The tanks are easy to refill, though I can't guarantee the stability/longevity of the dyes. This will drastically reduce your print costs. Everything should be in the box, as Canon does support this functionality outside North America.Ĭanon's fixed print-head and separate ink tanks mean you can simply buy the tanks instead of buying entire color/black cartridges. or Canada and run Windows, all you have to do is buy the Canon printer and start printing CDs.
If you run Linux, carefully read the driver/application section below it will tell you where to get the non-Canon software you need to print CDs. This may be hard to believe, but it's true. The Canon software is intended to prevent your printer from printing directly to a CD, not to enable it.
If you do decide to use a Canon for this purpose, and you're in North America, do not install the software that came with the printer. or Canada, don't expect warranty support from Canon if you accidentally damage the printer. But Canon does not support direct-to-C/DVD printing for North American users. If, like me, you're working with a Canon printer, the techniques in this Recipe should work, given a reasonable degree of care by the user. The estimated street price is just under $100, according to Canon. So, after some initial research, I bought a Canon PIXMA iP3000 photo printer. One factor that influenced my choice of printer was an ability to print to C/DVD-and, of course, not having to spend too much extra for the feature. (Also check out this past TechBuilder Recipe: Get More 'Burn for Buck' With Disc-Duplicators.) But if you're planning to print on 100 or more identical C/DVDs at a time, you'll save time and money by simply looking for a bulk C/DVD duplication facility via Google or your local phone book-and having the C/DVDs pressed not burned and printed with the text and imagery of your choice. One note of caution: This Recipe is intended to help you deploy short production runs of C/DVDs.
From your point of view, the critical parts-print driver and OpenOffice 2.x-should be distribution-independent.
Since then, I've upgraded to Fedora Core 3. When I initially prepared this Recipe, I was using Fedora Core 2 Linux.
These instructions should work whether the PC system runs Linux, Windows, or OSX.
I'll also show how to and print directly on printable C/DVDs, which contain a special coating intended to retain ink. In this TechBuilder Recipe, I'll show you how to bypass all these potential problems. But let's not invoke Murphy's Law on a computer we're responsible for. Not only would this harm the drive, but it could also be dangerous to the user. With paper labels, there another problem: At the high (and increasing) rotational rates used in C/DVD drives, if the label isn't exactly centered on the disc, the CD/DVD-R could be literally shredded apart, right inside the drive. (Learn more from this NIST CD/DVD archival care page.) For that reason, the National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends against affixing labels on C/DVDs used for archival purposes. Because it’s loaded with features and is versatile, this printer is an ideal choice for any home office.There's also a serious problem that can result from sticking adhesive labels on discs: It can affect the disc's stability. Weighing in at 11 lbs, the Canon PIXMA IP3000 is easily moved. Its 16.5 x 10.8 x 6.8-inch dimensions make this a compact photo printer that won’t clutter the office. This PIXMA printer accepts many paper sizes including letter, legal, and envelopes, as well as, 4 x 6-inch and 5 x 7-inch prints. Snapshots at the maximum resolution will print a little slower a 4 x 6-inch photo prints in about 36 seconds. Able to print quickly, this printer can print up to 22 black text pages per minute and 15 color text pages per minute.
Additionally, this Canon inkjet printer delivers black and white documents with 600 x 600-dpi resolution creating professional office and school reports. Snapshots print at 4800 x 1200-dpi resolution from this digital photo printer creating lab-quality prints at home. This Canon inkjet printer features PhotoPrint v3.0, a photo-enhancement program that recognizes faces and automatically corrects brightness to move the image’s focus to people and not the background. Constructed with 1,600 nozzles producing microscopic drops, the Canon PIXMA IP3000 inkjets deliver images with true-to-life color and fine detail. This digital photo printer is designed to print brilliant photos with immense detail.