Before proceeding with a CD duplication order it is wise to consider whether you have all the necessary copyright permissions in place to manufacture or duplicate the discs. We can offer some basic copyright advice for CD duplication orders.

Firstly, if you are the owner of the entire contents of the disc and artwork then you are in theory the copyright owner and you can proceed to copy, duplicate or replicate the contents and artwork. However if any part of the disc content or artwork is owned or controlled by a third party you will need to obtain relevant copyright permissions.

The 3 main elements of copyright involved in CD duplication or replication are:

1, Intellectual rights
2, Sound recording rights
3, Artwork rights

Intellectual rights involves the writers of the song and music content of the disc. Writers will usually assign their intellectual rights to a publisher and/or a collection society such as MCPS. If you are the sole writer of the disc contents and you have not assigned your intellectual rights then you do not need to obtain any copyright permissions in relation to the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights). Most writers/publishers will register their works with an agency such as MCPS and in this case you will need to apply for an MCPS license to manufacture known as an AFL. If you are performing a “cover version” for manufacture again the MCPS can usually grant a manufacturing license.

We will look at the copyright element “Sound Recording” in the next article.

An important part of the CD duplication process is approving artwork for the disc and packaging print. When we have received suitable artwork to correct dimensions and specification our reprographics department process the artwork ready for final print. Once artwork has been processed we will email copies of the print ready PDFs for approval.

Customers should check the PDF content proofs very carefully to ensure all content is correct before proceeding with the CD duplication and print. Specific issues to check for include:

Is all text being displayed in the correct fonts?
Is all text copy correct?
Are page numbers and pagination correct?
Are all punctuation marks displayed correctly?
Are colour modes and spot pantone colours defined correctly?
Is white or silver base correctly specified for the disc print?
Are all CD or DVD logos displayed correctly?
Is artwork aligned correctly with crop marks?
Are all text areas at least 3mm away from trim?
Are any gloss or matt finishing options specified?

The PDF proofs are intended as a final check for all of the above. PDF proofs are not accurate for colour, brightness or contrast. A computer monitor displays colour using RGB mode whereas physical print is either CMYK or pantone colour. Therefore the colours displayed on a computer monitor can never be 100% accurate to the final printed matter. Also the fact that every individual will have their monitor calibrated slightly differently means that a PDF viewed on one computer monitor may look completely different in colour to the same PDF viewed on another computer monitor.

When approving artwork by PDF the customer must do so on the understanding that there will be colour variance between PDFs viewed on a RGB monitor and the final CMYK printed parts. If you have artwork that is colour critical we would always recommend a 100% colour accurate hard copy proof such as Sherpa or Agfa proofing. Colour accurate proofs are available from our print suppliers at a cost of £30 per A3 sheet.

OK, so you have a couple of hundred clients or company staff that you need to get large data documents to fast. Solution, burn the data to CD and send out in the post, sounds a great idea. However burning the discs on the office PC could potentially take a couple of days. Save valuable time with CD Duplication services from a professional duplicator.

Most CD duplication companies can duplicate a couple of hundred discs in just a few hours together with fantastic quality on body disc print. The prices charged by most duplication companies are often far less than the cost of burning and printing your own discs at home or in the office. So make the sensible choice and have a company such as Testa-Rossa produce the discs for you, thus saving time and money.

On certain products Testa-Rossa offer 24 hour turnaround so the discs can be with you or your customer by the next working day. Simply post out your master disc and artwork, preferably Special Delivery and for orders received before 9AM it is often possible to produced the duplicated discs and despatch on the same day.

For fastest turnaround times we recommend CD duplication in a plastic wallet or clear clam shell. This means that your disc artwork and information are visible through the clear packaging which eliminates the need for any printed paper or card inlays. Again saving money and reducing leadtimes.

When considering CD Duplication services there are several different options to consider to ensure you make the right decision. First of all what quantity do you require? If you require less than 500 discs then CD duplication is usually the preferable option although once you require 450 or above CD replication is usually going to be a better option. Duplicated discs are discs that have the data burnt onto the CD-R in a similar way to how you burn or write a CD in your computers DVD writer. Replicated discs are discs that are manufactured with the data already embedded or pressed into the disc itself.

