High-Quality CD Printing Solutions -

Duplication Vs Replication – Which one is the right option?

shiran de soysa — Sun, 12 May 2019 10:39:00 +0000

Replication vs duplication? – It’s one of the most commonly asked questions at Implant Media. Many companies offer one or the other but as we do both CD, DVD, Blu-Ray duplication and CD, DVD, Blu-Ray Replication and a specialist for both. The decision which is the right one for you, its best to understand exactly what duplication and replication are in regard to optical media.

CD Duplication

At its most basic, duplication is the burning of optical media. Blank CD-R’s, DVD-R, or Blu-Ray-25-R are burnt using duplication towers using CD-Burners to transfer the data on to the media. A master disc is used and copies of that are made through the burning process. The media can then either be printed. There are a few different ways the media can then be printed but at Implant we offer 3, direct to disc inkjet, Black Thermal Film and in special circumstances, we can screen-print the discs. The method used will depend greatly on your artwork, but the vast majority of discs are direct to disc inkjet printed as this produces vibrate colourful discs with the easiest to set up artwork.

CD Replication

The replication process involves moulding disc with data rather than burning them. A plastic polymer is injected moulded with a polycarbonate that is stamped with a glass master that has been created in the master process to transfer the data onto the media. These discs can then be printed either through screen-printing or offset printing. The completed process is quite complex and more information on it can be found here

Each process has its advantages and disadvantages – but the right one to chose really comes down to how many units you need and how much time you have for your project. At Implant duplication is available from 10 units to 500 units, and replication is only available form 500 units. This is because of the cost involved in the setup for replication it does not become economically viable to offer them a lower volume. But once these setup costs have been recouped after the 500 units and because the replication process is faster per discs than the duplicated process amount over this the replicated discs are much more economical to produce and that’s why if you want larger runs of media we would normally recommend replication. The lead time is the other deciding factor that needs to be taken into consideration. The industry standard lead time for duplication is 2-3 days while the lead time for replication is 7-10 working days. This is the same for Implant Media but under the right circumstances, we can produce duplication CD and DVD media the same days as artwork and masters are supplied. There are a few other factors that can come into play, such as the print process differing from each other and the range of packaging available for either option but this is secondary to lead time and cost. In Summary Duplication for runs under 500 units or for media runs that you need in a hurry. Replication for runs 500 and over when you have enough time to produce them this way (7-10 days) The most important thing you can do is call Implant Media for your next project and talk to one of our experts, we have the right solutions so that we can get the most out of your budgets time frames and needs to get the best Duplication and Replication projects in Australia.

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Top Digital CD Printing Sydney

sangeetha — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 08:25:20 +0000

You may be completely unfamiliar with the current techniques used for CD printing Sydney, and if you are, then this article will be useful for you. Offset printing is based on the scientific fact that oil and water do not mix. It is a very common printing technique where the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, and then on to the final printing surface. From this you can see where the name “offset” comes from, this being the act of it being transferred from one place to another.

Offset printing is a longer and often somewhat more expensive process. However, it also produces very accurate prints that being run through different rollers under different colours creates a consistently, high quality product. The offset technique employs a flat image carrier on which the image to be printed gets its ink from the ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based solution, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

A digital CD printing Sydney machine uses a similar printing method to your standard desktop inkjet printer. In fact, many modern home printers come with a CD tray that allows you to load an inkjet printable CD into it and run it through the same printing heads that would normally print onto paper. A professional digital CD printer is more of a dedicated machine that is set up to print only onto CDs and has an automated loading and unloading system for the discs. Inkjet printing produces photo-realistic graphics with brilliant colour intensity. Its versatility makes it a good choice for large format display graphics. Inkjet printers use CMYK inks to produce full colour and can print onto a wide range of media so this process is suitable for both indoor use and outdoor use.

This system means that the machine can print up to 200 CDs unattended and, as printing with these machines tends to be quite slow, they can be left to print whilst others aspects of the project are attended to. There are also no fixed set up costs with digital CD printing Sydney which is great if you only need 50 discs. Here are some digital CD printing Sydney advantages;

CD Printing Sydney can be done on many different substrates
Waterproof and fade resistant inks can be used
Suitable for printing materials for interior or outdoor use
Any size can be printed including large format and extra wide format

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Lithographic CD Printing

sangeetha — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 11:42:39 +0000

Lithographic (Offset) CD Printing

This printing process is very different from the screen printing process and the two printing machines are set up very differently. The lithographic process takes advantage of the fact that the printing ink and water do not mix much like oil and water.

The artwork image is applied to a lithographic CD printing plate using a laser. The printing plate surface is rough in texture and is pre-coated with a thermally reactive emulsion.

The printing plates are treated using chemicals to enable removal of the exposed area of the thermal emulsion from the printing plate. Once the printing plate has been prepared, the area containing the artwork image is made ink receptive and water repellent. The areas on the CD printing plate that are not to be printed are made to attract water but not the ink. The printing plates are then assembled onto a rotating cylinder on the lithographic printer.

As the printing plate goes through each rotation, it passes over a set of rollers which apply water to the plate, the water is attracted to the rough surface, where ink is not to be applied to the disc.

ext the printing plate passes over the rollers as ink is added. The ink is attracted to the smooth areas of the printing plate. A cylinder wrapped in a rubber blanket then rolls over the plate and picks up the ink. The CD artwork image is then transferred from the rubber blanket cylinder onto the CD printing which is securely held in a metal platen. Once again, this process is very fast which many parts of the process happening simultaneously and many discs being printed in conjunction.

