The difference in appearance of a store bought CD as opposed to a duplicated CD is noticeable because store bought CDs are mostly replicated and the face of the disc is printed using a silkscreen method. The process used is the same as used for shirts, or specialty items. It uses a screening process that runs colored UV ink over the screens in a separate run for each color being used.
Silk-screening machines are basically a big round wheel that house smaller round indentations in it to hold the discs. Discs are inserted by robot and the machine is entirely controlled by a robotic CNC machine. This machine will place and remove the disc as each process is completed.
A pre-measured color of Ink is applied by a controlled dispenser and then a squeegee spreads the ink across the screen in a smooth controlled fashion which in turn transfers the ink to a target disc. With t-shirt silk screening, many times the squeegee is done by hand but with the discs, it is all operated by an expensive CNC robotics machine.
Once a color is applied to the disc, an automated table rotates the wheel to the next position. It will skip a position to allow for air drying between coats of ink. Doing this allows the machine to print two sets of discs at one time.
To prevent the ink from dripping or bleeding, an exact measured amount of ink is applied through the screen by a squeegee. Specially formulated inks are used that react with UV lamps and cure when passed under them. This permanently dries the ink so that it can not be smeared even if it is exposed to moisture. Once cured under the UV lamp, they are removed and stacked onto a spindle for further packaging.
CD and DVD discs that have been silks-creened have the same store bought look to it that all discs in video stores have. That same look can not be achieved with the traditional thermal or ink jet printer and some of the effects like filling in the hub with ink are just not possible. Silk-screening your disc will provide any project a much more professional appearance.
Silk-screening machines are basically a big round wheel that house smaller round indentations in it to hold the discs. Discs are inserted by robot and the machine is entirely controlled by a robotic CNC machine. This machine will place and remove the disc as each process is completed.
A pre-measured color of Ink is applied by a controlled dispenser and then a squeegee spreads the ink across the screen in a smooth controlled fashion which in turn transfers the ink to a target disc. With t-shirt silk screening, many times the squeegee is done by hand but with the discs, it is all operated by an expensive CNC robotics machine.
Once a color is applied to the disc, an automated table rotates the wheel to the next position. It will skip a position to allow for air drying between coats of ink. Doing this allows the machine to print two sets of discs at one time.
To prevent the ink from dripping or bleeding, an exact measured amount of ink is applied through the screen by a squeegee. Specially formulated inks are used that react with UV lamps and cure when passed under them. This permanently dries the ink so that it can not be smeared even if it is exposed to moisture. Once cured under the UV lamp, they are removed and stacked onto a spindle for further packaging.
CD and DVD discs that have been silks-creened have the same store bought look to it that all discs in video stores have. That same look can not be achieved with the traditional thermal or ink jet printer and some of the effects like filling in the hub with ink are just not possible. Silk-screening your disc will provide any project a much more professional appearance.
About the Author:
Mediatechnics is a great resource for CD/DVD silk-screening or media production services.
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