OT: Print to hub on DVDs

DRF wrote on 2/24/2006, 9:45 AM

I just got an Epson printer to print dvd's and bought some that I can print all the way to the center hub.

Epson's software gives a warning to let the dvd dry for 24 hrs before playing.

Just curious why that is? Is that where players/drives "grab" the disk to spin it?

What are the drawbacks of these discs, if any? What experiences have any of you had with these discs?

If it matters, I am spraying the discs with clear acrylic.

Any thoughts?

DRF

Comments

baysidebas wrote on 2/24/2006, 10:04 AM

The warning is there for those attempting to print to the hub area on discs that are not ready for such printing. Any ink deposited on a glossy part of the disc does not dry and will be centrifugally cast outwards as soon as the disc is inserted in a drive. In my experience, even 24 hours is a conservative estimate as I've had ink smear in such cases even 48 or 72 hours after printing. If you're printing to a matte printable area you can safely ignore that warning. I wish that the Epson printing app would be updated to recognize the fact that there do exist discs that are printable within that region, I'm tired of seeing that warning and having to acknowledge it every time I print.

JackW wrote on 2/24/2006, 10:35 AM

We've used the Epson 200 for two years, printed several thousand discs with it, and have yet to experience a smear unless because of dirty ink jets. This condition is usually signaled by small droplets of ink on the disc, and occasionally by a smear. A damp Q-tip can sometimes be used to remove these droplets without damage to the rest of the print job. Just follow the instructions that came with the printer to clear the jets.

We use Fuji hub-printable matte surface discs ($0.60 each in lots of 600 from our distributor, $0.63 each in smaller quantities) and have the ink level set at 1 on the printer. We found that there can be drying problems if we went to a higher (more intense) ink setting.

We usually let the disc dry for a few minutes before putting it into a jewel case, and let it dry overnight if we're going to spray it with fixative, which we usually don't do, having had no complaints with regard to the unsprayed discs.

We found a company locally that refills Epson ink cartridges for about half the price of the Epsons but have stopped using this service. We found the non-Epson ink to be much less brilliant than the Epson ink, so that often full-color printing looked washed out. Colors in the refill don't tend to blend as well either.

We figure Epson ink cost to be about $0.25 per disc. Since we pass this cost on to the customer, we'd rather go with the better looking print job than use the inferior ink.

FYI, we figure our actual production cost at $0.60 for the disc, $0.25 for the ink,
$0.25 for the jewel case plus a 35% markup for overhead costs (electricity, heat, etc. ) and equipment depreciation; salary and profit markup not included.

Jack

JJKizak wrote on 2/24/2006, 2:19 PM

Reset your inner/outer circle data to 21 inner/19 outer. Done deal.

JJK