Lithographic printing is perfect for printing photographic images as it can deal with areas of subtle colour gradient very well. It’s not so good, however, for large areas of solid colour as there can be an ink coverage discrepancy which can lead to a “patchy” print on the CD.

As with CD screen printing, lithographic printing has a fixed setup cost regardless, in this case, of how many colours are involved in the print. It only becomes economically viable for print runs of 100 discs or more and the more discs are printed, the lower the unit cost goes.

In a nutshell, if your project is only for a small run of discs then digital CD printing is the way to go. There is certainly no print quality compromise with digital printing over the other 2 processes and even though it is the slowest process, this is not really relevant if you’re only having 50 discs printed. There are many companies specialising in 24 to 48 hour turnarounds on short runs of discs who use this printing method exclusively and have it down to a fine art.

For projects where the amount of discs required is more than 100 and the artwork features bold, solid colours, then the DVD printing process of choice has to be screen printing. The metallic and fluorescent inks available for this process make for some truly eye-catching and distinctive designs. If the artwork for the discs is a photographic image or contains a subtle colour gradient, then the printing process best suited to this type of artwork would be Lithographic printing. For screen and lithographic printing, the more units ordered, the cheaper the unit cost becomes.

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CD Printing – chose the right cd printing for your project

sangeetha — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 11:28:15 +0000

CD Printing

Once you have asked yourself questions to determine the type of CD printing you need, you can go ahead and loo into them in more detail. For example, how many CD’s do you need printed? What is the intended use of the product? What artwork is needed for the discs? Let’s look at two types of CD printing in more detail;

Digital CD Printing

This CD printing method uses a printer that employs the same process as an inkjet printer that many home users will be familiar with. In fact, many home printers can be equipped with a CD printing tray for use with pre-manufactured CDRs with a printable surface. A company printing CDs professionally will most likely be using an inkjet printer that is specifically for the printing of CDs. These printers have an auto-loading mechanism enabling the unattended printing of up to 200 CDs. The printer automatically loads unprinted discs and unloads the finished discs onto separate spindles.

Digital CD printing using one of these printers is slow but there are no fixed set up costs involved. This is fine if the order quantity of discs is less than 100, or 200 if there is no fixed, imminent deadline for the order.

This method of printing is capable of producing highly professional looking CDs as an inkjet printer can print at very high resolutions. The printed surface does need protection though and a layer of clear lacquer needs to be applied to the discs to prevent moisture coming into contact with the ink through handling or exposure to damp environments. This necessity adds significantly to the overall project time. Printable discs are available which have a specially formulated surface that becomes water resistant after printing but they are more expensive than regular printable discs and so a decision has to be made depending upon the urgency of the project; extra expense for water resistant discs or extra time for the application of a layer of clear lacquer?

CD Screen Printing

CD Screen printing is ideal for artwork designs that involve solid areas of colour. Screen printing is carried out using a machine with a rotating bed that has 5 separate stations where a different colour of ink can be applied. The CDs can have a base colour applied first over the whole disc area, which means that a screen printed CD design can consist of a total of 6 different colours maximum.

As the process name suggests the screen printing is applied through the use of very fine mesh screens. There is a separate screen for each colour in the artwork design. To create a screen, a film is produced which has the areas where ink is not to be applied to the disc, blacked out. The new screen is initially coated with a thermal emulsion. The film and the screen are aligned on top of each other using guide marks and are put into an exposure unit. When the screen is exposed to a hot, bright light, the area of thermal emulsion not protected by the dark area on the film is cured. The screen is then washed with a water spray and the areas of uncured emulsion wash away to reveal the mesh.

The screen is then fixed at its station. Once all the screens have been prepared in this way, the printing can begin. The CDs are loaded onto the machine by an automated robotic arm system. They are placed into a platen which holds the disc firmly in position. At each station, ink is added on top of the mesh screen and a rubber squeegee blade passes over the top pressing the mesh down onto the disc surface and forcing the ink through the fine mesh holes and onto the surface of the disc. The ink application stroke takes about a second and each station applies ink to a disc simultaneously as soon as the first 5 discs have been fed into the system. This speed means that a screen printing machine can print more than 3500 discs in an hour so large orders can be completed quickly.

There are, however, significant fixed set up costs due to the requirement for screens and films. These can be reduced by limiting the artwork to fewer colours, with a single colour print onto a silver disc being the most cost effective print. The fixed costs do mean that this CD printing process is only really viable for orders of over 100 discs.

The CD screen printing process is capable of producing a truly amazing CD print at a very high resolution due to the use of extremely fine mesh screens. It is not ideal, though, for printing photographic images due to the presence of subtle colour gradients in these images. What makes the screen printing process truly unique is the availability of fluorescent and metallic inks which can really add a WOW factor to your CD print.

To sum up your options;

If you only need a short run of less than 100 discs, digital printing will be the most cost effective CD printing method. There is certainly no compromise with print quality but there are no fixed set up costs.
If your image consists of 1 or more solid colour areas, then screen printing is the CD printing method to choose for a pin sharp result. Fluorescent and metallic artwork also requires screen printing.

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