Disk Label and Photographic Print scratching and smearing

So I needed some enlargements right away of 35 mm film pictures, all on
negatives, some on photo CDs, some not. I have two printers supposed
to be superior for photography, an Epson Stylus Photo RX500 and a Canon
Pixma ip 5200 I just bought (after extensive questioning here)
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.v...a38dd?lnk=st&q
for the purpose of printing directly to disks, to make a better-looking
product than plain Sharpie-scrawled disks and quicker and
better-looking than Lightscribe disks.

Usually if I want enlargements I just go to Wal-Mart or Rite Aid. But
Wal-Mart's negative scanner was busted so they could do only digital
prints, and I'd brought only the negatives, not the CDs, with me, and
the Rite-Aid guy said I "might get the pictures by the middle of the
day tomorrow...or not." I needed them right away and didn't have time
to learn iPhoto or however it is you manage and print out photos from a
Mac, so appealed to a friend who's done a lot of this. My friend had a
lot of trouble with his negative scanner, but seemed to have no problem
with the printer. Some of the pictures looked almost as good as
Wal-Mart's, some better, some not as good.

By the time I got them home and mounted, EVERY SINGLE ONE was
scratched, from mildly to severely, just from regular handling! One
also had a fingerprint. The handling was extremely careful and MILD
compared to the abuse a Wal-Mart print will take! I am talking not,
they can be scratched with a fingernail, but the merest BRUSH with a
fingernail took the color right off!

So my questions a

1. Is this "to be expected" in all such cases? That is, are the
products of all photo printers this cheap, or did my friend do
something wrong? (Sorry, I don't know his brand of printer but
*assumed* that because his Mac was bigger, better, and did more
state-of-the-art things than mine, that his printer would be
professional grade--I can ask. I also don't know the brand of paper
but it looked like nice, probably matte, photo paper.)

2. Can I expect the same from the picture CDs I plan to make?

3. If so, is there any way to prevent it?

I will be in no way ready to print picture CDs anytime soon. First I
have to edit massive amounts of footage and then format to burn it to
DVD. When finished, I don't want a product that's going to come off
all over a user's hands the first time they pick up the disk! Is there
any fixative or other product or process to use during or after
applying the picture to the disk, to prevent such sad consequences?

As always, thanks for any help or advice.

Cori

wrote:

I will be in no way ready to print picture CDs anytime soon. First I
have to edit massive amounts of footage and then format to burn it to
DVD. When finished, I don't want a product that's going to come off
all over a user's hands the first time they pick up the disk! Is there
any fixative or other product or process to use during or after
applying the picture to the disk, to prevent such sad consequences?

As always, thanks for any help or advice.

I'm distracted with other things at the moment, but I have some
experence in this area... ask for more detail as needed.

You may wish to share the media you are having problems with.

I personaly have been spraying my discs with a fixative, an acrylic
fixative. Krylon UV.... there are two brands one can buy, each with
there own properties. You can find the stuff at "the paper zone" any
art supply store either next to the fine art supplies or next to the
craft art supplies, and a few other stores. I have "thus far"
experenced excelent results results... though mild orange peal. I use
the washers that come with the disc to avoid painting the center hole,
and an old unused cake stack.

AVOID poly-urathane like the polyurethane like the plage, this will
corrupt your data.

But I can't honestly say I've experenced the same problem as you, not
with verbatium discs, not with TDK print on disc, not with memorex or a
few others.

wrote:
snipped


By the time I got them home and mounted, EVERY SINGLE ONE was
scratched, from mildly to severely, just from regular handling! One
also had a fingerprint. The handling was extremely careful and MILD
compared to the abuse a Wal-Mart print will take! I am talking not,
they can be scratched with a fingernail, but the merest BRUSH with a
fingernail took the color right off!

So my questions a

1. Is this "to be expected" in all such cases? That is, are the
products of all photo printers this cheap, or did my friend do
something wrong? (Sorry, I don't know his brand of printer but
*assumed* that because his Mac was bigger, better, and did more
state-of-the-art things than mine, that his printer would be
professional grade--I can ask. I also don't know the brand of paper
but it looked like nice, probably matte, photo paper.)

