Thank you in advance for helping...

I was using the laminator with Ritek white inkjet printable and getting amazing results. I've also seen others using this same combination... the laminator can produce some amazing looking CDs. Well, recently I've been getting laminate rolls directly from Primera and their rolls do not laminate well unless you use a TY with Tuffcoat PLUS (which run about 50 cents per blank disc). Regular TYs don't even work. I'm not in love with the blue cyanide either.

Does anyone know where to get alternate rolls of laminate?

Similarly, I'm at my witts end trying to remedy my lamination problems and am considering changing things up all together and go with a non-laminated disc. I like having the ability to print pictures (white inkjet) but think they look and feel home-made when not laminated. Therefore, I'm thinking of switching up to a silver inkjet with diamond bottom. I'd rather continue to use Ritek and the laminator, but it doesn't seem possible. I guess what I'm asking for is what's a good solution to produce a product that will appear fairly professional looking CDs without having to outsource silkscreening or stamping??

Keep in mind I'm in the USA and cannot easily import high end CD-Rs such as the Sony DADC... I'm fairly limited and need to keep total disc cost at around 40 cents or less (which is why TY Tuffcoat+ just won't work for me).

Again, thank you in advance for whatever insight you can shed for me.

Looks like my question is too tough or just not interesting...

I've done some research and it appears as though the solution to my problems will wind up costing some money. Primera products are really entry level (though it doesn't feel that way when you're shelling over several thousand dollars for equipment), and their customer service bites a big one.

I found out that for a thousand more than the accent, you can get a higher end laminator from a different company that will cut lamination costs by about 60 to 70% and it will work on all disc types...

I'm still open to suggestions if anyone has a technique they use to achieve decent, professional appearing results.
Thanks again.

Welcome to CDF's:

You might be our resident laminator expert. I haven't really seen much here on this process.

Thanks.

I'm open to non-laminate solutions assuming I can the cost per disc down. Those waterproof ones cost upwards to 60 cents a piece. That's not cost effective for what I do...

PS, I really enjoy reading the posts here, lots of great minds!

Just curious, and being laminator-ignorant I have nothing else to say. Have you ever seen a glossy inkjet printable disc that's been printed? I use the TY glossy and fail to see much difference compared to the original discs. Although the discs are a bit pricey, the printer costs almost nothing. They are also fairly smudge-proof once dry. Only draw-back is that they can sometimes be a bit TOO glossy.

CDan,

Thanks for the thought...

I haven't used the watershield discs... though they are made to negate the need for lamination. I did read a post here where someone said the dark saturated colors aren't as vivid with watershield as they are with laminate.

Here's the thing... watershield costs roughly 60 cents per disc. Printing cost is neglible if you use a CISS printer, suppose 3 or 4 cents a disc. That's 63 cents total. Now take a Ridata that cost 20 cents and doesn't use blue cyanide. Lamination is 12.5 cents a disc and will give you a perfect surface if it works right. Now you're out only about 36 cents a disc. I know the extra 27 cents might seem silly, but when you do a large volume over the course of a year, two years, etc, it really adds up! Plus, I highly doubt a glossy disc would be as good as some shiny laminate, though I've been told it's close. Plus, until one of the other companies comes out with their own version, we're stuck with the blue cyanide which looks less than professional.

There is a machine that doesn't use laminate rolls, but can put a protective gloss coat on any disc... it's about a grand more than the accent but the laminate itself is about 2 or 3 cents per disc and it will work on any disc. This I learned about only today

I'm probably going to switch up to prodisc diamond since my laminator can't be trusted and just ship with no laminate at all. With the extra savings, I will hopefully get some new equipment in the future.

Does anyone have any tricks they use with the Prodisc diamonds? I'm guessing I'll switch from white to silver just so it doesn't have the "inkjet" look... though maybe I'm fooling myself with this idea.

If you're figuring costs per disc, you really should include the costs of the hardware. Calculated in both cases over say 2 years and included into the cost of each disc processed in those 2 years. $1000 will buy you a big pile of discs.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with cyanine-based CDR's They tend to be a little more susceptible to being abused with UV and heat, but are otherwise superior in many other ways. There's a good reason that TY uses it. Superior burn quality in most burners is one reason. And those customers who know quality CDRs will appreciate that you used it.

You're right. The volume of discs that's required to offset the outlay of expensive equipment is very high. I'm not running a volume right now that's high enough to justify the expense, hopefully someday soon I will, but I'm probably going to sell the equipment I have and if I get to that volume then I'll re-invest and get some better equipment.
Thanks CDan.

Sure. In the mean time you can get a Canon IP4300 for beans right now, and (if in the USA) modding it for disc printing is simple. Check it out, it's a great printer in all respects.