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Create CD-R labels with iTunes 4.5 Apps
New in iTunes 4.5 is the ability to print CD covers. That's great, but what about the CD-R itself? It'd be nice to print a label for the CD, or to print directly on a printable CD-R. You can do it, with just a few steps. You'll need iTunes 4.5 and a printer that can print CD labels or directly on a white printable CD (such as an Epson 300). An image editing tool that can rasterize PDF files (such as Photoshop Elements) is nice but not required if your CD printing software can read PDF files directly.
  1. In iTunes 4.5, select a playlist and then at the main menu select File -> Print... and choose Mosiac (or White Mosiac) to print a collage of album covers from the current playlist.
  2. Click Print... to get to the printer dialog.
  3. Instead of printing the cover, select Save as PDF... and save it to a file.
  4. Use Photoshop Elements to rasterize the PDF to a bitmap. (File -> Import -> PDF Image).
  5. Select the first page of the PDF and click OK to rasterize it and open it.
  6. Modify the image as you like (add text, crop, etc.), then save it as a file (BMP, JPEG, or whatever your CD label printing software can use as an image/background).
  7. In your CD printing software (mine is Epson's Print CD), select the image you just saved and put it on the CD as a background or image.
  8. Print the CD from your CD printing software.
Congratulations. You now have a beautifully custom labeled CD-R, like this one.
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Create CD-R labels with iTunes 4.5 | 4 comments | Create New Account
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Create CD-R labels with iTunes 4.5
Authored by: chabig on May 17, '04 12:14:54PM

It might be worth mentioning that you don't need Photoshop Elements to rasterize a PDF file. Preview can export to many bitmapped graphics formats as well.

Chris



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CD-R labels and disc longevity
Authored by: babbage on May 17, '04 03:39:21PM

Note that some studies have shown that the glue from CD labels seems to damage the disc over time, cutting into the expected readable lifepan of the media. If you're trying to archive songs to CD, it may be safer in the long run not to use adhesive CD labels...

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CD-R labels and disc longevity
Authored by: gorkonapple on May 18, '04 01:26:33AM

WHERE are these studies? I have several CD's that are at least 4 to 5 years old that read just fine and have had labels. Maybe if you buy elcheapo cd's....



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CD-R labels and disc longevity
Authored by: babbage on Jun 09, '04 09:46:07PM
You've never tried Google, have you? The idea that adhesives threaten the longevity of optical media is pretty widely accepted; it's hardly a radical suggestion. But what the heck, I'll spend a minute feeding the troll:
  • From Frequently Asked Questions About CD-R and CD-RW Discs:

    Although damage to the readout surface can cause a disc to fail, the label side is even more delicate. A CD-R dye layer is covered by a thin metallic coating and then a fragile protective layer. This very thin acrylic or lacquer layer is only 5 to 10 micrometers thick (200 to 400 microinches). Physical damage to this surface will destroy the underlying recorded data, or will admit atmospheric contaminants that corrode the metallic coating. Silver is particularly vulnerable to attack by sulphur, a common air pollutant. Even aluminum layers used for CD-ROM discs oxidize when exposed to clean air, resulting in loss of performance.

    Application of a label or other marks can also cause degradation. Special nonreactive adhesives or inks must be used to avoid attack of the metallization layer by migration of chemicals through the protective coating. Hard overcoat protection is added to the label side by some manufacturers. Although the resulting surface is less susceptible to damage, protection is not perfect.

    And from another page on the same site:

    Longevity results were not the same for all discs. Significant differences were observed between manufacturers and also between samples from the same manufacturer. No clear differences were observed between dye types within the limited sample. Degradation was more severe for discs of very poor initial quality than for high quality samples, indicating that initial recorded quality was important to longevity for multiple reasons.

    Identification of specific degradation mechanisms were not studied, and is the responsibility of each manufacturer. Mechanical tests did not disclose any warping or other physical deformation. Visual examination disclosed penetration of label ink into the dye layer of two samples. This caused severe defects and unreadable discs. Further testing was discontinued on these two samples. The protective coating delaminated on two different samples, resulting in uncorrectable errors where the metal layer was exposed. Comprehensive testing was conducted on these samples. The following tables summarize test results of the two sets of samples.

