CD / DVD disc surface artwork printing - Epson Discproducer vs Professional optical disc offset printer?

Question

As I stated in my last post I am a print design hobbyist and part time graphic designer.

I am interested in trying to produce some of my designs onto the surface of blank CD / DVD optical discs with the same level of quality that you would find on professionally printed optical disc media.

Initially I thought that the only way to produce such artwork was with an incredibly expensive optical disc offset printer but someone told me recently that it is possible to produce similar results with a disc production system such as one from the Epson Discproducer series.

I contacted that person back to ask for further information but they never got back to me.

So the question I wish to ask here is..

Can a disc producer system such as the six-color inkjet Epson Discproducer achieve near-identical quality to that of a highly expensive six-color offset printer?

(Previous Post) What printers or methods are used to apply a matte lamination finish to the blank surface of an optical disc?

Answer 1

The big question here is quantity.

If you are not printing many at a time or your artwork changes often it will be more cost effective for you to go with the Epson Discproducer or a Microboards printer. The Microboards printers that I have are reengineered HP inkjets and do a great job for small quantity runs.

If you need a large quantity, I'd go with Cai and look for a professional printer.

Answer 2

I am not sure I will answer your question. I will only list some things you need to consider.

Do you need to:

• Have actual data on the CD? This will afect on the brand of disk you need, potentially afecting if you can print on it or not.

• Have thoose data for a long period of time? Cheap disks use pigments to store information. Long lasting cd/dvd has a real "burn" on the disk.

• Your design needs to be printed in large numbers?

• It is just a hobby and you want to print only one pice or two?

• The design must endure time or be in public place?

• The original surface should be painted? or can be a sticker?

• Will be seen at close range?

• Do you want to make test after test?

• Do you need gradients?

• Is the saturation and "vividnes" of the inks an issue?

• Do you need an error difusion pattern?

• Do you really need 6 inks?

Answer 3

I believe you would find that a disc producer system is much more cost efficient and gives good enough results if you are really a print design hobyist. I suppose you would want to be able to print different types of artwork on your CDs. I have worked for a company where we printed on CDs and DVDs with six-colour inkjet Epson (can't remember the exact model) and it gave really great results. Plus it is not so expensive to buy. Although you shoud know that depending on how many disks you plan on printing you will change inks every 4-6/10 weeks. It also depends what kind of inks you will be using (if you go for the ink-jet). Original inks are best, of course, but once you choose your inks you should stick with them since changing of the type of ink used is quite difficult job and almost always leads to problems with a lot of the following output. I have never dealt with offset printers before and since you depend on so many things using them, I'd go with the Epson.