2. Can I expect the same from the picture CDs I plan to make?

3. If so, is there any way to prevent it?

I will be in no way ready to print picture CDs anytime soon. First I
have to edit massive amounts of footage and then format to burn it to
DVD. When finished, I don't want a product that's going to come off
all over a user's hands the first time they pick up the disk! Is there
any fixative or other product or process to use during or after
applying the picture to the disk, to prevent such sad consequences?

As always, thanks for any help or advice.

Cori


Because printers use a wet process, it is important to allow drying
time, otherwise the results will be as you have seen. For my DVD covers
I tend to use HP Semi-glass paper which gives good print quality and
quick drying. About an hour after printing, I trim and insert them
into the cover. Some papers I have used seem to be still wet the next
day, these are mainly the full gloss papers.

With discs I have had no problems using mainly TDK or Verbatim, but I
still avoid touching the surface as long as possible. To date I have
never seen the problems you have experienced.

--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus

On 2006-09-07 04:27:03 -0400, said:

So I needed some enlargements right away of 35 mm film pictures, all on
negatives, some on photo CDs, some not. I have two printers supposed
to be superior for photography, an Epson Stylus Photo RX500 and a Canon
Pixma ip 5200 I just bought (after extensive questioning here)
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.v...a38dd?lnk=st&q
for

the purpose of printing directly to disks, to make a better-looking
product than plain Sharpie-scrawled disks and quicker and
better-looking than Lightscribe disks.

Usually if I want enlargements I just go to Wal-Mart or Rite Aid. But
Wal-Mart's negative scanner was busted so they could do only digital
prints, and I'd brought only the negatives, not the CDs, with me, and
the Rite-Aid guy said I "might get the pictures by the middle of the
day tomorrow...or not." I needed them right away and didn't have time
to learn iPhoto or however it is you manage and print out photos from a
Mac, so appealed to a friend who's done a lot of this. My friend had a
lot of trouble with his negative scanner, but seemed to have no problem
with the printer. Some of the pictures looked almost as good as
Wal-Mart's, some better, some not as good.

By the time I got them home and mounted, EVERY SINGLE ONE was
scratched, from mildly to severely, just from regular handling! One
also had a fingerprint. The handling was extremely careful and MILD
compared to the abuse a Wal-Mart print will take! I am talking not,
they can be scratched with a fingernail, but the merest BRUSH with a
fingernail took the color right off!

So my questions a

1. Is this "to be expected" in all such cases? That is, are the
products of all photo printers this cheap, or did my friend do
something wrong? (Sorry, I don't know his brand of printer but
*assumed* that because his Mac was bigger, better, and did more
state-of-the-art things than mine, that his printer would be
professional grade--I can ask. I also don't know the brand of paper
but it looked like nice, probably matte, photo paper.)

2. Can I expect the same from the picture CDs I plan to make?

3. If so, is there any way to prevent it?

I will be in no way ready to print picture CDs anytime soon. First I
have to edit massive amounts of footage and then format to burn it to
DVD. When finished, I don't want a product that's going to come off
all over a user's hands the first time they pick up the disk! Is there
any fixative or other product or process to use during or after
applying the picture to the disk, to prevent such sad consequences?

As always, thanks for any help or advice.

Cori

Inkjet prints on glossy paper, and especially disks, need a lot of
drying time. The Epson printer I looked at, recommended 24 hours
before handling a disk after printing. A hair dryer at low speed could
help. Hold the disk in your hand while drying it. That way you will
know if it gets too hot. Be sure the ink is dry before applying any
coating, or it will never dry properly.

So perhaps not allowing enough drying time before handling was what
happened with the photographs? I guess I could check and see if they
still scratch like that the next day, to indicate whether there was
anything really wrong with them. Some that another friend made for me
had all the properties of regular photographs--just as glossy and no
tendency to scratch--and I had expected these to be the same.

Cori

wrote:
So perhaps not allowing enough drying time before handling was what
happened with the photographs? I guess I could check and see if they
still scratch like that the next day, to indicate whether there was
anything really wrong with them. Some that another friend made for me
had all the properties of regular photographs--just as glossy and no
tendency to scratch--and I had expected these to be the same.

