OT: R200 CD/DVD print quality

spacesounds wrote on 12/8/2004, 6:17 PM
I just got an R200 printer, and must say that for the money, it's quite a deal. However, the CD/DVD printing program that comes with it leaves a lot to be desired (and what's up with those HUGE icons???).

Is there any other program I can use - like printing 300dpi files directly from Photoshop? Also, when printing a solid black background with a small logo and text, the black appears somewhat blotchy. How do I get nice, even color coverage? I'm using Memorex white printable media. Thanks for your tips, tricks and otherwise invaluable input!

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 12/8/2004, 6:40 PM
the blotchyness might be your media. I use ridata's & black with writing on it looks great (you are waiting about 24 hours before worrying, right? Just incase the ink didn't completely dry).

I use the printing program that came with it with no problem. I normally make my covers in photoshop & then import them. They look EXCELENT. Even though the print program is relatively week, just import the stuff (and i belive you can print right from photoshop of you wanted. I' never tried though).
spacesounds wrote on 12/8/2004, 6:57 PM
Thanks. 24 hrs for drying is a little steep, but I must say that the two samples I printed look better already after only 3 hours or so. I did two tests with highest-quality JPG files saved from Photoshop - one in RGB format, and the other with the same file but in CMYK format. I thought CMYK would give better coverage, but the RGB image looks better.

What I don't like about the Epson program is that they don't tell you squat about image size, resolution, etc. I'll give it a shot going direct from Photoshop...
Mandk wrote on 12/8/2004, 6:57 PM
I also import from photoshop and print on Ritek disks. No problems with the results.

Showed the people at work my product and they were amazed these were printed by such an inexpensive printer (and these are professionals)
Laurence wrote on 12/8/2004, 7:12 PM
I work in Photoshop, then resize to 1178 x 1178 pixels, copy into the cut and paste buffer from Photoshop, then paste from the cut and paste buffer in the Epson program. It works great. The final step is laminating a clear plastic layer over the disk surface with the Accent disk laminator. It seems kind of lopsided to spend so much money on the laminator and so little on the disk printer but having waterproof disks is really important to me and I had a terrible time with the various clear sprays I tried.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 12/8/2004, 8:41 PM
yeah, with the spraws you have to be carefull. They MUST be prefectly flat & completely on a hard surface. Then it normaly takes a couple coats to get it really good (i haven't tried the one coat spray yet). But, once you get a system down, it minimizes bad sprays & works well (but,m again, the disk must be COMPLETELY FLAT ON A HARD SURFACE or the spray will get onto the bottom of the disk.)
stepfour wrote on 12/8/2004, 9:53 PM
I like the little Epson program for CD/DVD printing that comes with the DVD printers. It lets me get pretty creative with pictures and text in designing labels. Print quality is very good if the source material is also.