The next factor to consider is how quickly do you need the discs. If you are working to extremely tight deadlines then CD duplication will normally be the only option. 500 duplicate CD’s can be burnt in a 24 hour period depending on the companies capacity. You could theoretically use this fast turnaround duplication to produce a run of 1000 or more discs however costs would be a lot higher than using replication. For orders of 450+ discs replication does work out cheaper per unit however leadtime is going to be around 7 days or 10 days if the order includes packaging and printed paper parts.

Another factor is what the CD’s are being used for. If the CD is an album release to full retail standard then replication will always give a more professional product. We are often asked if audio on a duplicated disc sounds any different in quality to audio on a replicated disc and the answer is no. However if you were to store each album for a long period, let’s say 20 years. After this time period a replicated disc would still play exactly the same but there is a chance a duplicated disc may not play at all after such a long time. This is due to the fact that duplication relies on a photo sensitive dye within the plastic that holds the information. These dyes can deteriorate with time, especially if exposed to UV light or sunlight. So if you need a long “shelf life” for your discs always go for replication. If however the data you need to distribute is for short term use then duplicated discs are always going to be a more cost effective solution for smaller order quantities.

Our CD duplication services can include the addition of ISRC codes to each disc. ISRC stands for International Standard Recording Code and is a code that can be added to each track on a CD. Each code is a unique identification that can be used to automatically log airplay and identify the track for payment of royalties.

In the UK ISRC codes are usually issued through PPL, the code consists of a combination of 12 digits and characters. During the pre-mastering stage the ISRC codes can be added to the PMCD and comply fully with Philips Red Book specification. Once the PMCD master has been burnt containing ISRC codes the codes should then be copied to all subsequent duplicated or replicated discs during manufacture.

Many broadcast CD and DVD players can automatically read the ISRC code and use the unique identification to log airplay and generate artist/performer/writer royalties. The codes are also very useful in electronic distribution of music and can be used to calculate sales via this distribution method.

ISRC codes are also very useful for giving the consumer more information about the CD by accessing on line databases. You will notice that if you play a retail release CD on a computer often all the information such as track titles, artist name, album sleeve artwork etc can be displayed on your computer. This information is not read from the CD itself, all that is read is the ISRC code, the software then identifies this ISRC code with an online database where all this additional information is held. This information is then accessed from the online database and displayed on your computer.

It’s been another busy month so far for our UK CD duplication services. This months CD album manufacturing has seen some great self funded artist and independant label releases. As always our friendly and helpful staff are always on call to help with your music releases and promo requirements.

We are again offering great deals on cheap CD duplication for music promotional purposes. Black text print onto a silver disc is usually fine for promos and we offer a standard prodisc or Sony DADC disc both featuring silver record side. Full colour is also available on to Sony discs at slightly higher cost. For a more presentable promotional package or even as retail use our CD replication in full colour card wallet is an excellent solution. Current low cost pricing on CD in card wallet is as little as £429+vat for 500 units and an amazing £469+vat for 1000 units.

Moving up our product list the ever popular 4 page booklet album is still our best selling product. A full colour 4PP CD booklet and inlay with choice of 1 sided or double sided inlay for same low price. There is a choice of 2 colour screenprint or full colour offset litho for the disc print. To finish off this album solution all parts are packed to high quality CD jewel case with choice of black or clear tray. Individual cellophane overwrap is also available on orders of 500+ and you can even split your order so that part is overwrapped and part not. These day some retailers prefer overwrap and some prefer no overwrap.

When comparing quotes and pricing for CD Duplication also be certain to compare the quality of the CD duplication service. Many companies advertising cheap prices do so due to the fact they use cheap discs and cheap print methods which most of the time results in a poor quality end product. Like anything these days if you pay a cheaper price you usually get a lower quality service.