  • From an About.com article on Long Term Data Storage on CD-R Discs:
    Most folks take great care to protect the bottom of their CD-R discs, because the laser reads data from that side. However, the most sensitive part of the CD-R disc is actually the top, which contains the dye layer. The durability of the dye layer varies, but one thing is certain: if you scratch it or tear it off, your data is gone for good. Use only felt tip permanent markers to write on the top of the CD-R disc, and never apply adhesive labels to a long-term archive copy. Adhesives degrade rapidly, and when the label starts to peel or tear off, it could take the dye layer with it.
  • Here's a bunch of photography professionals discussing best practices for archiving digital photos -- scan that page for 'label' to see several remarks on CD-R labels, all of which discourage the practice.

  • This Information Week article discusses ways to get 10+ year digital archives, with quotes like this:

    That was certainly the case in my tests: I did discover bad CDs, but not one--zero--was traceable to a specific brand or dye type. Instead, for me, the only disks that failed were those that I had covered with a glue-on paper label from a print-it-yourself CD label-maker kit. Several of these labeled CDs were, in fact, totally unreadable by every means I tried (including special data-recovery software); all the data on those CDs is just plain gone. My best guess is the glue on these do-it-yourself labels interacted with either the foil or the dye, rendering the CDs useless.

    Fortunately, although I have more than 1,000 data CDs in storage, only a handful have these labels. All my other CDs were hand labeled using an ordinary permanent-ink felt-tip marker, and all of these that I tested--all of them, including the very first CD-R in my collection--remain intact and fully readable. [....]

    [....]

    I'd used two different brands of CD label-makers in the past, and (alas) have no way of knowing whether only one or both caused the problem. But the bottom line is that while some CDs with glue-on labels had problems, none--not one--marked with a permanent ink felt-tip pen did.

    Recommendations

    To me, the above test suggests a two-step strategy to achieve long life for your CDRs and CD-RWs. First, pick a brand or dye type known for durability. (See our original article "Is Your Data Disappearing?" for a quick summary, and follow the links in the article for detailed information.)

    Second, keep your CD-Rs clean and unmodified, and don't do anything that could damage or alter the top side of the disk, where the data is stored. As I painfully discovered, this probably includes not gluing labels to the CDs!

  • A widely cited (The Register, Slashdot, CDFreaks) Dutch study asserted that many CD-Rs, from both well-known and obscure companies, were unreadable after only two years, nevermind the ten or more than the manufacturers claimed that the discs were capable of.

  • An article on the Optical Storage Technology Association's site suggests:
    A more attractive way to label a disc is to apply an adhesive label. Several manufacturers offer inkjet and laser printer compatible products specifically designed for labeling discs as well as positioning devices to help with centering. Full surface or "donut-style" labels are preferable to partial stickers but be aware that any adhesive label can potentially upset the balance of a disc when playing back, especially at high speeds, causing excessive noise, vibration and data retrieval problems. Heat, humidity, handling and the passage of time can also compromise the stability of adhesive labels causing separation from the disc surface and even interfere with the drive. Sticky labels may not be the best choice when archiving important data as some types of label adhesives can react with and compromise the disc over time. Remember too that, once applied, labels should never be removed or repositioned. Even smoothing air bubbles can concentrate physical stresses in a small area and delaminate the disc.

Et cetera.

There's enough evidence out there to put the burden of proof on the label-supporting side of the debate to justify itself. If you want to really archive something -- and saving something for five years isn't all that impressive compared to any form of non-digital media (books, magazines, newspapers, vinyl albums, tapes, etc) -- then it seems obvious that using adhesive labels is a clear detriment to CD-R longevity.

Great, you've anecdotally been kind of lucky for a few years, but so what? In the long run, the odds are against you and you haven't got a leg to stand on.

If in fifty years your labelled CDs are still readable, then maybe you're in the clear, but short of that, please don't advocate using these things -- they just can't be trusted.

If you're serious about backing up your data (music, photos, documents, whatever), then treat your backup media as the delicate thing that it is, and don't go slapping a sticker on it just because it looks pretty today. Five or ten years from now, you'll regret that decision.

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