LightScribe Labeling for Custom CD Marketing

I recently picked up a LightScribe-enabled DVD Recorder for my photo workstation. while looking into CD-Labeling systems. The goal was to produce discs that had a more professional look than what you'd get with a Sharpie...

I found a few CD Labeling kits that worked in more or less the same way: Print a label on your printer, peel it off of the backing to expose the adhesive, put it on the donut-shaped applicator, and drop your CD on top. This works but to me it seems a little pedestrian; not to mention the fact that those labels can be a bit expensive & aren't often on sale.

Enter LightScribe
LightScribe has been around for a while & I'm glad to see that it's catching on. Basically, LS is a way of "burning" a label onto special CD/DVD media that has a blank label side. Their slogan explains the process pretty well: Burn-Flip-Burn

There isn't really a premium to the drives themselves (it is becoming a pretty popular feature on most drives these days). Plus, since the LightScribe-compatible media is available at pretty much every store, you can often find a hot deal on it & stock up.

Looks: Freaking sweet
That's a good way to describe it. While the labels are restricted to shades of gray (looks pretty smooth - probably at least 64 shades) they are still very impressive and very custom. These discs should be great from a marketing point of view - they stand out and are memorable.

Here's one that I burnt this evening for a family whose Christmas portraits I took. The CD includes low-res, un-retouched images for them to browse on their PC. It also includes my contact info and a link to the SmugMug proof gallery in case they'd like an additional print.

This is a great marketing tool friends! With a label like that you know this CD is going in the drive every time they see it!

It's great because it works both ways: The family gets a nice keepsake and it'll make it easy for them to think of me the next time they need portraits. (By the way, the disc is a little hard to read on my scanned version here - in real life it is clear & has nice contrast.)

How LightScribe Works
The LightScribe discs are "burnt" (quite literally) via a dye that changes color when exposed to the laser inside a CD Recorder. Multiple passes of the laser increase the darkness.

The down side to this approach is that it takes *time* to create one of these labels - We're talking 20-25 minutes per disc. That said, it's only a major drawback if you need to crank out some serious volume, in which case you may want to look into other alternatives.

The good news is that the software doesn't take up much in the way of resources - you can simply work on other things while it burns your label in the background.

Highly Recommended!