CD replication

CD replication - production from a glass master

In replication the data is not written onto ready-made discs. It is formed physically in the structure of the polycarbonate the disc is made of. First a master is prepared, and successive copies are then produced from it.

This way of recording is more durable than data burned into a dye layer, and it works well with older players and car readers too.

Replication is chosen mainly for music releases, company material and other productions made in larger, repeated series.

Runs start at 100 pieces and go up to 10 000. In the calculator you choose the number of discs and the colour of the base, and the price and lead time appear with the quote.

Replication or duplication - which to choose

In both cases you receive a finished printed disc, but the way it is made differs.

• Replication - a master is prepared first and the whole run is produced from it. The cost of making it is spread across all copies, so as the number of discs grows the solution becomes more and more favourable. Every disc comes from the same source.
• Duplication - data is written onto ready-made discs in industrial duplicators. Writing is done at low speed and every copy goes through verification. A convenient solution for smaller series and for material that may change between batches.

If you need a few dozen discs, or the content will be updated often, look at CD printing and duplication.

For a larger music release or a company production it is worth comparing both technologies in the calculator.

How a replicated disc is made

Production consists of several stages.

1. Premastering

First the master material is prepared. We check the data structure, and with audio material we set the track order and the gaps between tracks. If the scope of the job includes additional audio processing, we agree it before production starts.

2. Glass master

The master is created from the prepared material. A laser writes the data spiral onto a glass disc under controlled production conditions. All the discs are later made from that source.

3. Replication

The discs are formed from polycarbonate under high pressure. A layer reflecting the laser light is then applied by vacuum metallisation, and the surface receives a protective layer.

4. Printing

The artwork is applied to the finished disc. We match the printing method to the run and the character of the design, and agree the details with the order.

Finished discs go through a check of the recording and the printing before being passed on for assembly.

Disc: CD and its capacity

This product covers standard CDs with a diameter of 120 mm.

The capacity is up to 700 MB of data, and for CD-Audio the maximum length of material is 79 minutes and 55 seconds.

Supported standards:

• CD-ROM - documents, presentations, data, training and installation material,
• CD-Audio - a classic music disc for CD players,
• CD-Video - video material recorded in the standard intended for CD,
• CD-Extra - a combination of audio tracks and a data section, for example a music video, a photo gallery or extra material.

If the content exceeds 700 MB, look at DVD replication. DVD holds around seven times more data, so it suits larger archives and video material better.

Colour of the disc base: silver or gold

In the calculator you can choose the colour of the unprinted side of the disc.

A silver base is the standard solution used in most productions. It suits music albums, company and training material and other classic releases.

A gold base has a warm, light golden shade, closer to champagne than to intense jewellery gold. The name refers to the look of the surface, not to the material it is made of.

This variant is chosen mainly for aesthetic reasons. It can work well with collector's, anniversary, gift and limited editions.

The colour of the base does not affect the capacity of the disc, the way it is read or the durability of the recording. The difference is visual.

Where CD replication works

Replicated CDs are used for, among other things:

• music releases - albums, singles, reissues and discs sold at concerts,
• training and conference material - recordings of lectures, presentations and courses,
• company material - catalogues, offers, technical documentation and discs bundled with products,
• releases from institutions - information material, documentation and commemorative publications,
• archiving - copies of collections and documentation intended for longer storage.

How to send material for replication

You can supply material in two ways.

• A master disc - a finished, previously checked disc whose contents are to be reproduced. You can send it by post or courier.
• A disc image - a file that is an exact reproduction of the whole contents of the disc. We accept NRG, ISO and DDP 2.0 for CD-Audio. You can send the image to our FTP server.

Include an MD5 checksum with the image. It is a short string calculated from the file. Once we have downloaded the material we can recalculate the MD5 and check that the file arrived unchanged.

The track order and a description of the contents are best sent separately in a simple text file.

Artwork for printing on the disc

Prepare the artwork to the following rules:

• working area: 120×120 mm,
• prepare a full square, without cutting out the shape of the disc and the central hole yourself,
• the graphics should cover the whole working area. We will trim it on our side so that no white rim appears at the edge,
• colour in CMYK, not RGB,
• if you send artwork in RGB it will be converted automatically to CMYK, which can affect the colours,
• if you use a colour profile, for disc printing use Coated FOGRA27,
• prepare photographs at 300 dpi,
• thin lines and fine elements are best left as vectors; if they are raster, prepare them at 600 dpi,
• a PDF file with fonts converted to outlines, or a flattened TIF in CMYK with LZW compression,
• black texts: 100% K,
• black solids: 25% C, 25% M, 25% Y, 100% K,
• keep fine elements away from the edge of the print area.

On a silver disc a white base can be applied under colour graphics, so that the silver surface does not affect the look of the colours.

If printing is deliberately left without a white base, the silver gloss will show through the ink and give the design a metallic effect. Bear in mind, though, that colours will then be darker.

The full set of requirements is in the file preparation section.

Packaging, assembly and ordering

You can collect the finished discs without packaging, or order the whole set straight away.

The options include:

• CD-Box cases with covers,
• SLIM cases,
• card sleeves,
• ecopaks,
• digipaks,
• booklets and inserts.

We can also handle assembly, that is placing the discs and printed material into the appropriate packaging. You then receive a finished run ready for sale, distribution or shipping.

You start the order by choosing the run and the base colour in the calculator. You then send the material for replication and the print artwork. After checking, we come back with confirmation of the production parameters.

No finished graphics? Write to us. We will advise how to prepare artwork for the disc and the packaging.