If you are looking for a reliable CD duplication company then odds are that a reliable company won’t be the cheapest. One thing to investigate is the type of disc the duplication company is using. Many companies use unbranded discs which do not meet Philips specifications and some even use discs that are technically illegal because the manufacturer has not paid the license to Philips. At Testa-Rossa all our colour print and duplication is on the highest quality Sony discs manufactured by Sony DADC, market leader in CD-R and DVD-R media. Sony discs have very high technical qualities and meet all Philips standards or “book” specifications.

Sony manufacture inkjet and Everest printable discs but by far the Everest discs give superior print results. Everest thermal transfer print technology delivers a very high standard full colour or greyscale gloss print which is highly durable, scratch and moisture resistant. If you find a company offering Sony discs for duplication together with Everest thermal print then rest assured you will receive the highest standard of short run disc duplication on the market. You may pay a slight premium for this high quality service but this premium gives complete peace of mind with your project.

It is extremely rare that we ever experience any errors from the CD duplication process. Occasionally we do get customers that bring to our attention slight playback errors on their duplicated discs. On further investigation this is usually due to errors that were contained within the CD master the customer supplied and not actually due to errors in the CD duplication

So, the essential thing to remember is that a duplicated CD or DVD can only ever be as error free as the master used. If there are errors on the master then in most cases these errors are also copied to the duplicated discs. To reduce the risk of playback errors you should always master and burn a disc to Philips red book specification. Also using a high quality disc and burning at low speeds is good advice to achieve a master with the least possible errors. It is also good practice to ensure the underside of the disc is not damaged, scratched or marked. Even greasy fingerprints can sometimes cause read errors.

Most CD players have built in error correction which means that sometimes a master disc may play perfectly fine on a CD player even though it contains errors. Most duplication equipment will ignore certain correctable errors but with CD replication the master needs to be pristine. The glass mastering process will not tolerate any digital read errors at all, so even though a CD master may play acceptably on your hi fi there is still a chance your master will be rejected during the glass mastering stage. Any errors are usually identified by an Eclipse report prior to the glass mastering stage.

Back up and distribute all your important data using DVD or CD duplication. A CD-R can hold 700mb of information and a DVD-R a staggering 4.7gb of digital information. Both CD and DVD duplication are excellent methods of backing up information such as databases or collections of pictures.

If you are looking to distribute some large files such as high resolution pictures within your company then generally email is not suitable due its limitations with file sizes. Duplication to CD or DVD is a fast and cost effective way to supply large files to your staff and customers. If you are looking to send these large files to numerous people the burning the discs one by one can be very painstaking. A duplication company can usually provide numerous copies of a master disc a lot faster and with a far more professional surface print.

For important back up of computer files the DVD is an excellent storage medium. Quite often hard drives can fail making data recovery very difficult. Regularly backing up your important data and files to DVD is a cheap and effective means of storage. When saving large application projects to hard drive also consider burning a DVD back up. A DVD library of all work can then be kept which is an invaluable failsafe back up in case of hard drive failures or viruses.

Some of the most common questions we are asked by customers are regarding artwork specifications for CD duplication The easier way to supply suitable artwork is to download our templates for your specific CD or DVD packaging and follow guidelines on the website.

The most widely accepted file format is PDF, many software design applications have the ability to output designs using the PDF format. Best results are achieved if you use the highest quality PDF output settings and where possible output all your text as vector information or convert all text to outlines/shapes/paths first. This method of outputting text gives the sharpest/crispest print results possible. Many designers make the error of flattening text down to pixel information which can then look blurred or pixilated when printed especially if the font size is small or the font style is thin.

Another common error is for designers to supply artwork in RGB colour mode. Since all commercial print uses a CMYK process it is essential to supply all artwork in CMYK mode and not RGB. Testa-Rossa and its print suppliers will not accept RGB artwork and there may be artwork re-supply charges for customers who have to re-submit their artwork due to RGB issues. One failsafe way to check for RGB is using the output preview in Adobe Acrobat and select RGB, any parts of artwork in RGB mode will be shown on screen.