Create designer labels for CDs and DVDs

A simpler alternative is to buy an external CD or DVD writer, but these are often more expensive. The software for writing the image will be supplied with the writer.

LabelFlash drives can also burn an image onto the data side of the disc if there is enough room left after the data has been written.

Apart from the cost of buying a new drive, the biggest disadvantage of these methods is that it is rather slow to create the label on the disc. And, as the writer itself is used, it is not possible to start creating another disc while this is going on.

A simple title can be written in a few minutes, but a high-quality image can take up to an hour in some cases.

Etched discs can be more vulnerable than regular discs. Imation, which makes optical discs, warns that certain hand creams can damage a LightScribe disc. These include creams that contain vitamin E and Polyethylene glycol.

PVC disc sleeves can make the images fade, and alcohols such as methanol and ethanol will dissolve the image.

Using an inkjet printer
The only way to get full colour onto the top of a disc without using a label is to use a special printer that can print directly onto dedicated discs. Most such printers are also quite capable of ordinary printing jobs. One example of this type of printer is the Canon Pixma ip5200, although most printer manufacturers have their own versions.

The advantage of this system is good-quality printing in full colour without the hassle of separate sticky labels. Unlike LightScribe, you can start burning another disc while creating the label.

This is not to say that using a printer is without its problems. Special discs are needed to make sure the ink will dry properly, and the discs need to b e carefully mounted into the printer to ensure the print-out works.

Tried and tested
The humble marker pen still has a part to play, even with all of these advanced alternatives. It has the advantage of being very quick, and has a personal feel to it. It is important to make sure you only use special markers, labelled as intended for use with CDs. If not, the ink may not dry or may even damage the data on the disc.

Markers are best used for discs that are not going to be shared, or for test discs when creating projects. Disc manufacturer Verbatim warns that you should only ever use specially designed CD marker pens when writing on discs.

The clear plastic on the top of the CD is actually very thin – about a tenth of millimetre. An ordinary marker pen may scratch the disc deeply enough to damage the layer containing the data.

Ironically, the underside of the CD is much better protected, although writing on that would also have a detrimental effect on the data, for obvious reasons. We’re going to walk through the process of printing a CD sticker in this article, but if you want to find out how burning a LightScribe label works, click here.