I’ve a slew of CDs I’ve mixed from my regular collection. I took the time to print out some pretty nice jewel case inserts so they look good on the shelves next to their parents. However, opening them up reveals my childish, ghastly handwriting smeared over the CD face. It doesn’t matter how hard I try, it is like Charlie Brown and a pen. Just. Can’t. Write. Neatly.
I’d like to cover my shame with nice, crispy inkjet printed labels. Has anyone here had experience with them? I tried a few NEATO labels a long while back, and though most are in good condition, a few that were exposed to the heat of a car CD player have minor wrinkles. They still play in the CD player, but I’m afraid one day they will be unplayable and wonder if someday the others will peel on their own.
So what do the TMs say? Labels protect the surface from scratches? Labels peel and muck up the CD player works? Thanks!
I have used printed labels (CD Stomper brand - comes with a little gizmo so you can center them and - firmly - stick the labels on), but since I was not a wiz with the software that came with the Stomper, I gave up. It took so long to do a label that I just use a CD marking pen and skip the whole label thing. I can read my own writing, and it is a lot easier, and faster. Sounds like you are a bit handier with the software (if you can do inserts! Wow, I am impressed. I never could figure out how to do that!), so I would recomment the CD Stomper kit, if only for the Stomper gizmo.
I have heard that if the label is not perfectly on the CD, you can run into problems while the disc is in the drive- never happened to me. But I can see how it could happen if you left them in the car.
I’ve been labeling for over a year now and haven’t had any problems. Once in a while I’ll attache the labek improperly and ruin a disc. But at 30¢ each, it’s no big deal. I use the CD Stomper, but it doesn’t always attach the label completely flat and air bubbles appear. I still use it though. I take the label and curl it so that it barely touches the disc and put on the device. I place the CD on the device just so both sides of the label touch the disc firmly. I remove it from the Stomper device and slowly attach the label to the disc by running my finger in lines parallel to the part I stuck earlier. No more air bubbles.
This was problem (although an infrequent one) when I used to fix CD changers. It seems that the adhesive from manually applied labels eventually leaks or is squeezed-out past the edge of the label, where it will come into contact with the disc clamper and become stuck. When the clamper raises to alllow the disc tray to eject, the disc will stick to the clamper and stay inside the player, and the tray will come out empty.
Some of the better manufacturers changed the material that the clamper is made from to help prevent adhesive sticking, but it didn’t seem to help much IMO.
I think the more recent improvements to labels & stamping machines has helped more than anything, but it’s still advisable to run your finger around the inner edge of a label every so often to check for stickiness.
Labels are much preferred over chemical markers, which can bleed through the plastic and corrupt the data layer. The data layer is only a few hundred µmeters from the label side of the disc, but it’s about 1000 µm from the clear “read” side.
Boscibo, making inserts is fairly easy – two ways in fact. A while back I created a new template in MS Word based on the measurements of the label (took a couple tries to get the adjustments right). It had a light gray dashed boarder as a cutting guide, and text boxes in the right places to put in titles, artists, spines, &c. The text boxes were independent of the boarder so that I could rearrange/size them at will. Lots of free fonts and graphics are available on the net to make them look purdy. This, however, required a lot of time to cut them out, fit them nicely, and redo those that I botched.
Recently I bought the inserts linked to in the OP. They make things much, much easier, and are only ten bucks. There is free, easy to use software from Memorex that has the template pre-designed. The software calibrates based on a printout from a regular sheet of paper, and so far I haven’t lost a single one. Making a cover now takes five minutes or so, they fit perfectly and look great. Give them a try (but wait for me to buy stock in Memorex first!)
Attrayant ,you are actually getting right to the problem I’m worried about, but you raise another specter. I am worried that in a couple years one of my neatly printed labels is going to do some major damage to the CD player (or worse, a friends!). Could a loose label or leaking glue cause major damage, or will the player just need to be professionally cleaned?
I guess the dilemma is whether to risk a few bucks on cleaning the CD player or a few bucks and lots of time spent on CDs that get ruined from the marker. I’ve been using a felt Sharpie, never thought it could bleed through and trash a CD.