HOME : INFO CENTER : Thermal or inkjet print?

We use an inkjet print as standard for all our short run CD and DVD work. The print quality and the low price make it the best and most cost effective option for your projects with quantities below 500 units. We would always recommend an inkjet print instead of a thermal print for all short run work.

A thermal CD printer uses pressure and heat to apply text and graphics to the CD-R printable surface. The resulting print is waterproof and scratchproof and does not require any additional coating. There are now two types of thermal prints: the standard thermal print and a thermal retransfer print. The standard print should be only used for simple text and graphics. A thermal retransfer print handles photographic images well but does produce grainy text and graphics.

An inkjet CD printer works very much like a regular paper inkjet printer. The ink is sprayed from nozzles onto the inkjet printable CD-R surface. After printing, the CDs are coated with a lacquer or laminate to ensure the CDs are highly water and scratch proof. The print quality is superb. In fact, the vibrancy and detail of an inkjet print can only be matched by an offset print (not even a screen print comes close!) Photographic images, text, logos and other graphics are all rendered superbly. The main drawbacks of an inkjet print are the inability to produce Pantone colours, difficult colour matching with some colours and time. It can take up to 4 minutes to print one full coverage CD! New inkjet CD-Rs on the market have waterproof and smudgeproof properties in the printable surface. As this technology improves, the need for lacquering the CD-R might be removed completely.

Ready to place an order? Call us on 0113 244 3550 or complete our quotation form.

Still confused about your printing options? Read more about inkjet and screen printing.

Have a look at our range of CD printing prices