Champagne Disc Labels on a Beer Budget

System builders looking to stamp out those smudged, mislabeled or off-center paper labels on important CDs and DVDs—either your own or your clients—can take heart. There is a convenient and low-cost way to give CDs and DVDs the look of professional laser-etched labels. It's a great technology called LightScribe.

Familiarizing yourself or your clients with LightScribe direct disc labeling technology can help you organize data, as well as put a professional face on the CDs and DVDs you produce. For a small additional outlay in hardware and media, you can also easily and accurately label your CD and DVD media in a LightScribe enabled drive. That way, you will avoid the low-budget look of sticky paper labels.

This will also help you to avoid printer jams. You'll also free yourself from the confusion often associated with mislabeled media as a result of those sloppy felt-tip markers. Finally, LightScribe lets you label discs without a printer; that's handy for mobile workers, too.

In this TechBuilder Recipe, I'll show you how LightScribe direct disc labeling works. I'll explain what it can do for you and your clients—and what it can't. I'll look at how you can make the best use of the technology to organize archived business data (on CD and DVD). I'll discuss how to produce professional-looking media for proposals, educational material and marketing materials. And finally, I'll show you step-by-step how to quickly get started labeling CDs and DVDs and offer you tips on how LightScribe hardware works with popular burning software.

WHAT IS LIGHTSCRIBE?

LightScribe direct disc labeling technology was the brainchild of Hewlett- Packard researcher Daryl Anderson. In fact, LightScribe is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Development Co.

Anderson was curious about whether the same laser used to burn data into the surface of a CD or DVD could also be used to label it. He sparked the development of software to repurpose the laser in optical drives. HP also began research into a new layer of light sensitive material to coat the discs that could then be laser-etched to produce silkscreen-quality DVD labels. HP was the first to market a drive that could use its laser to label special media. The company coined the term LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling, or "LightScribe" for short.

Previously, the two most common labeling methods were printing stick labels with an inkjet printer and writing information on the disc by hand. Affixing inkjet labels can be tricky and expensive. And handwritten labels, liable to smudging, can be hard to read.

A third alternative is leaving discs unlabeled or mislabeled. This, obviously, can cause confusion when it comes to back-ups and important data archives. While handwritten labels might be OK for copying music or videos at home, they have no place in business where a CD or DVD represents a company or contains critical or sensitive business records.

With the universal availability of LightScribe-enabled drives and media, laser etching labels presents an easy-to-use and reliable alternative to older methods of disc labeling. Laser etching produces a polished look. Plus, it's efficient, because you don't have to play with getting paper labels centered or keeping track of label stock. System builders should like the mobility this printing technology provides, too, since you don't need to a printer. You can label on-the-go on your notebook or laptop.

Also, LightScribe is inexpensive. That's true whether you install a LightScribe enabled DVD burner or use an external burner. When you compare prices, you'll be pleased to discover that you'll only have to pay a few more bucks to get a LightScribe-enabled DVD writer.

Further, the specially-coated LightScribe CDs and DVDs cost only a bit more than ordinary CD-Rs and DVD-Rs. In practice, any costs are easily offset by the savings you'll compile with not having to purchase inkjet ink, laser toner and label sheets.

HOW LIGHTSCRIBE WORKS

LightScribe ingeniously uses software to control the laser in a DVD burner to burn a DVD's top, or label, side. The label side of all LightScribe media is coated with a light-sensitive dye that is altered when exposed to laser light.

First, you create an image with the pertinent text and graphics, using the related LightScribe labeling software. (I recommend Nero Express 7.) Then, a high-resolution laser etching process takes place. It starts from the middle of the disc and works outward. The result: a precise gray-scale image that can clearly display text and graphics to create a professional-looking label.

On a LightScribe label, the background (that is, the unlabeled portion of the disc), is gold, the original color of the LightScribe disc surface. Printed portions appear nearly black, with varying degrees of opacity to produce lights and darks. The finished label in black and gold looks artistic and similar in respects to sepia photographs. It's a distinctive high-tech look suitable for many applications. More important, the label is clear and smudge-proof, since there's no ink or toner involved. There's no stickiness, either, since no adhesives are used. The design is always well-placed because you don't have to line up and attach a separate label.

Once a LightScribe label is created, it is permanent. You can add to the design later by re-inserting the disc and re-labeling with labeling software. But darkened areas cannot be lightened once they're "scribed."