DVD printing – the practice of printing a design onto the blank side of a DVD – is a great way for software or media companies to improve the quality of their products. Printing directly to DVD can help companies to make their products appear more professional and guard against loss of stock.
Uses of DVD printing
Branding is a key use for DVD printing. Printing to DVD allows companies to put their logo or slogan directly onto the DVD itself, helping to increase brand exposure to users and customers. Printed DVDs can also help to drive sales in their own right, as their professional appearance usually makes them far more impressive to customers than DVDs that have been left blank or simply written on with a marker pen.
Alternatively, an organisation might choose to print installation or running instructions onto its DVDs as a form of user help. This practice has some benefits over a traditional paper manual or quick-start guide, as it eliminates the possibility that a user might lose the guide and struggle to install the software.
DVD printing can also be used as a security measure, as it allows users to print watermarks and serial numbers directly onto a DVD. This can help in circumstances where companies need to keep track of how many DVDs they can have in stock, as it allows for every DVD to be individually labelled in a quickly-identifiable way. In addition, printing copyright information to a DVD can help companies to comply with legal guidelines or prevent intellectual property infringement.
Types of DVD printing
DVD printing requires two major pieces of equipment: a printer capable of printing to DVDs and some DVDs that can be printed on. There are a number of different DVD printing methods out there, and it’s important to ensure that the disks you buy are compatible with the method that you will be using.
At the cheapest end of the scale, inkjet-printable DVDs have a paper-like coating on their reverse side, and can be printed on by an inkjet printer in much the same way as a regular sheet of paper. Most DVD-compatible inkjet printers have a special tray that allows them to accept and print to DVDs. Inkjet DVD printing is the simplest way for users to print their own DVDs at home. However, it only gives medium-quality results, and home printing can be impractical for more than a few DVDs.
Thermal printing sees printers transferring designs onto disc using a laser, in the same way that a regular laser printer would do. Thermal printing is quick and relatively cheap, but only tends to work well for relatively simple designs as it offers a lower definition than other methods of printing.
The highest quality DVD prints are achieved using thermal ribbon printing. In thermal ribbon printing, the image is first transferred to a ribbon, before being applied to the disc itself. This process allows for high-quality multiple-colour prints. Most professional DVD printing houses use thermal imaging to get the best results possible. If you have more than a few DVDs to print, using a printing house usually offers the best quality and value for money.
Martin Jonson is director of the UK’s leading DVD/Blu-ray/CD duplication company providing exceptional quality at the lowest UK prices. He offers next day delivery anywhere in the UK and will complete your job quickly with the greatest care. You can connect with him on Google+.