Starter Guide
If you are new to this industry and would like to get a better understanding of all the terms we use, this is a great place to start. We have defined all the main terms associated with our products and services. Just click on the term below and it will take you to the definition.
For help and information please don't hesitate to call us on 01491 636373
- Duplication
- Replication
- Flash memory
- Thermal printing
- Inkjet printing
- Silk-screen printing
- Litho printing
- Pantone
- CMYK
- Encrypted CDs
- Serialisation
- Fingerprinting
- Disc Spanning
- Fulfilment
- CD
- DVD
- Blu-ray
- Dual layer discs
- USB Flash drives
Duplication
Duplication is the process of copying the contents directly from one CD, DVD or Blu-ray disc to another disc and can be turned around very quickly. The duplication equipment reads the master disc and builds an exact image on the hard drive that cannot be modified. This data can then be burnt onto blank recordable CD, DVD or Blu-ray discs using a laser. This is done using professional, high volume CD duplicators, giving you a mirror image of your master content. We are also able to print the discs using either use a simple black thermal printer or high quality full colour inkjet or thermal printer depending on your artwork. This process is usually used for quantities of 1000 or less, and allows us to be able to print the discs ahead of receiving
the master content. Its very often the case that the artwork is ready,
but not the data content until the very last moment. You may want some copies duplicating urgently and the rest replicated and delivered at a later date.
Replication
For runs of 1,000 upwards the most cost-effective method is replication. Replication is a complicated process, which is why it is only considered for larger runs.
At those volumes, replication produces the lowest per-disc cost and offers the highest possible readability levels. In fact, all commercially distributed entertainment and software CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs are produced using replication. CD replication is a process where raw materials are used to make the discs from scratch. A glass master of your disc is produced, from this glass master stampers are made, from the stampers your formed plastic discs are injection moulded, the discs are then coated with a thin reflective layer of aluminium and a protective lacquer to coat them, this is hardened with ultra violet light. The data is part of the disc itself and not added in a separate process unlike duplication. Relication printing options are silkscreen printing using pantone colours or litho full colour printing.
Flash memory
Another term or phrase used for memory cards and USB drives.
Thermal printing
Thermal CD printing employs a heat transfer ribbon that bonds the images to be printed directly onto the thermal printable DVD, CD or Blu-ray. Black only thermal printing uses only a black ribbon. Full colour thermal CD printers however, utilise a retransfer printing process. The CMY panels are first printed to a clear retransfer ribbon inside the printer. Then, using heat and pressure, the complete printed image and a layer of the clear ribbon are applied to the disc producing a high quality professional glossy finish.
Inkjet printing
In inkjet disc printing, the ink solution is sprayed from cartridges directly onto the disc surface that is specially designed to receive, hold and absorb the ink droplets. The technology in inkjet CD printers produces photo-realistic high quality results for sophisticated, multi-colour, high-resolution graphics and images directly onto your DVDs, CDs and Blu-rays. Photoquality discs offer the option of a glossy finish rather than the standard matt inkjet finish and are more resistant to moisture to make the disc more durable.
Silk-screen printing
This is the standard processes used for disc printing in mass production disc replication. Silk screen printing has excellent colour matching results that are permanent and smudge proof. Silk-screen CD presses have indentations in a round table top for the discs to be set into. The tables are part of a very expensive robotic system and are usually loaded from a spindle full of discs by a robotic arm. Robotic arms operate the actual "screens", and lower each disc onto the table as it rotate into position.
The pre-determined colour of Ink is applied by an automated controlled dispenser. A robotic squeegee then spreads the ink across the screen which in turn transfers it to the disc. After each colour is applied, the automated table rotates to the next position (actually, they frequently skip one position to allow some air-drying between coats, so you can have two “sets” of discs being labelled at once.) Each position on the system has a different colour and different screen.
The ink is applied in a exact measured amount so that there is no dripping or bleeding. The inks are specially formulated for silk screening to lacquered CD or DVD surface. There are stations on the table with UV lamps for curing the ink before they are removed from the press by a robotic arm and stacked on an output spindle for spindle bundling or packing.
Litho printing (also known as Offset printing)
With offset printing, the colour resolution is much greater. Four plates (CMYK) need to be manufactured from your original artwork. Each plate is used to transfer an inked image onto a rubber blanket that has been mounted on a cylinder. The rubber blanket then transfers (or offsets) the inked image onto the disc as it passes through the press. As the disc moves through the press, the four colours combine to create a high resolution picture on the face of the disc.
This printing process works best when using CMYK plates plus a WHITE plate and will create the highest quality and most detailed print finish available. This process is therefore ideal for realistic photo images. Litho is a great alternative to Silk Screening for those high detailed artwork designs.
Pantone
This is a universal ink colour matching system each with specific colour formulations and identification number. Once you get your head around the difference between spot and process colours it is very easy to understand.
