DVD and Bluray disc printers

[Jeff Cook]

Hello everyone. I was wondering what you use to print onto your dvd/bluray discs? I have been having a production house print up my dvds and wanted to know what you guys use. I will need something that will print on both dvd and bluray. I was looking at this model: Canon's Pixma??? What brand of discs do you buy? Thanks for your suggestions.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jeff

Epson Artisan 725 and 730 printers work well for use and you get a nice end product. They also print a very respectable DVD/BD cover sleeve.

Disks are a very tricky subject and many posts have been made about them! It's a toss up between what writer/burner you are using and what disks work best with them ... A verbatim disk may not work in a customer's player if burnt on a Samsung device but might be perfectly fine on another writer.

I have always used LG writers and LG disks and they give me the best compatibility possible...I was tempted a few years ago to change disk brand due to a brilliant deal from my wholesaler and paid for it dearly!! I ended up driving all over my area delivering new disks to irate brides whose DVD's simply would not play in their players but played on mine with no issues.

There is a website somewhere that actually gives you a list of the best compatibily of burners/disks that will play on the biggest range of players. I know if I burn my LG disks with a Samsung drive they will NOT even load on Sony DVD players!!

To save yourself a LOT of running around replacing "faulty" disks try and disk yours on as many players as you can!!

Chris

[Dave Blackhurst]

I was using an HP, but it died a slow and gruesome death, and HP doesn't make a CD printing model anymore.

Picked up a Pixma 6320 (you might still find good deals on ebay and in other places, as there is now a "7320" that pretty much looks like the same thing!). For the sub $100 price I paid, no complaints other than the "setup" cartridges being pretty stingy - buy some "real" ones, you'll need them! You could probably go for the model under (5xxx?), if you don't need the 6th "grey" cartridge, which they "say" is for B&W prints - I figured for the minimal difference in price, just buy the top model...


So far, the print quality has been fast and good, photo type printing is pretty impressive. One of these days I need to try the CD/DVD printing capability - if it's as good as the rest of the functions I've already used, it should be good. I've got a stock of hub printable discs, hopefully they will be "compatible" with the new printer!

Epson is of course the manufacturer that has offered CD/DVD printing "forever", I just had a disappointing experience with one of their low end printers, and haven't tried them since, though I'm sure they aren't making lousy printers...

SO... pick an Epson or one of those Canons, those are the current options unless you want to seek out a "dedicated" disc printer of some sort (I don't know if there are any, but I'm sure that there's still something out there that's specialized?).

It usually takes a bit to get templates dialed in, but after that, printing short runs "in house" is a handy option!

[Chris Harding]

If you are just doing weddings with small runs a standard printer works well. Bulk units are available like the Primera Bravo SE Disc Publisher Disc duplicator but unless you are churning out bulk stuff the list price of $2000 is a bit of an overkill!!

Chris

[Mark Watson]

Due to my Epson R1800 having a clogged head issue I haven't been able to resolve, I had to spring for another CD printer. Unfortunately I got the Canon MG5420. I wouldn't recommend this printer for printing CDs. It's torture. You can read all the negative comments about how slow it is to get started, and those statements are true. There's no CD print layout software included and very scarce mention in the owners manual about this function. Also, I could never get the CD print to work using the wireless feature. The copy mode works fairly well. You can place a printed CD on the scanner glass and it will copy and print that onto a blank CD. Somebody was nice enough to post a template for use in PhotoShop to create the disc graphics/text. I have not used it yet. Will give it a go after I try to fix the R1800 again. Bottom line, whoever is responible for the CD print feature on this printer is some kind of sadist.
To summarize: If you're into mental anguish, get this printer.

Mark

[Chris Harding]

My Epson Artisan 725 has been brilliant I must admit but the 730 also had ink clogging issues and despite trying everything I just cannot clear the light magenta head line ... The 730 was the newer on too. Epson give you very nice disk printing software too!! I wanted a CD printer that had a retractable tray that operated on a button too..my older Epsons did good disk prints but having a flat tray that you had to physically insert was a pain and it never seemed to line up correctly and often took a couple of tries before it printed so avoid the manual disk tray as well ...the integral one works a lot better!

I think the bottom line with inkjet printers is DON'T let the ink run low ..that's when they seem to clog..right at the very end of a cartridge and once air gets into the feed tube and dries the ink you are unlikely to fix it...I change mine when the printer tells me "Your ink is getting low" and I never run it to the very end!!

Chris

[Rob Cantwell]

I use a Canon Pixma pro 9000 that I have for a good few years, it has a tray underneath that works well, the software for it is a bit flakey to say the least but you'd figure it out eventually!! I'd also use this printer to output cover packaging etc.

I also have a Lightscribe writer on my Blueray drive that i've used a few times, to be honest it turns out a bit dull for my liking, so unless someone ask for it i generally dont use it. BTW the site LightScribe is no longer active.

Rob

[Roger Van Duyn]

I have an Epson Artisan 50 and a Canon MG5420. Both are okay for an occasional disk or two. Whenever I need more than a handful, I use the online service Kunaki.

[Kyle Root]

Epson Artisan 835. Had it for several years now and have literally run hundreds of disks through it (one at a time). Still working great.

[Leon Bailey]

Originally Posted by Kyle Root

Epson Artisan 835. Had it for several years now and have literally run hundreds of disks through it (one at a time). Still working great.

Looking that up now as I am in the hunt for a printer pretty soon. Thanks for sharing!

[Jeremiah Rickert]

I had an Epson R300 for 10 years that finally gave up the ghost. (ink catching pads became saturated and are apparently irreplaceable). A friend sold me an unopened Epson Stylus Photo R280 for cheap (and you can find them fairly cheap) and it's been working like a dream. Verbatim AquaAace glossy DVD+R's print absolutely beautifully in this printer.

I guess if I were to buy a brand new one, I'd probably go with Epson, however I was daunted by some of the reviews of the Artisan series (general cheapness in the build, etc). I think Epson's mechanism for printing is unmatched though.

[Don Bloom]

+1 on the Epson 300. It's not printing the colors correctly any more, but I've used it for about 5 years and run hundreds if not thousands of DVDs and prints thru it. 13x19 movie posters suck up lots of ink but they looked marvelous!

[Kyle Root]

It looks as if Epson may be phasing out the "Artisan" line, as they currently only make 1 printer with that designation and that's the Artisan 1430 Wide format printer for $300.

The "All In One" Artisan 700 800 series appears to have been replaced by their "Expression Series".

EPSON Expression Home All-in-One Printers - Printers Ideal for Everyday Home Use

[Don Bloom]

I'm sorry. I wrote 300 and I meant to write 1400 series. I paid $300 for it years ago. I can do 13x19 and this morning I tried it again and its working fine. Go figure. I used to have 2 of the R200s and they did a decent job.

[Nigel Barker]

For some reason 'Artisan' has never been a model line for Epson in the UK (possibly the whole of Europe). Presumably for the same doubtless good reasons that the Canon T3i is known as the 600D over here.