Short Run CD Duplication

CDs are, of course, not limited to use by musicians as an audio format, they can also be used to distribute software or data files, whether they are sold, given away at exhibitions to promote your business or just circulated around company staff. This article is a guide on how to go about sourcing short run CD duplication, including information about how to find the right supplier for your project, how to keep costs down without settling for a mediocre product or how to offer customers a superior limited edition product. The main aim of the article is to assist those embarking upon a short run CD duplication project to help them avoid any time consuming errors or general project stress.

Finding The Right Short Run CD Duplication Supplier

Word of mouth is always a good source of potential supplier information but if you have no experience of working with companies associated with this industry, then the internet is probably the best place to start. A quick search for "CD Duplication" will bring up results for a number of UK based companies offering this service and the vast majority will offer a short run CD duplication service as this will account for the bulk of their workload. There may be a company local to you which might make things a little more convenient for you, particularly if you prefer to talk to someone face to face or to you need to pick up your discs urgently rather than waiting for a next day delivery. If locality isn't a concern, then most companies offer very good, fast delivery services such as next day timed deliveries.

As a rule of thumb, a good way to gauge the sort of experience you are likely to have when dealing with a particular supplier is to look at their company website and read the customer feedback, if available. Identify 5 likely candidates and send out a request for quotation to each of them. They will usually have contact forms on their websites to make this easy for you. The type of response you get can be very telling. A good quote delivered quickly and promptly followed up with a customer service call is a good indication that the company will be good to deal with going forward.

 

Short Run CD Printing Methods

It's always good to have a little knowledge and understanding of the process when dealing with a new company, so let's take a look at the different CD printing processes available for short run CD duplication projects:

• Digital Printing – CDs can be digitally printed using an inkjet printer which incorporates a mechanism for loading and unloading "print receptive" discs. These machines can usually print up to 200 CDs, unattended. The printing process is not fast but the results are good. An inkjet machine can print photographic quality images onto a disc at 300 to 400 dpi which gives a high quality result. The printed image then needs to be sealed with a clear varnish to prevent potential damage occurring to the printed surface. Due to the slow print speed of this process, it is usually only used for very small orders of up to 50 discs.
• Screen Printing – This printing method is used where the disc artwork consists of solid colours. The process uses bold, vivid UV sensitive inks that produce a pin sharp end result. CDs can be printed with up to 6 different colours (one of those colours is a pre-printed base coat). A screen printing machine has a revolving metal platen with 5 stations. At each station a different coloured ink is applied to the disc through a mesh screen. After each station the disc passes under a UV lamp which cures the ink on the disc. This printing method is ideal for producing bright, eye-catching designs and also allows the use of metallic and fluorescent inks. Due to the high quality appearance of the screen printed CD, it is possible to keep the overall project cost down by just using 1 or 2 colours printed onto a silver disc, whilst still retaining a premium look and feel to the end product. Screen printing is not ideal, however, for printing colour gradients or photographic images. There is a fixed set up cost attached to screen printing for each screen used and each ink colour used which means it really only becomes a cost effective process for orders of 100 or more discs, especially where the design involves using all 6 possible different colours. The larger the order, though, the lower the unit cost.

 

• Lithographic (Offset) Printing – If your artwork features a photographic image or contains complex colour gradients, you will need to use this printing method. Litho printing works out as the most expensive process when it comes to short run CD duplication due to the fact that, regardless of how many different colours are involved in the design, the cost is the same for a printing plate. A black and white photograph or a colour photograph printing plate has the same associated cost. Litho printing is a high resolution process and if the artwork design is right then the end results are very impressive. However, this process is not ideal for large areas of solid colour as there is a possibility of a "patchy" appearance occurring on the disc.

 

Be aware of the following points when submitting artwork for printing for your short run CD duplication project:

• If you're doing the artwork yourself, use a design template – A CD printing template should be available from your supplier. Ask the project manager that you are working with. Don't make assumptions, as each supplier may have a slightly different printing process and you can avoid delays by working with an agreed template and submitting the artwork in an acceptable file format. Your supplier will normally be able to produce artwork on your behalf if you don't have the right skillset or access to someone who does, but there will usually be a charge for this.
• Avoid mixing large areas of solid colour with photographic images unless your order number is around 50 discs – The only printing process that could cope well enough with this type of print would be digital printing and if you have 100 or more discs to print then the unit cost will be high.
• Submit the highest quality artwork file that you can – If you supply a low resolution, poor quality image to your supplier then you can only expect a poor quality print as a result. Your supplier will inform you if the file is not good enough for printing. An image file should be at least 300dpi and if it's a photographic image, it needs to be a high quality, clear photo.

