Photoshop Direct CD Label Printing - Canon Pixma Tray F
 

I modified this from an original template I found on www.damnprinter.com - the original was a bit too hit-and-miss for me and I wanted to make it as foolproof as possible.

It enables you to print a label directly from Photoshop to a Canon Pixma printer using Tray F with a full label print (i.e. no thin white rim in the middle and none at the edge). The file is set up for Verbatim DVD +R 16x full face printables (hole 21mm, edge 119mm) so you will probably have to modify it for other disc types but it's fairly easy to do. The key factors are the guides that act as a crosshair for the center of the disc and the width of the label itself when you drag it into the file.

This seems to work consistently for me but use at your own peril!

Instructions

Open both this PSD file and the label JPG in Photoshop

Resize the label JPEG to 1417x1417 pixels

Drag the label to the Label Print window, put it in the correct layer and snap it into place on the crosshair (you must have Extras, Snap and Snap To / Guides turned on in PS).

Make sure the "Hole" layer is visible otherwise the printer will print over the hub on the CD tray - this gets messy.

If the label image has any other content than just the label itself (e.g. a graphic surround or other symbols) then turn on the Outer Border layer.

In Print Properties, make sure the Paper Size is set to CD-R Tray F on the second tab (as per the screen shots below)

Print the label.

Let me know if you have any feedback (good or bad) ...

Thanks for the template Kampar! Do you always use the same kind of discs? If so, which kind? I find that subtle differences between disc brands as well as even between batches causes some inconsistencies while printing. I usually don't have a problem with the hub but sometimes the very outer edge of one part of the disc doesn't get any ink. Could be the max size limitation of the CD-Label Print software so I'll give this a try and let you know.

Hi jkasanic - sorry, didn't see your post until now.

These days I always use Verbatim 16x DVD+R full face printables. They're not the cheapest or the most expensive but i'm not into spending twice that on TY! Generally Verbatim/TY come out top in terms of quality for 12x / 16x burning - I generally burn at 12x and get good results (I know i'm risking inviting lots of other opinions here)

I changed the instructions above today as I found I have been getting better results using a label size of 1417x1417 rather than 1416 x 1416. In some case, I ended up with a very thin white strip at one 'corner' whereas with 1417 it usually covers the whole label but I sometimes end up 'overinked' on the edge of the disc, which I put up with as I spray the discs with fixative anyway.

I found setting up the CD Direct label print software that comes with the Canon to be a nightmare for consistency, the PS file here gives me a simple method with pretty accurate results every time.

Ok, so I'm getting ready to try this and realize my cd-r tray is a type B and not F! Do you know if this will affect the cross-hair setting of the template? I have an IP4000 so I don't know if the difference in the tray size will matter.

EDIT: See attached image. The size of the tray is shown as 131x238.7mm. The center of the disc appears to be approx. 145.5mm from the long side (end sticking out of printer during printing). I suppose I'll have to experiment with resetting your template. Any insight into to your trial and error methods? I imagine it could get quite messy if you're not careful!

Hmmm. Good question.

I looked at my template in PS and the dimensions are 132.5 x 241.47, so that's different to both dimensions above - i.e. for either tray.

I think we can probably assume that in both cases the disc is centered laterally in the tray, the question is what about the 'vertical' spacing?

So I guess you're going to have to bite the bullet and run a few to test - you'll likely have some failures but hopefully these will be at a minimum.

Maybe one way to test without screwing too many blanks is to put a very thin circle at the edge of the label, and a similar thin circle around the center hole so that they are both just visible when in the template. Print the label - then if they are off, change the colour of the circles, rotate the label in the tray (don't do this normally, it scratches the disc surface) and try again. Maybe you can use one disc 3 or 4 times like this to test the settings.

Depending upon how far out you are, nudge the label in the template up or down. Only when you think you have it right should you move the guide to the centre of the disc image and save.

If you do make a big mistake (usually for me its forgetting to set the tray type and leaving at A4, or having just printed a cover I go to print the label and it's in landscape not portrait) the tray tends to get covered in ink. I find washing it in warm water under a running tap and then drying with paper towelling works fine. I also find after printing a bunch of labels that the very edge of the disc area gets a little inky - again water will fix this.


Oh - and don't forget to always make sure the centre hole layer is turned on when you print - otherwise you get ink all over the hub which looks a complete mess.

Good luck

Kampar

There's an alternate method using Nero Cover Designer which prints to Tray B which I've used for some time and another which uses Surething but I accidentally screwed-up the settings for the latter. Even with Nero I had to experiment with the settings for a very long time before I got the label anywhere near centred on the disc.

I thought i'd try out the Taiyo Yuden Watershield discs, which have a 22mm centre and a 118mm outer edge. For some unknown reason I just couldn't get this PSD file to work and centre the label properly like it did for the Verbatims. As the TY discs are about twice the cost of Verbatim's I didnt want to burn too many just testing.

So I d'loaded UndercoverXP and played with the settings there, finally getting it to work okay.

What I did was to take a label, mask off the whole area until I had just a few points at the edge visible (see below), then do a test print. Check the output, turn the disc a few degrees clockwise and do another test print ... etc.

Finally, i got to the point where the print matched the edges perfectly and at that point I saved the settings. Now prints okay every time ...

Just seen this post and find it very interesting do you still use this method and have the same results?

I have always had the ''thin-white-line'' around the outside edge but presumed it was just the printers way of not allowing it to print fully to the edge.

It never used to be a problem when it was completely around the outside as it looked symmetrical so wasnt a big deal but lately its only been showing up on half the disc and looks a bit odd so always open to new ways.

Is your template that greatly modified from the one in DamnPrinter?
I have that template and still i get the faint white edge but no where near as bad as it was before?

Actually I don't use this any more - I did get it to the point where there was no white line around the edge. I think i remember the way I did it was to increase the diameter of the label once i had it centered. I use Undercover XP now and (because I use TY watershield) I always get a white line around the edge (about 0.5mm wide) as this is a non-printable area.

Never tried UndercoverXP for my labels only use it for covers may give it a go, do you use one of the presets or have you customised it?