Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

I am looking for a good printer to print dvd covers. I guess by good i would mean print quality and # of prints per ink cartridges. I have looked at the HP Deskjet 6980 Color Printer and the Canon PIXMA iP5200R. What do you guys use? I don't want an all in one.. just a good printer.

Anyone? What printers are you using and how would you rate the prints? An i beter off going to kinko's or something to print them?

Is this not an ok question to ask?

Any photo printers are good. It's not really a "best" question.

I'd recommend one of the Epson R series photo printers. The R200 and R300 are the most popular and won't set you back too much. The prints you get from these printers are nothing short of spectacular, especially when printing on genuine Epson premium glossy photo paper. You'll also get better detail and more vivid color than with similarly priced HP's and Canons, and all of them support direct-cd printing. The only downside is that they're ink guzzlers. It's kind of like owning a ferrari - the ride is amazing, but you're going to be paying for a lot more gas. If you do decide to go the Epson route, you may want to check out InkDaddy.com for some generic (i.e. more reasonably priced) ink carts.

The Canon Pixma gets my vote. I have the iP4000, which is hard (if not impossible) to find now, but it's easily the best printer I've owned. I've printed dozens of labels and covers, all turning out perfectly. I've heard the newer Pixmas can't use 3rd party carts, so that may be a deal breaker for you. Still, they make an excellent printer.

If you go with the R200 or R300, there are (or were last time I checked) a couple of sellers on ebay that had kits that let you use external ink resevoirs for about $100. If you print a lot, the external resevoir is the way to go because, buying the ink in bulk is a couple of orders of magnitude cheaper than buying even the off-brand cartridges. Beware though, not all external systems are equal, the sucky ones can make quite a mess - but the good ones are problem-free.

I can't imagine anything better than the newer Canon range with 9600x2400 dpi.

Another vote for Epson R series.

As for ink, I use supermediastore. I just recently snagged 12 cartridges from them for $38 shipped. I've never had a problem with the ink either.

BUMP
Thought Id bump this in order to get some more current responses. My printer has pretty much died...it was never ideal for cover printing, but I figured if I bought a new one, Id make sure it was one that would work well for cover printing. I also print a lot of DVD labels, so Id like one that could print on DVDs. I looked at the Epson R Series printers, but Im not a fan of what sounds like ~$100 for one set of ink catridges (yeah I could go the refilled/generic route, and I may still, but I have had issues with these type catridges in the past).

I get my generic ink cartridges for about $2 per cartridge from Rima.com when they're on sale.

Just throwing this out there, as someone who prints a whole hell of a lot: I have been very happy with my Epson Stylus C88+. It was pretty cheap, it doesn't take up a huge amount of space, it prints quickly, and prints look fantastic.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

bumping this up.......any newer printers that could do an almost studio like print?

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

As long as your source image is hi-res enough, you honest-to-god will not be able to tell the difference by using any decent printer available on the market today with a batch of readily available photo paper, especially once you slide it behind the plastic sleeve. It's not magic.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

Agreed. I'm using a hand-me-down HP all-in-one, and the hi-res cover of Song of the South I just printed using semi-gloss photo paper looks great. Once I cut it out and got it into the DVD case, it looks like it came directly from Disney.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

I have never printed a cover on photo paper. I usually just use regular paper, with the thinking that it is going behind a sheet of plastic, so you wont notice that it is regular paper. Next cover I print, I will try photo paper and compare the results.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

I prefer Matte photo paper. It doesn't stick to the plastic covers like some glossy paper does, yet it looks glossy once it's in the cover anyway.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

Printed a cover on photo paper the other day. It looks pretty good. I used Glossy paper, as that is all I had. It turned out really well. I will try it with matte paper at some point and compare the results.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

imho matte is always > than glossy. thats just how it is :D

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

It's entirely possible. Havent had a need to print one again since the test i did. But the glossy one does look pretty damn sharp.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

^ just in case i wasnt clear, im referring to matte photo paper (well, maybe more like "satin") being preferable to normal glossy photo paper :D

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

^ Yeah. The satin stuff is great when your handling the paper, but behind the plastic of a dvd cover, matte photo paper feels the same. Plain copy paper. Forget it.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

Another vote for the Canon PIXMA series. I have the ip4500 and love it. With high res images, covers are as good as the originals. One other note semi-gloss paper is okay, just stay away from high gloss.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

I had an Epson printer, the deskjet model I believe, and it printed beautiful covers, with the blacks very solid.

Then someone through it away on accident and I had to use the HP one my comp came with. Even though I used HP paper, and later, different brands, the blacks came out as dark blues :(.
Epson is the way to go.

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

More importantly, how are you guys printing covers on regular 8x11 photo paper? School me!

Re: Best Printer for DVD Covers
 

Set the printer settings to legal sized paper. Then, get 2 sheets of glossy paper.
The first one is what your printing on.

Use the second to cut off an 8'' X2'' or greater strip.

Then tape it to your main sheet. This fools the printer into "thinking" it's a legal sized page and it'll print to the edge of the original sheet.

ALSO, make sure that when you tape the main sheet and the extra strip of paper, that there's very little tape on the main sheet side. You don't want the cover to print over the tape.

If I made it sound confusing I think there's a better explanation in the sticky thread.