Silkscreening CDs

How is it Done?

Silkscreen Presses in Replication Plants

CD silkscreen presses have indentations for the discs set into a round table top. The tables are usually loaded from a spindle full of discs by a robotic arm. The screens are also on robotic arms, and are lowered onto each disc as the table rotates to each position.

Ink is applied by an automatic dispenser, then the (robotic) squeegee runs it across the screen. After each color is applied, the automated table rotates to the next position (actually, they frequently skip one position to allow some air-drying between coats, so you can have two "sets" of discs being labeled at once.) Each position has a different color and different screen, up to 4 or 5. Normally to get more than 4 colors the first one is a "donut" or full circle background (which might be applied on a different press), and the 6th color, if the replicator offers it at all, is a spincoated lacquer finish, not a real color, so the tables usually offer only 4 colors per disc.

The ink is applied in a very exactly measured way so there is no dripping or bleeding, and the process is very fast, so there's not much chance of a screen sticking to a disc. The inks are specially formulated to adhere to the CD's lacquered surface, so you don't have to worry about beading up, and they don't have to wait all that long between colors -- a few seconds is all they require. There are stations on the table with UV lamps for curing the ink before they are removed from the press by a robotic arm and stacked on an output spindle.

Manual Silkscreening on CDs

Although it may be more trouble than it's worth (silkscreening is a time consuming, messy job, and many replicators will do it on your CD-Rs for a moderate fee in quantities as small as 100 discs), it is possible to label discs this way without a huge automated press. Care must be taken to use only inks formulated for use on CDs, which generally means UV curing is required. Also, the screens used in this process must be very precisely made and attached to their frames evenly and tightly to prevent misregistration. Since many CD designs require very fine detail, extra high-count fabric must be used. If more than one color is to be appied, a method for aligning the screens or discs between colors must be arranged or the results may not be very pleasing. And of course creating the designs on the screens with photoresist and masks can take a steady hand and many hours.

Suppliers

Directories of companies who provide silkscreen equipment, inks and services such as screen cleaning and stretching is available in our subscription based Pressing On website.

A very comprehensive directory of CD replicators can be found in our other subscription based website, Burning Issues.