As the largest CD and DVD manufacture in Ireland, we will listen to your requirements, provide you with information and advice, and help YOU to decide what course best fits your needs. There are many options for distributing data on optical media (CD or DVD). Quantity, lead time and printing are the primary factors that we consider when advising customers. There is information listed below that will help make your decision. We offer this as a simple starting point, and welcome your email.

Optical discs can be pressed as either replicated discs (CD-ROM / DVD-ROM) or as recorded discs (CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R). Replicated discs are manufactured "from scratch" using injection molding equipment. Recorded discs begin as a blank disc, and your data is then written (or "burned") onto the blank disc. Replicated discs are offered at a lower cost PER UNIT, but other factors (mostly lead time and print requirements) will influence (increase!) setup, shipping, and rush charges, and can make the TOTAL COST higher then recorded discs for lower quantities. From a quality standpoint they are both equal.

Generally, larger volumes (several thousand or more) are done as replicated discs, and smaller volumes 1000 or less are done as recorded discs. This is not a rule, but there would usually be a pretty specific reason why an order would stray from these guidelines when in these volume ranges. The "mid-range" volumes 1000+ tend to be driven more by lead time and print / packaging requirements.

The phrase "lead-Time" refers to the amount of manufacturing time required to produce your disc (whether it is replicated or recorded). A standard "lead time " for replicated discs at most plants is 7 - 10 days

The print requirements also factor into the decision because of the strengths and weakness of all of the various print options that are available. This includes paper and packaging

The options include:

Silkscreening - This is the most common printing method, and can be done at any plant. It is fast, low cost, and generally looks great! The downside is that the resolution is low to handle many of the complex images created by computer graphic artists. In particular, gradients and some photographic details (faces, clouds, etc) don't produce as nicely as they do in other print mediums. However, silkscreening is a great inexpensive option when working within the proper specifications, particularly using pantone colors.

Offset Printing - This process produces the highest quality images. However, it is only available at a limited number of plants. Also, some plants will charge a slight premium for this type of printing. Finally, it is only available as 4 color process, and cannot be done with Pantones.

Thermal Printing - This is the fastest and least expensive method for printing on recordable media. It is monocolor (standard colours are black, blue, and red), and prints at a 300 dpi resolution. It cannot do very complex graphics (i.e.. don't plan on greyscale!) and it cannot do large blocks of solid color (no solid black with silver knockouts!).

Rimage - This is a high quality heat transfer printing process. It is mostly used in applications where there are low runs of audio or Rom discs (where labels can't be used and thermal isn't enough), or in situations where the customer will not accept gloss labels. They cannot be produced quickly, and there is a premium cost (they require special discs, and the transfer ribbons are expensive), but the sure have a great look!

All the Above Processes are available at AxisPPM.