<p>Avery.com and expressit.com both have free design software that should be able to help you print on adhesive labels. I would advise avoiding adhesive labels though. They look cheap, and can cause a lot problems - especially on DVDs which are very sensitive to balance issues. <br>
Lightscribe is OK, but increadible slow and print black only so if you make more then one occasionally or need color its not a very good solution. The next step up would be a quicky thermal printer. You can get one for about $75.00 and it'll print decent text in black on a silver disc. The cost pre print is cheap (about $0.02 - $0.05/disc) and you don't need special discs to use it.<br>
Beyond that you can go to an ink-jet printer thats capable of printing on discs directly. Two things to note about those. First, you need Ink-Jet discs and you'd be best off buying "Watershield" discs. Ink-jet ink is water soluable and the watershield discs contain a binder that prevents the ink from bleeding if it gets a little wet. It doesn't make them water proof, but it helps with mild water exposure. Second, cost per print is relatively high. When you combine the watershield discs with the cost of the ink you're probably in the $0.60 - $0.80/disc range.<br>
If you've got a healthy budget you can move up to thermal retransfer or thermal dyesub. Printers cost $4500 - $10,000 depending on the options but they produce stunning one offs.<br>
In my opinion, if you're labeling discs to go to clients then the most cost effective and professional method is to have blank discs pre-screen printed for you. You can get them done in bulk for less then the material costs if you were to ink-jet print them yourself. You also save all that time doing it yourself and you end up with a much better, more professional disc ... which makes you look better in the end.</p>
Best CD label software kit
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<p>Avery.com and expressit.com both have free design software that should be able to help you print on adhesive labels. I would advise avoiding adhesive labels though. They look cheap, and can cause a lot problems - especially on DVDs which are very sensitive to balance issues. <br>
Lightscribe is OK, but increadible slow and print black only so if you make more then one occasionally or need color its not a very good solution. The next step up would be a quicky thermal printer. You can get one for about $75.00 and it'll print decent text in black on a silver disc. The cost pre print is cheap (about $0.02 - $0.05/disc) and you don't need special discs to use it.<br>
Beyond that you can go to an ink-jet printer thats capable of printing on discs directly. Two things to note about those. First, you need Ink-Jet discs and you'd be best off buying "Watershield" discs. Ink-jet ink is water soluable and the watershield discs contain a binder that prevents the ink from bleeding if it gets a little wet. It doesn't make them water proof, but it helps with mild water exposure. Second, cost per print is relatively high. When you combine the watershield discs with the cost of the ink you're probably in the $0.60 - $0.80/disc range.<br>
If you've got a healthy budget you can move up to thermal retransfer or thermal dyesub. Printers cost $4500 - $10,000 depending on the options but they produce stunning one offs.<br>
In my opinion, if you're labeling discs to go to clients then the most cost effective and professional method is to have blank discs pre-screen printed for you. You can get them done in bulk for less then the material costs if you were to ink-jet print them yourself. You also save all that time doing it yourself and you end up with a much better, more professional disc ... which makes you look better in the end.</p>