Cori

Okay, I talked to my friend and he said he forgot to warn me to wait
"at least an hour" before handling but I KNOW it was more than an hour.
I had the pictures home around 3:00, and didn't do any serious
handling or notice any serious scratching till at least around
6:00--then one got scratched AFTER I put them in the bag to take over
which was 7:30--a good FIVE hours after printing! So he is going to
try printing again today--a couple of the pictures I wasn't entirely
happy with the color balance anyway--and call me and we'll work
something out. Would it help to bring one of those waxed paper
envelopes, in which the Post Office sells stamps, in which to carry
each picture home, then lay them out and not touch them till tomorrow?

Cori

wrote in message
ps.com...
wrote:
So perhaps not allowing enough drying time before handling was what
happened with the photographs? I guess I could check and see if they
still scratch like that the next day, to indicate whether there was
anything really wrong with them. Some that another friend made for me
had all the properties of regular photographs--just as glossy and no
tendency to scratch--and I had expected these to be the same.

Cori

Okay, I talked to my friend and he said he forgot to warn me to wait
"at least an hour" before handling but I KNOW it was more than an hour.
I had the pictures home around 3:00, and didn't do any serious
handling or notice any serious scratching till at least around
6:00--then one got scratched AFTER I put them in the bag to take over
which was 7:30--a good FIVE hours after printing! So he is going to
try printing again today--a couple of the pictures I wasn't entirely
happy with the color balance anyway--and call me and we'll work
something out. Would it help to bring one of those waxed paper
envelopes, in which the Post Office sells stamps, in which to carry
each picture home, then lay them out and not touch them till tomorrow?

Cori


The basic factors involved are;

The size of the ink drops (the smaller the quicker it can set)

The paper's finish ( different makers, even for a finish
with the same name)

The ink

Finding the right combination of paper(s) and ink(s) can take
some trial and error. If you have Computer Shows in your
area, they often have specialty paper and ink suppliers, selling
their wares, and they can often point out what works with the
different printer models.

Luck;
Ken

Ken Maltby wrote:

The basic factors involved are;

The size of the ink drops (the smaller the quicker it can set)

The paper's finish ( different makers, even for a finish
with the same name)

The ink

Finding the right combination of paper(s) and ink(s) can take
some trial and error. If you have Computer Shows in your
area, they often have specialty paper and ink suppliers, selling
their wares, and they can often point out what works with the
different printer models.

Luck;
Ken

Thanks, Ken! My friend is agreeable to reprinting those of the
pictures I felt really needed it. Some of the prints made yesterday
are now able to stand having dust flicked off with a fingernail just
fine, while others still scratch at the touch of a fingernail. I'll
let my friend know in case he wants to switch types of papers.

Cori

On 7 Sep 2006 01:27:03 -0700, wrote:


By the time I got them home and mounted, EVERY SINGLE ONE was
scratched, from mildly to severely, just from regular handling! One
also had a fingerprint. The handling was extremely careful and MILD
compared to the abuse a Wal-Mart print will take! I am talking not,
they can be scratched with a fingernail, but the merest BRUSH with a
fingernail took the color right off!

snip

As always, thanks for any help or advice.

Cori


I don't know if I just missed reading it, but so far in this thread, I
haven't seen you mention which paper you used? Canon? Another
printer's brand (this tends to work really badly, though I've heard
there are a few combinations that work better than the printer brand
paper). Store brand? Kodak (I have had very little luck with Kodak
papers)?

The prints from my Epson R340 onto Epson Ultra Premium Glossy paper
are dry and reasonably scratch resistant within minutes of printing
(you should still give them a day to dry before putting in an album or
under glass). The same went for my ancient Canon BJC-4300. I haven't
had much experience with photos in my C88+ pigment printer, but the CD
covers I've made are pretty damage and moisture resistant.

--

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.

Fenrir Enterprises wrote:

I don't know if I just missed reading it, but so far in this thread, I
haven't seen you mention which paper you used?

I don't know what kind my friend used or whether he planned to use
another kind the next time.

I haven't
had much experience with photos in my C88+ pigment printer, but the CD
covers I've made are pretty damage and moisture resistant.

I plan to print not only CD covers (more like folded inserts with a
cover picture on one side and contents on other sides) but also
pictures on CDs and DVDs, using white printable disks and a printer
equipped to handle them. I think some of these printers also print a
clear sealant on as well but I'm pretty sure the one I bought (Canon
PIXMA ip 5200) is not one of them. I was asking whether to expect
scratching, smearing, and scuffing on the disks, and what to do to
prevent it. Someone recommended a non-polyurethane fixative available
in a crafts store.

Cori