The Complete Package

The Perfect Image™ CD Printer offers excellent quality monochrome 300 x 300 dpi results on a wide range of disc surfaces and provides the speed and flexibility that service bureaus and others engaged in serious CD-Recordable production should welcome. The unit comes complete with everything needed to get up and running quickly, including a power cord, parallel cable, one black ribbon with supply and take-up rollers, label software and printer drivers for Windows 3.x, 95, and NT, manuals, a coupon for a free ribbon, and five CD "slugs" (unusable discs) for test printing.

The only currently available versions of the printer driver and label software are for PC-compatible systems. Operating requirements are at least a 486 processor, 8 MB RAM, MS-DOS 6.x, and Windows 3.1 or later.

Some Advantages

Wide-Ranging Applicability and Enduring Results!

An important advantage the Rimage Perfect Image CD Printer has over inkjet units is that it does not require specially coated CD-R discs to accept the ink from the printing process. Inkjet printers, on the other hand, require special "printable" CD-R discs that have a hydroscopic coating to accept the ink sprayed from the print head. Though most media manufacturers offer printable discs, they are more expensive than traditional media and may not be as readily available.

Unlike inkjet, the Perfect Image’s thermal transfer process works well with lacquer (shiny surface), matte (durability coated), and silk-screened discs, but not "printable" discs because of their porous surface and larger surface area. Though the flat, shiny surface of a lacquer disc provides the most crisp and consistent results, it is advisable to use matte media or those with abrasion-resistant surfaces, such as the Mitsui Toatsu’s Data Shield Surface or Eastman Kodak’s Infoguard Protection System, which provide the best balance between image quality and data safety. Using matte media thus not only ensures additional protection during the printing process but provides added defense from regular handling.

Another disc that yields excellent results is TDK Electronics’ white-surface media, which was originally designed to accept peel-off sticky labels. The white background provides excellent print contrast without color shifting and takes best advantage of the color ribbons. The white coating also gives the desirable added protection from wear and tear.

An additional advantage of the thermal transfer process used by the Rimage printer is an enduring result. Unlike the water-based inks used in inkjet printers which can smudge or bleed, the ink used in the thermal transfer is more permanent, which makes it a good choice for discs handled frequently and used long-term.

The Printing Process

With the thermal transfer process for printing, disc labeling is achieved by pressing a stationary print head containing very small heating elements against a traveling ribbon to contact the surface of the disc. Through the combination of heat (160 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressure (20 pounds), the ink is transferred from the ribbon substrate to the disc as a sliding tray moves the disc past the print head. The procedure only takes between 10 and 20 seconds per disc using a 486 host system.

Some types of disc surfaces require more or less ink and heat than do others, so to achieve the best results, the printer driver can adjust the amount of time the disc spends under the print head and the number of printing passes. For example, discs with matte-protective coatings require more time under the print head and two passes to transfer enough ink for proper coverage.

Though the printer is monochrome, several different colored ribbons are available, such as black, red, green, and blue. Efficient intelligent ribbon consumption is designed to allow only as much ribbon as is needed to print the text or graphics on each disc. As a result, ribbons will typically perform 2,000 single-pass or 1,000 double-pass print jobs for a maximum cost of an extremely frugal 7.5 cents per disc for printing.

Though by no means silkscreen quality, the Perfect Images 300 x 300 dpi output is still very good. In testing the printer with lacquer, matte, and white surface discs, the results were excellent, with legible text as small as eight-point with reasonably defined edges, well-saturated solid areas, clean logos and line art, and attractive halftones. Depending upon the uniform flatness of the disc, it is also possible to maximize space and print almost edge to edge. New users should be warned, however, that they are almost certain to waste a handful of discs in determining the settings for achieving optimum results with each brand and type of media. Be cautioned as well that the printer makes considerable mechanical noise and generates significant vibration when in operation, which may make the unit unsuitable for quiet office environments.

Software

Included are printer drivers for Windows 3.x , Windows 95, and NT/2000 as well as a proprietary labeling application. The application’s software editor presents the user with the familiar overhead view of a blank disc surface for labeling. A tool bar puts very basic graphic tools at the users disposal, among them, filled or unfilled rectangles, circles, ellipses, arcs, and lines. More complex artwork may be imported from more powerful dedicated illustration or imaging applications in BMP, TIFF, or PCX formats.

Text can easily be added to labels in a straight line with rotations possible in 90 degree increments, as well as on a definable arc. TrueType fonts are supported, so the text remains smooth when specifying any type, style, or size. Bar coding is also available (UPC A, I 2 of 5, Code 39 and 128, and Codabar). Some useful features include the ability to add incremented serial numbers and import information from a database and merge data into text and bar codes. For example, client lists can be imported to create custom personalized discs. A programmable mode available by command line in Windows also makes it possible to use previously designed labels and set them up for more flexible batch printing independent of the label editor.