I needed quite a number of different types of blank optical media disks the other day but did not feel like going into the city and finding a specialist store; so, I went online and found a great supplier who has every type of blank disk known to man. Credit card at the ready, I soon filled up a good size purchase kart and was ready to confirm my order.
Before completing the transaction, I surfed around the site a little and discovered that they also had many neat items of hardware on offer at very attractive prices. Some of these I already have, others are currently on my “wish list” but there was one that I just could not figure out. I know all about the different types of computer printers that I use for printing out my documents and photographs in the “comfort of my own home” but, what on Earth is a CD Printer? CD or DVD writers I can understand but how or why print a CD? Being a tad tight on time, I closed off my disk order but couldn’t get the puzzle of this printer out of my mind.
As soon as I had some free time, I did a little on line research and the answer was blindingly obvious. I have long been used to two different appearances amongst by CD and DVD collections. One is the store purchased original disk complete with a colorful label on the non-playing side. The other is my collection of homemade disks with the disk maker’s name on the non-playing side – plus my felt tip pen handwritten title for the disk. I had never thought much about the “label” on my disks but, on closer inspection, I see that they are not labels printed onto a circle of paper and then stuck onto the disk. The purchased disks have words and pictures actually printed directly onto the disk in full vivid color.
The CD Printer obviously does this for the professionals and, wouldn’t it be neat, if I could put the same great look onto the disks that I produce. With that in mind, I rushed back to the on line store site and, wait for it; printers suited to my “one-off” requirements are available. Currently, they are not dirt cheap but are affordable on a home use budget. By the way, I also discovered that I will need to buy a slightly different type of blank disk after I get my CD Printer.
