More observations:

These discs definitely need a protective spray - touching the surface if there is some water on it will definitely smear the ink!

For a moment I thought that I would be better off with the matte white hub-printables Verbatim makes (SKU 94917s), but I did a side-by-side comparison between them, where both discs have the same image and both have the UV glossy spray. These glossy DVD-Rs beats the matte-white hands down! The matte-white discs have a bit of speckles in them giving them a film grain look - the spray unfortunately makes them much more visible. This is completely gone with the glossy discs!

BTW, another advantage of the sprays is that it hides the bronzing effect. When you print an image that has many dark shades on it, you may notice an almost 3D embossed look to them since the printer lays down so much ink in those areas. It's like looking at the darker parts of an oil painting - you can see the ink ridges! Using a spray smooths them out and hides the effect.

Thanks for the info, Rectal Prolapse. I have the same printer and a box of these Verbs waiting for a really good label.
I noticed those bands you mention when printing in Best Photo also on TDK's Photo Quality dvd's, but there they appeared no matter what printer setting I chose. At least now I know what setting to avoid when I use the Verbs.

BTW, I always use spray, if only to be able to view the dvd within minutes after printing.

What kind of spray do you use?

I'm having trouble with my spray technique - I use two light coats, but after it dries I see a small amount of speckling - I guess the spray droplets are clumping/globbing up a little. Maybe the spray I am using just isn't appropriate for photo work.

If I spray too much it gets far too glossy - oh well...maybe I'll do a 3rd or 4th coat next time.

I may have to drop by Walmart for the Patricia Nomack spray - another poster in this thread mentioned that the Krylon UV spray is a bit clumpy - "orange peel effect" which is what I am seeing.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=146242

hey guys well i was wondering i have epson r300 ( i think best settings not sure i can screen shot) but i always buy vertim and rida ritaka? anyways i scan my original images from my epson 620 and my prints dont much my exact disc... so like if i compare side by side , i will notice that the new printed disc looks like lower resolution compared to my regular dvd.

basicly i back up my dvds and store my originals but since i have soo many i started to think about printing their image rather then wriiting on it .

any ideals?

I use Colour Protection spray. It's a Dutch product; I don't think it's available in the USA.

Sometimes I get some speckling too, but not too bad. I just use 1 coat, making a circular motion at about 20-25 cm distance.

The "orange peel effect" is typical for too much spray. I apply at least 3 to 4, but very light coats (some left to right, some top to bottom - or rotate the disc - and some circular). If you see "speckling" from droplets, the spraying nozzle isn't very good or you start/stop the spray aiming at the disc or maybe you're spraying too close to the disc.

Hi,

Would you recommend this spray for this type of CD. Is it really waterproof?

Also roughly how many coats would it need??

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Colour-Protect...QQcmdZViewItem

Ebay Item Number: 8827214554


Thanks

At the local Michaels arts and crafts store I picked up a can of Krylon Preserve It! spray. I think it is the matte spray though - I matched part of the UPC code with the one on Krylon.com. Oops. I may give it a go anyways.

Cressida, it could be that the nozzle is messed up on my other Krylon spray. Also, I didn't realize that the best way is to have the discs standing up instead of flat on the floor. I didn't catch on because a few of my attempts worked well without orange peel effect, but that may have been luck.

I'm not ready to pony up $24 CDN for a can of Sureguard Pro-tect-a-cote UV Clear Gloss spray - although that seems to be preferred by photo enthusiasts.

Xterminator, I guess it really boils down to technique. Ihave to work on my skills.

David, no clue - never heard of the stuff.

That's the Dutch spray (they have a website, just google for "colour protection spray", if you want more details. I also use a fixative/plasticizer spray from the crafts & arts dept. in a local DIY store.

@Rectal Prolapse: I tilt the disc at maybe 45° as it's on top of some coasters in an empty CD/DVD cakebox-base (easy to rotate with the central hub and you can put the cover on to keep dust away while it dries).

O/T; can you guys reccomend a spray that will darken the blacks on regular printabe dvd's?? Do glossy dvds produce darker blacks>?

This thread has been slowly sliding more and more off the topic of Verbatim Glossy Printable DVDs.

Could we please get back on topic in this thread?

Otherwise I will split off the whole discussion of fixative spray into a separate thread.

Thanks!

Has anyone else had a chance to try these discs?

So far, compatibility with other DVD players is just as good as the non-glossy Verbatim DVD+Rs with MCC 04 codes. They work on my Panasonic S97 and Panasonic RP91 DVD players, and also work with an older VHS/DVD combo player.

A friend has had success using these with his Epson R800 as well - but I didn't test smudging yet - I'll try adding water to his discs and try to smudge it off when he isn't looking...to give those pigment inks a workout on this surface.

It's been a week since I printed on a test disc with my Epson R200. I did the wet finger of death test and as expected the ink comes right off.

I reminded my friend to do the same test on his discs printed with the Epson R800 - I'm hoping the pigment inks will fair better.

I burned, scanned and printed my first glossy Verb. The result looks great, but I have some reservations as well.

I noticed some marks on the surface, probably pieces of fluff or lint that have accumulated on the Epson R200's nozzles, but I never saw it on white printables.

As stated by RP, the ink comes off with a wet finger, but after I applied a thick layer of colour protection spray, this is no longer the case. The result looks like a top quality retail dvd.

About the recording: I used my BenQ 1655 to burn @12x. This resulted in a very good 97 QS. Only the PIE numbers rise a bit too much for my taste near the end (70 max, nearly 12 average).

All in all a great result, but rather expensive because of media cost and amount of spray needed, so I will reserve it for special items.

Yeah, I'm doing the same thing - holding off on printing except for special occasions. These discs are rather pricey - but not as expensive as the Primera Tuffcoat discs ($1.50 CDN each).

My friend finally did a water test with his pigment-printed disc with the Epson 800. No go - the ink comes off too! However, I think we he went too far - he ran water over it in the sink! Most of the colors ran off, and the disc is now black-and-white. It took a couple of days to dry off.

Thread moved to the new CD & DVD Printers and Labeling forum by request of the thread starter, Dee-27.

Uff, just had to open my DVD Player to retrieve one of these beauties...
I've printed them yesterday evening (about 20 hours ago) with my Epson R200.
Now I've tried to check the recordings and just the first disc don't came out again. The surface got stuck to the top of the disc's bearing and out came the empty tray... So, next time I'll wait much longer until I try to play them!

I would like to know, for labels that look like Dee's examples, how long does the ink last, disc wise.

Hi Taboo711 and welcome to the forum.

How long the ink lasts will partly depend on the printer and ink used. For Epson's own inks, Epson claim 10 years plus on this type of surface.