can i use my epson 1280 or 2200 to print on cds?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert Desel
  • Start date Start date
Robert Desel said:
Do I need an attachment?
Click to expand...

I doubt that it can be done on a printer not designed for it. CD printing
on the Epson 900, 960, and R300 does not involve feeding the CD through like
paper. Instead, you put the CD in a special tray and flip a separate
mechanism into place. The printer has to know it's printing a CD; lots of
mechanical movements are different.
 
Thanks.

I am trying to get a printer that will print on CDs. I have a 1280 and need
to replace my everyday printer, dont really want to but another photo
printer, and an eveyr day printer...

Any ideas?
 
Robert Desel said:
Thanks.

I am trying to get a printer that will print on CDs. I have a 1280 and need
to replace my everyday printer, dont really want to but another photo
printer, and an eveyr day printer...

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Epson 900 was just discontinued and is on clearance in the office supply
stores right now. Look around. It's slower than the other CD printers, but
quite adequate for your purposes.
 
The European version of the Epson 2200 comes with a free CD printing unit. I
don't believe you can fit one to the US model 2200 because the mounting
holes (and probably the detection switch?) aren't present - at least on
photos I've seen on the web..

The 2200 will print on thick card so you could try and make your own CD
carrier (Print CD image onto card, cut out hole with knife and tape CD in
place, run through printer again). I believe you need special coated CD
media whatever you do and if you break your printer don't blame me.

Choose an image with uniform ink distribution to avoid out of balance
vibration at high RPM?
 
CWatters said:
The European version of the Epson 2200 comes with a free CD printing unit. I
don't believe you can fit one to the US model 2200 because the mounting
holes (and probably the detection switch?) aren't present - at least on
photos I've seen on the web..
Click to expand...

I believe it's something to do with a patent in the US that prevents
printer manufacturers selling CD printing accessories to the US market.
That patent is a US-only one, so the rest of the world can have them.
 
Do I need an attachment?
Click to expand...
I don't see why not--especially since the UK version of the 2200 comes
equipped with a CD tray and a CD printing software utility...not to
mention the Graybalancer software. I'm still trying to figure out why
all of this was left out of the U.S. version, it's almost as if they
don't believe we'd ever find out about it. Good news is that all the
software utilities can be downloaded from the Epson Russian site..

OTOH, it could be that they believe that pigment-based inks simply
have not worked out well when printing on inkjet-compatible CD/DVD
media, and also that the Graybalancer proved unneccessary.

I've got an Epson 900 that comes with a CD tray, and this would appear
to be compatible with any printer (such as the 2200) that has a
straight-through printing option and the capability to handle the tray
thickness (the carrier has a thickness of about 0.095"). Somewhere I
read that the UK version is loaded from the front when printing
directly to CD/DVD media, but the 900 only loads from the rear slot.
Is this correct?
 
Warren said:
I don't see why not--especially since the UK version of the 2200 comes
equipped with a CD tray and a CD printing software utility...not to
mention the Graybalancer software. I'm still trying to figure out why
all of this was left out of the U.S. version, it's almost as if they
don't believe we'd ever find out about it.
Click to expand...

Note that I believe Epson left out the mounting bracket holes and possibly
the switch that detects that the CD printer tray is fitted on the 2200.
Somewhere I
read that the UK version is loaded from the front when printing
directly to CD/DVD media,
Click to expand...

Yes the CD tray fits to the front of the 2200 I believe.
 
Note that I believe Epson left out the mounting bracket holes and possibly
the switch that detects that the CD printer tray is fitted on the 2200.


Yes the CD tray fits to the front of the 2200 I believe.
Click to expand...
This sounds like quite a different arrangement than that used for the
Epson 900, where the CD is loaded onto a special plastic tray and then
pre-loaded into the rear and clamped down by means of the lever
(thickness I presume) adjustment. The whole works then proceeds
through the printer like a stiff sheet of paper. I've seen ideas
posted for printing CD/DVDs in any printer having a straight-through
printing path, and from the descriptions, it would seem that the 2200
would be a relatively easy job, since it can handle the required
thickness--others would require a mod to do this. One idea was to
obtain some thin illustration board and make a three-layer sandwich
out of this with a cutout for the CD blank. This was suggested only
as a trial configuration to be improved on by the substitution of
plastic sheet material.

Or why not just order a replacement CD tray for the 900 and use that?
I don't see anything particularly special about the one I have, except
for a small 1/2" X 1/2" notch on the left side of the front edge,
probably to ensure alignment but not necessary. The CD
printing/management "Print CD" software can be downloaded from the
Epson Russian site, and the file is "pricd_120e" for the English
version. It may be identical to the "Print CD" program provided for
the Epson 900, but I'm not sure yet.
 
Warren said:
I don't see why not--especially since the UK version of the 2200 comes
equipped with a CD tray and a CD printing software utility...not to
mention the Graybalancer software. I'm still trying to figure out why
all of this was left out of the U.S. version, it's almost as if they
don't believe we'd ever find out about it. Good news is that all the
software utilities can be downloaded from the Epson Russian site..

OTOH, it could be that they believe that pigment-based inks simply
have not worked out well when printing on inkjet-compatible CD/DVD
media, and also that the Graybalancer proved unneccessary.

I've got an Epson 900 that comes with a CD tray, and this would appear
to be compatible with any printer (such as the 2200) that has a
straight-through printing option and the capability to handle the tray
thickness (the carrier has a thickness of about 0.095"). Somewhere I
read that the UK version is loaded from the front when printing
directly to CD/DVD media, but the 900 only loads from the rear slot.
Is this correct?
Click to expand...

I think so too as 4-5 years ago I read few people mentioned they can
print on CD using some old Epson printer. I think it's possible we can
modify most or some Epson printers to print on CD.

Yes, the 900 loads from the rear.
 
I just bought a 900. The motivation was not CDs, but it is something
I may well use in the future.

One really nice thing is it uses the same carts as my 1280---giving me
flexibility in trying differnet inks, etc.

Teh 900 will be a dye printer and the 1280 is going over to pigment,
monochrome, and who knows what else.

900 is now avialable around $150 new---probably less for used.

-mark

Thanks.

I am trying to get a printer that will print on CDs. I have a 1280 and need
to replace my everyday printer, dont really want to but another photo
printer, and an eveyr day printer...

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

**************************
Mark Herring, Pasadena, Calif.
Private e-mail: Just say no to "No".
 
thanks!

and they would be?
Click to expand...
Epson printers that are intended to print CD/DVD printables are the
R300, R300M, Stylus Photo 900 and 2100. Since the 2200 (US version of
the 2100) also has a straight-through paper path and is capable of
printing to thick materials, it may be possible with the proper jig to
hold the blank, but the pigment-based inks may or may not work well
with the discs, since even dye-based inks don't saturate well in this
application.
 
Also the Photo 960 will print on cd's.



Warren said:
Epson printers that are intended to print CD/DVD printables are the
R300, R300M, Stylus Photo 900 and 2100. Since the 2200 (US version of
the 2100) also has a straight-through paper path and is capable of
printing to thick materials, it may be possible with the proper jig to
hold the blank, but the pigment-based inks may or may not work well
with the discs, since even dye-based inks don't saturate well in this
application.
Click to expand...
 
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