The following specification and recommendation concern the data files and films to be supplied to us for DVD and CD label printings.

Printing Methods  

There are more than one printing option available for media replication:  screen and offset printings. When selecting a facility to produce your project, their ability to both offset and screen print on media is important. There are situations where offset or screen-printing is best, and the project requirements, should determine which method to be used. No every format fits every project.

1. Offset printing provides better results for more complex artwork, such as photographs (picture disks) , gradations, or images using percentages of colors
2. It is easier to custom match a particular color with screen printing. Any PMS (Pantone matching system) color can be printed, and it is even possible to mix PMS colors. Some PMS colors do not have representative CMYK equivalents, such as the 180-190 ranges of red or the 280-290 ranges of blue. In these cases, printing the specific PMS color is better for optimum results.
3.  Metallic and fluorescent inks can be used in screen printing. These colors can be purchased for screen printed projects.  

              The following types of print can be processed: 

1. Line or spot Prints with up to four different spot colours (white is not included) with screen techniques.

2. 4 colours (CMYK) process print (picture disc) with screen techniques plus a solid white  background if required  

3. 4 colour process print (picture disc) with offset techniques plus a solid white  background and extra fifth color or lacquer for overprinting if required. Usually white or black are used  for overprinting Using other colors for over printing can modify the desired reproduction; it is therefore preferable to use negative print. 

 
Note: If yоur visual result consist of 1 to 4 solid colors, before exposure check to see if it can be reduced into Pantone shades instead of a four (CMYK) color process. This generally improves the color reproduction and the alignment.

 
The product has a metallic aspect, which can influence the result originally desired. A white background slightly diminishes the phenomenon. For 4-color process print (picture) disk a white background is necessary for better results. You must specify if a white background is not desired. 

Label Artwork - Printing Carriers for screen printing

Printing area :  outer diameter – 117 mm, inner diameter – 20 mm min

Films: Positive with the emulsion on the top side to be read from left to right with density higher than 3%. There must be markers on both axels on the top, bottom and left and right as depicted on the graphical design images of the disc, print dimensions. On every film every colour must be marked. There must be neither smears nor scratches. 

Line and Font Sizes:   

Line width     

Minimum 0.10 mm positive print, Minimum 0.15 mm negative print.

Text size

Minimum 4 pt for positive print,  
Minimum 4.5 pt for negative print and in this cases, please use preferably straight fonts, capital letters and bold type for clearer legibility.

Font style  

No restrictions, if the font line width fulfils the above specification. If not, we cannot guarantee a perfect reading or reproduction. Avoid fine halftone text and dropping text out of all halftones. Maintain either 100% or 0 % dots on letters.

Negative text or lines

For negative text or lines (including license and logos), the same element can only be negative on a maximum of two films. When the letters or some elements are dropping out of the background and colored there should be overprint to avoid flashes.

Dot type: elliptical as it minimizes undesired changes in the tones or contrast especially when using midtone ranges or "flesh" tones.

Tonal range:  Minimum 15 %, Maximum 85 % 
Low tonal values from 0 to 15 % will only be partially printed. 
High tonal values from 85 to 100 may block up which may affect final reproduction

Screen rulings: The screen ruling of the halftone must be 120 lines / inch

Screen angle Halftones ( 1 to 3 colors)

The general rules are the following: 
The angle between films must be 300 to avoid the moire effect. 
It is recommended to put the predominant color at an angle of 450 
Depending on the number of colors, the angle values are the following: 
1 color in halftones: 450 
2 colors in halftones : 150 and 450 or 450 and 750 
3 colors in halftones : 150 , 450  and 750

Four colors print - Picture

Standard screen angles for a 4-color process is: 
Yellow: 00 
Cyan: 750 
Magenta: 450 
Black: 150 

Color Proof: For 4 color process (picture disk) a color proof must be supplied for each project  

N.B. The DVD is a polycarbonate /aluminum medium very different from a paper medium. It is therefore possible to have slight differences in color between the color proof and result on the disk. A white background reduces this phenomenon appreciably. 
The screen printing techniques does not give the same reproduction in four-color halftone picture as the Chromatin or Matchprint supplied. 

Label Artwork - Printing Carriers for offset printing

Printing area:  outer diameter – 117 mm, inner diameter – 20 mm min

Films:  We accept artwork only as data file see the section with requirements for acceptable Graphic files for printing materials for details.

Line and Font Sizes:   

Line width     

Minimum 0.10 mm positive print, Minimum 0.15 mm negative print.

Text size

Minimum 4 pt for positive print,  
Minimum 4.5 pt for negative print and in this cases, please use preferably straight fonts,  with serifs, capital letters and bold type for clearer legibility.

Font style  

No restrictions, if the font line width fulfils the above specification. If not, we cannot guarantee a perfect reading or reproduction. Avoid fine halftone text and dropping text out of all halftones. Maintain either 100% or 0 % dots on letters.

Negative text or lines

For negative text or lines (including licenses and logos), the same element is recommended to be negative on a maximum of two films. When the letters or some elements are dropping out of the background and colored there should be overprint to avoid flashes.

Tonal range:  Minimum 5 %, Maximum 95 % 

Color Proof: For 4  color process (picture disk) a color proof must be supplied for each project  

N.B. The DVD is a polycarbonate /aluminum medium very different from a paper medium. It is therefore possible to have slight differences in color between the color proof and result on the product. A white background reduces this phenomenon appreciably. 
 

Label Artwork – Graphic files for printing materials

Preferred file formats:

PDF, EPS, CDR, TIFF and the worst case - JPEG

Media types  

We are able to accept artwork via the following media: 
• Optical disk, E-mail, floppy drive 

Requirements:

•  
  • the file must have converted types
  • the file must not be coded, without passwords
  • no types with postscript insertion prohibition
  • all screen and vector images must be in CMYK colour profile
  • no ICC or TAC profiles must be used in the file
  • when specific colours are to be used, they must be marked by their exact signs of the pantone table
  • after the PDF file has been created there should be no further modifications done on it

Unless advised, we will assume that all supplied data and constructs meet the both the Customer's and Mediasys’s' requirements and that these have been verified and validated by your supplier .

Printing Graphic Design - Sizes:

Graphic design of DVD5 / DVD9 /CD

Graphic design of DVD10