search? To most people these 2 terms probably signify the same. However, to the disc copying business there is a subtle difference. It is the point of this article to explain the difference and assist you in making the decision when to use copying and when to use replication, no thing 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 convenient as creating a xerox copy before. CD burning or DVD burning is another expression people like to use for this manner of making disk copies. The disc copying business prefers to call this as CD duplication or DVD duplication.
Unless it is used on your own, a duplicated disc will have to be marked or labeled somehow. You can do this in many ways.
Mark the disc with a Sharpe
Here is the quick and dirty means of labeling. As you can imagine, the disc will not be very attractive and attractive.
Print the art on a die-cut paper tag and attach the label to the disc.
Labels come as matte and glossy. Normally glossy tags are 3 times as expensive then the matte labels. Matte labels are good for laser printers.
Labels come as matte and glossy. Normally glossy tags are 3 times as expensive then the matte labels. Matte labels are good for laser printers.
One time a label is printed, you can peel it off and cup into a tag applicator with all the sticky side facing up. The data side of the disc is then pushed against the applicator. Air bubbles on the tag need to be rubbed off immediately otherwise they will there permanently. After you print the labels, be sure that you coordinate with the paper profile for your printer. As an example, if you are using the Epson printers, pick the right paper type if you print the labels. Use Plain Paper for matte labels, and use Glossy Photo Paper for glossy labels.
One disadvantage of using paper tag on CD or DVD is that the label increases the thickness of the disk. When Philips made the CD-R and DVD-R they did stipulate the appropriate thickness. When combining the depth of the CD-R or DVD-R itself with the paper tag, the overall thickness would most likely be thicker then the designed specifications. Even though most disk readers have the ability to re-read when there is mistake, this could definitely reduce the reliability. Another disadvantage, and possibly the most negative one, is that the disk could possibly got stuck in slit load CD or DVD drives such as car stereo or iMac. If your CD is any audio content, then try to avoid using tag labels.
This is by far the most preferable means of printing disc label. Epson makes inkjet printers which can print art directly onto a disk with inkjet printable coating very affordable. The benefits will be the artwork can dvd duplication knoxville be printed at very significant resolutions and this also eliminates the thickness problem for the paper tag. The disadvantages are the process is quite slow and the disk surface is usually not water and finger print evidence. Business such as Primera markets and sells a disc laminator that adds a thin film coating into the printable surface. Once laminated, the disc has a slick appearing and it becomes water and finger print proof. Replicator like New Cyberian may also apply a UV dried lacquer on top of the surface to give the glossy feel and appearance.
Manufactures like Teac, Microboards, Primera, and Rimage market and market CD printers which use thermal transport. There are two flavors for thermal; black and white, and full-color. The press for thermal also come in two taste; silver or white backdrop. The cost on the media is again slightly higher than routine disk. The most costly part is the thermal picture as well as the depreciation on the machine. Your minimum investment on the gear may starts from US$4000 for 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 prevented.
What's CD replication?
In contrast to duplication, replication is the expression used for large volume industrial disc copying. In a disc replication plant, making disc copies moves through the next stages.
Glass mastering
Glass master is also known as the father of disc replication. A piece of glass is shiny and small holes are etched on the glass surface deep into the substrate to represent the 1's of the binary material. The glass master becomes an exact replica of the first master. Considering that a glass master is too fragile to be managed, a metal stamper is made that can sustain the heat and pressure from your injection molding.
Stamper Assessing
As explained earlier, a stamper is actually utilized at the making of this disc, not the glass master. A stamper is usually made from an aluminum plate. It is the compliment of the glass master meaning all the 1 on the glass master will soon become the 0's and all the 0's will become 1 on the stamper. This male/female connection between the glass master and the stamper creates the stamper the mother of the replication. When a disc is molded from the stamper the information reverse again to the first.
Injection molding
A disc is make by injecting molten polycarbonate onto the stamper. The information on the disk is going to be the compliment of the stamper so they are converted back to the first since the glass master.
Sputtering
The polycarbonate discs following injection molding are transparent. A reflective mirror coating needs to cover the disk so that the pits of information can be read when the laser is reflected back to the disk reader. The practice of creating the disc reflective is called sputtering. The argon ions are attracted to the aluminum target by the use of a high voltage. As the ions hit the goal, particles of aluminum have been ejected and are deposited onto the CD surface.
Artwork printing
Before artwork can be printed that the lacquer can be applied to the disk surface. The lacquer is then UV dried in few seconds. Artwork is then printed on top of the translucent lacquer. There are two methods to publish the art; i.e. silkscreen or offset. Silkscreen printing is good for vector based graphics and offset is very good for picture based images. If your art is designed utilizing Illustrator without importing any jpg or tiff file, then the artwork is most likely vector based meaning all of the art components are represented by regular lines and shapes. Should you use Photoshop to make your design chances are the artwork will be picture established. Offset should be utilized for photograph based artwork. Color matching can only be done on vector based graphics.
To duplicate or to replicate?
Together with the descriptions above it's going to be so obvious that when time is of essence, you have not alternative but use duplication. The unit price will be much higher compared to replication but at least you can make sure the discs you want can be ready in 24-hrs. Another situation you should use duplication is when the quantity is small. You probably won't here an expert printer to print 10 or even 100 copies unless it's absolutely necessary. By the same token, when the volume is small a duplication job will suffice. That leaves the only scenario when replication should be utilized; i.e. when you have sufficient time and the volume is large, say 1,000 or more. Most CD duplication companies such as New Cyberian Systems also accept replication at the number of 500. However, when you compare the prices for 500 and 1,000, you will observe the difference is actually not that much.
Together with the descriptions above it's going to be so obvious that when time is of essence, you have not alternative but use duplication. The unit price will be much higher compared to replication but at least you can make sure the discs you want can be ready in 24-hrs. Another situation you should use duplication is when the quantity is small. You probably won't here an expert printer to print 10 or even 100 copies unless it's absolutely necessary. By the same token, when the volume is small a duplication job will suffice. That leaves the only scenario when replication should be utilized; i.e. when you have sufficient time and the volume is large, say 1,000 or more. Most CD duplication companies such as New Cyberian Systems also accept replication at the number of 500. However, when you compare the prices for 500 and 1,000, you will observe the difference is actually not that much.