If you are re-decorating your house you would probably visit your local DIY store and pick up a colour swatch showing all the available paint colours printed in a swatch. You could then make your choices and call back into the store and supply them with the relevant information for them to either supply off-the-shelf, or mix the paint to your requirements.
It's very similar when choosing a spot colour. The main difference is that your local printer would not be able to give you a colour swatch, as these are very expensive to purchase and have to be kept in a light-free place to prevent fading of the colours. A spot colour is basically a pre-defined colour that can be reproduced at any time and always be exactly the same. There are many different colour references but the industry-standard formulas are provided by Pantone©.
Important: you may get a very slight colour variation on different print surfaces.
CMYK
You're probably aware of the fact that CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black. (K was used instead of B, so as not to confuse people into thinking it meant blue as it does in RGB). The majority of print jobs will be printed in CMYK, therefore it is important that files and artwork are set up in CMYK. One downside to converting artwork from spot colour to CMYK is that it can often alter the colour ever so slightly, so if it is imperative to exactly match a spot colour then this would need pointing out.
Encrypted CDs
Encrypted CDs are used as an extra security measure for protecting your data. We have several encyption options available. Our Cryptex Discs contain an embedded software program that encrypts your confidential data and records it to the disc then password protects it. We also offer Sony SecuROM which is embedded into the disc in order to securely lock the data content.
Serialisation
This is the process where we can individually serialise or add a unique reference to each disc print to make each one more traceable and therefore more secure.
Fingerprinting
This allows you to embed a unique fingerprint into each disc in a run to allow traceability of the data on the disc. Usually a barcode is printed onto the disc surface so that each disc is scanned in and out of production. If the data were then to appear online at a later date the data could be traced to the person who originally had this. This is used very effectively by one of our customers to monitor unauthorised copying or publishing, and has greatly improved the impact of their marketing campaigns.
Disc Spanning
Disc spanning allows you to select a hard disk, server or collection of data with no size limit. The data will then be automatically split across the necessary amount of CD, DVD, DVD-DL or BD-R discs and sent to the system to be produced. Each disc will be printed with a design of your choice and automatically labelled with the disc number (e.g. disc 3 of 10).
Fulfilment
Once we have your master disc you can sit back and relax while we duplicate the copies, print and pack them, even individually serialise them and dispatch them to a single location or multiple delivery addresses across the world.
CD
A CD (or Compact Disc) is an optical storage technology that encodes data on a disc. CDs are available as a once only recordable disc (CD-R), as a re-writable disc (CD-RW) and in a pre-recorded pressed disc format (CD-ROM). One CD-ROM holds about 700 megabytes, equal to more than 400 floppy disks. Unlike a floppy disk, you cannot erase or edit the data on a CD-ROM.
DVD
DVDs are available as a once only recordable disc (DVD-R), as a re-writable disc (DVD-RW) and in a pre-recorded pressed disc format (DVD-ROM). Short for digital versatile disc or originally a digital video disc, a DVD holds a minimum of 4.7GB (gigabytes), enough for a full-length movie. DVD (DVD-DL) discs have a capacity of 8.5GB compared to 4.7GB in the single layer discs.
Blu-ray (often misspelled as Blue-ray)
The latest disc format available with sufficient capacity for high definition video; Blu-ray discs are available as a once only recordable disc (BD-R), as a re-writable disc (BD-RE) and in a pre-recorded pressed disc format (BD-ROM). A standard single layer Blu-ray disc holds the equivalent content of 36 CDs or 5.75 DVDs. A standard single layer Blu-ray disc can hold
25GB of data. A dual layer Bluray
disc can hold 50GB of data. See our Blu-ray duplication service
Why the name Blu-ray?
The technology employs the use of a
blue wavelength laser to read and write to the disc. Mis-spelling it
from ‘Blue-ray’ to ‘Blu-ray’ allows it be adopted as a distinctive trademark.
Dual layer discs
Dual layer discs have two layers joined together with a transparent spacer and a thin reflector between the two. The bottom layer is read and written to in exactly the same manner as a normal disc. Reading and writing to the second layer is achieved by the laser focusing a fraction of a millimetre beyond the first recording layer. This works in a similar way with Blu-ray discs using a blue laser instead. Blu-ray discs can contain up to four layers (quad layers). Dual layer DVD (DVD-DL) discs have a capacity of 8.5GB compared to 4.7GB in the single layer discs. A dual layer Blu-ray
(BD-DL) disc can hold 50GB of data.
USB Flash drives
USB is an abbreviation of Universal Serial Bus. USB is a standard port that enables you to connect to external devices. A USB drive is a data storage device that allows you to quickly save data. Memory Sticks or USB flash drives are ideal for
quickly swapping files between computers. They are durable, convenient
and small enough to be put into a pocket or attached to a key chain and
able to store larger files than floppy disks. A 256MB USB hold
more data than 170 floppy disks, while larger 8GB USBs hold
significantly more and still only weigh around 14 grams.