Finished Product?

[macr0w]

Untill recently my small home studio has been just for my own amusement. But as of late I have been doing some small projects for some of my friends and some local artists for a modest fee.

I want to know what other small/home studios give their clients for a finished product. I know there are duplication/replication packages that you can get with jewel boxes lables and everything. But what can I do just to be a little more "professional"? Should I get an inkjet cd/dvd printer and make jewel box lables or what?

I hate for someone who just paid me a fair amount of $$$ to just get some cdr's and dvdr's with their name written in sharpie. What do you think?

[macr0w]

Come on guys? No opinions on this?

[Third Eye Studios]

I use a really inexpensive Epson R200 and print on printable CDR's. I have a couple of templates with the studio logo and my name in HUGE print (j/k) in the Epson software. For quick reference CD's at the end of a working session, I'll just add in the band name and song titles to one of these templates usually while I'm burning the CD in CD Architect. For the final CD's the client leaves with sometimes I spend a little longer "designing" the CD.

[benunh]

Unless they are corporate clients, I've found bands don't mind the Sharpie route.
However...I did pick up this little number that does basic thermal printing on a normal shiney disc face.
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3668132

And for $50, a nice little addition to the studio. (Warning: this is a VERY basic model. If you want something that will have a large print area, there are other more expensive options. But if you're just giving it to a band as their studio master, it works great as a step up from a Sharpie).

Rock on

Ben

[superpenguin79]

For around $170 you could get a nice Light Scribe disc burner which imprints just like a thermal printer does and allows you to design cool layouts also. The only limitations are that light scribe discs currently are only one color which is green I believe.

[Barnabas]

For the end-of-session CDs, I write on a label and then put the label on the CD when the disc has finished burning. This saves a little time by doing the writing while the disc is burning. If I'm delivering a master CD or finished product CDs, I have a nice solid ink printer that prints with shiny ink to labels, which I then stick to the discs.

See http://www.wcpss.net/school_to_career/xerox/ about getting a free solid ink printer for yourself.

End-of-session CDs go in a paper sleeve. Other CDs go in jewel boxes.

[seagull]

I use a really inexpensive Epson R200 and print on printable CDR's. I have a couple of templates with the studio logo and my name in HUGE print (j/k) in the Epson software. For quick reference CD's at the end of a working session, I'll just add in the band name and song titles to one of these templates usually while I'm burning the CD in CD Architect. For the final CD's the client leaves with sometimes I spend a little longer "designing" the CD.

I second this. It's a very economical solution and it looks very professional. I use Verbatim silver printable CD's for my project studio, but I'm pretty sure that Taiyo Yuden also makes a printable CD for a little higher quality. I also just have a template with a "studio logo" that I can enter in song names (or in your case band names). The software is really easy to use.

[JKD99]

I third this. The Epson can be a little finicky, but gets the job done much better than a Sharpie. Careful with getting too fancy, though. The printer is cheap but the ink cartridges'll kill ya

[MoreMeintheMonitors]

I also back that R200 recommendation.

To add to it, you can find reasonably priced ink cartridges and printable cd's from here:

http://www.supermediastore.com/

I strongly recommend staying away from stickers on your CD's. The problem with stickers is that they can peel off when inserting them into car stereos and ruin the stereo. Also, if they are not aligned perfectly, they can mess up the spindle motor on cd players due to wobble.

[Barnabas]

The problem with stickers is that they can peel off when inserting them into car stereos and ruin the stereo. Also, if they are not aligned perfectly, they can mess up the spindle motor on cd players due to wobble.

It's important to use good quality CD labels and use a tool to align them to center on the CD.