The Duplication Process

The duplication process is the same for short run CD duplication as it is for larger runs of over 1000 discs. Your supplier will have a duplication suite which consists of units housing multiple optical CD writing drives. These drives are similar to the ones that can be found in a desktop PC, there are just more of them and they are all linked in to one central master drive. The duplication suite is a clean room environment and will be fitted with dust extractors. The personnel working here wear hairnets and overalls as a rule to minimise airborne particles in the room which may interfere with the duplication process or the machines themselves.

The order size dictates how many drives are used in the process as it may be more cost effective to run several short runs at the same time in the duplication suite. The loading and unloading of discs is a fully automated process. Performing this job manually would be too slow and laborious to make it cost effective and so a system of robotic arms is used to load and unload the CDs from the drives simultaneously; this eliminates the potential for human error and the possibility of damage occurring to the printed surface of the CD if handled incorrectly. The robotic arms use soft rubber suction cups to manipulate the discs.

Once all the drives are loaded with blank discs, the master disc or master file is loaded into the master drive unit and the information is quickly transferred to all of the blank discs. The drives may be reloaded a number of times if the run is for several hundred discs.CD Packaging

Choosing the right packaging for your short run CD duplication project requires careful consideration of the end use of the CD. The following bulleted points offer good guidance:

• Plastic Wallets or Paper Wallets – Ideal if your CD is going to be given away to promote your business at an exhibition or to get your music out there. If you need to, you can include a printed card insert if the CD or content needs usage instructions. These are the cheapest CD packaging solutions but they only offer rudimentary protection for the disc.
• Printed Card Wallets – These help to keep the package slim and lightweight. The packaging design can really help to catch the eye and convey the content of the disc to the end user. Great for distributing music from the merchandise stall or for distributing data or audio content as part of supporting printed media such as a magazine or brochure. Variants exist that will accommodate more than one disc and the more expensive variants can be really quite elaborate and eye-catching. They are also a good choice in terms of reducing the environmental impact of your project as they can be constructed using recycled materials. Ask your supplier about this.
• Trigger, Clamshell and DVD style cases – These CD packaging variants are made of a flexible polypropylene plastic material. The trigger and clamshell cases are lightweight but offer good protection for the CD so they're ideal if you're sending the CD through the mail. They come in various translucent or opaque colours but are usually just clear or, for the DVD style cases, opaque black. The trigger case features a cool ejection mechanism to get the CD out of the case again, once it's been inserted. The DVD style case you may be familiar with as these are used to distribute films on DVD; this case can contain a printed information booklet and a printed outer wrapper.
• CD Jewel Cases – Jewel cases will be a familiar CD packaging type as these are widely used for the distribution of music CDs in retail environments. Many people have a cupboard full of these if they are fond of their music. They are made of a polycarbonate material which is a little more brittle than the trigger/clamshell cases, but the most commonly used clear type is completely transparent, whereas the trigger/clamshell cases are only semi-transparent. They can accommodate printed paper parts to support the CD content and variants exist that can hold as many as 6 discs. There is also a very classy variant known as the super jewel case but these tend to be more expensive.
• Premium Packaging – If there are no strict budget constraints on your project and you want to give the end user of the CD a WOW factor, there are numerous types of CD packaging that will fit the bill. Discpacks are a very classy card packaging type with a plastic CD tray glued inside. They can be gloss or matt laminated to give a high quality feel. Jakeboxes are a card packaging type with a clever pop up mechanism that presents the disc to the user when opened.  Metal Tins can be moulded to the required shape to hold your disc and printed using a screen printing method.

Packaging Artwork

If your chosen packaging type involves printed paper parts, then these will most likely be digitally printed. Again, ask your supplier for templates if you intend to design the artwork yourself. Also, ask about any restrictions or design advice; most suppliers will need a bleed zone of 3 to 4mm around the edge of the artwork which will be trimmed off during manufacture. Photographs will need to be high quality (at least 300 dpi) and not too dark as printing dark photos can be difficult. Lastly, check and then double check for spelling or grammatical mistakes in any text as this is often a source of great frustration for suppliers whose clients have hastily submitted artwork without properly checking their text and can cause delays or disputes.

Summary – If you are new to the short run CD duplication world, then the information above will act as a good guide for the inexperienced. Consider the points and the advice offered and discuss anything that may be unclear to you, with your supplier. A good supplier will be happy to assist. Good luck!

Source : articlesbase.com