Screen printing DVD's

[Patrick Janka]

Do you guys silk screen print graphics onto your DVD's? Where do you get blank DVD's with no logos or anything on the face? What printer do you use? Or do you go to a place that does all this for you?

[Don Bloom]

Many of us us the Watershield DVD now under the JVC brand name (it was by TY but JVC bought them). We use a variety of different printers be it Epson, Canon or whatever to print fullface graphics etc and since the watershield DVD has a glossy finish to it, it looks fantastic. There have been a lot of threads about this very subject.

[Sean Seah]

Watch out for the roller marks!

[Danny O'Neill]

Has anyone else had problems with loose ink on their watershield disks?

We got a pack to try and use them with our Epson R800 with genuine ink. Everything is lovely except the blacks, any blacks just wipe right off while everything else stays in place.

[Don Bloom]

I've used R200s and R1400 with the WS discs, have always uswed genuine ink (tried others it didn't work) amd can honestly say I've never had a problem. No roller marks that I've ever seen and the black stay where it's supposed to and looks good.
I just printed 2 batches, 1 text only and 1 full face print with lots of black in it, 20 each run and no problem with either batch.

[Roger Van Duyn]

I use Epson printers. Until the last year or so, I had pretty good luck with generic inks. But not lately. I'm going back to the genuine Epson inks. I don't know what happened, but suspect the cost cutting efforts by the generic manufacturers finally went too far.

[Chris Davis]

Are you using "silk screen" as a synonym for "color printing" or are you seriously talking about the silk screen printing process on DVDs?

It is possible to silk screen a DVD at home, but it's a very laborious process. In fact, it's so complex that I couldn't imagine anyone other than a hardcore silk screen hobbyist (fetishist?) would even attempt it.

Disc Makers does offer true silk screen printing for blank DVD-R disks, but the minimum order is 1,000 for about $500. I suppose you could get a batch that says "Patrick Janka Wedding Video" with a small white area for writing the name of the bride and groom.

[Donald McPherson]

I have also tried spraying car lacquer once the ink has dried.

[Patrick Janka]

Originally Posted by Chris Davis

Are you using "silk screen" as a synonym for "color printing" or are you seriously talking about the silk screen printing process on DVDs?

It is possible to silk screen a DVD at home, but it's a very laborious process. In fact, it's so complex that I couldn't imagine anyone other than a hardcore silk screen hobbyist (fetishist?) would even attempt it.

Disc Makers does offer true silk screen printing for blank DVD-R disks, but the minimum order is 1,000 for about $500. I suppose you could get a batch that says "Patrick Janka Wedding Video" with a small white area for writing the name of the bride and groom.

Perhaps I was errant in my terminology. It appears you guys are printing onto discs using normal inkjet printers? How do you go about printing in that manner? Do you actually put a disc in the paper tray? Does it need some sort of containment?

[Tyson Yoder]

There are certain printers out there that are designed to print on DVDs. Epson has a few.

[Don Bloom]

Epson and Canon have printers specially made to print on DVDs/CDs. Most use a tray that comes with the printer a few don't. For references check out a couple of the threads here. Lots of talk about different printers.

[Stephen J. Williams]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

Many of us us the Watershield DVD now under the JVC brand name (it was by TY but JVC bought them). We use a variety of different printers be it Epson, Canon or whatever to print fullface graphics etc and since the watershield DVD has a glossy finish to it, it looks fantastic. There have been a lot of threads about this very subject.

Hey Don.. Thanks for mentioning this. I wasn't ever really happy with the way that my DVD looked after the image had been printed onto the disc. I picked these up after your suggestion and have been more then pleased with the quality and professional look.

Steve

[Don Bloom]

No problem, should I snail mail or email the bill? ;-)

[Jim Snow]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

Many of us us the Watershield DVD now under the JVC brand name (it was by TY but JVC bought them).

Don, just to clarify. JVC did not buy Taiyo Yuden. Taiyo Yuden was one of the early pioneers of optical media. They have sold their media on an OEM basic to a number of companies who privately labeled it. Two or three years ago, Taiyo Yuden made the decision that they wanted to go after the consumer market in the US. Since the company name wasn't well know by consumers, they felt that it would be useful to have a more recognizable name. As a result they put together a branding deal with JVC. I know this first hand from a 'previous life.'

Actually, Taiyo Yuden is a large company whose primary business is electronic components. Media is just a small part of the company's business which usually just gets a 'by the way' mention in company info profiles.

Corporate Profile?Corporate Information?TAIYO YUDEN Co.,Ltd.

Notice how Taiyo Yuden's president says, "...,We also continue..." when he mentions the media business. The last time I checked, media was less that five percent of Taiyo Yuden's overall revenue.

http://www.yuden.co.jp/ut/company/message.html

[Philip Howells]

Chris is right about the cost and potential complexity of true silk screen printing (I say potential because many commercial disks especially in the pop CD market, use very simple but effective silk screen printed faces). On the other hand, done properly, silk screen printing gives the product a premium look and feel which no other printing system can match.

We have our demo disks blanks bulk printed and sealed by a top quality UK duplication house which we burn as required. This I judge to be the next best thing to silk screen printing though if I was starting over again I'd certainly consider silk screening the face of our demo DVD disks of which we currently release two.

However, before closing this subject could I also raise the whole question of the value of anything printed on the disk face?

Most DVDs are delivered in library cases with printed wrap-around inserts. Thus the face of the disk is only exposed for the few seconds between the opening of the case and the insertion of the DVD into the player. Beyond the minimum title and legal stuff what justification is there for spending any more time and money on the face of the disk?

Since no-one I've asked has ever given me a cogent economic answer we have always put all our time and effort into simple but beautifully printed library case inserts and kept the cost and time spent on the face printing to an absolute minimum.

It has been my experience that, whilst there may be exceptions, as a rule of thumb the professional competence and quality of the video is in inverse ratio to the beauty of the face of the disk a judgement brides would do well to recognise.