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Paper Labels

Labels for CDs can be called different ways such as CD, CDR, CD R, CD ROM, and compact disc labels.

Blank CD paper labels have been controversial since they started being used. About 20 years ago. It was a concern whether the adhesive and paper itself or even the ink applied to the label is acidic or corrosive, and will eventually damage the media. This question arises because in the very early history (20 years ago) of compact disc, some discs experienced what became known as "disc rot" when the aluminum metal layer corroded because the lacquer used to coat it was acidic, making it non-reflective and thereby useless. Acidic lacquer is no longer used. Certainly it is not a good thing to have any part of a disc carelessly damaged, but with CDs that use gold for their metal layer, the danger of corrosion is extremely limited. However, the metal is applied in a very, very thin layer, and conceivably over time some leakage of a corrosive substance might occur that could interact with the dye layer. But with metals other than 24K gold being used in CDs now, the chance of metal corrosion, while still low, is higher than with gold. That is one reason Verbatim chose to use a protective "printable" coating on their discs, even though it is not as aesthetically pleasing as simple lacquer. However, it is possible to use paper and adhesives that are acid-free and chemically non-reactive.

Adhesives

Paper labels and their adhesive is the danger that a user might try to remove them, which has a very high probability of causing damage by pulling some of the disc protective coating, metal and dye off with the label. This is particularly true of plain lacquer discs. For this reason, label users are usually warned not to remove the labels, no matter what. A somewhat contradictory argument is that labels could become unattached while being used in a CD drive, potentially damaging the drive. Some adhesives can certainly dry out and become less effective over time, especially in the presence of heat, so this danger could be real. That's why we use only the highest quality acrylic adhesive which can stand high temperatures for our blank CD labels.

Balancing the CD

Don't use half crescent CD labels!
With high speed CD drives especially, a paper label that is not perfectly centered, or is inherently unbalanced as in the case of a half-crescent label, will effect disc rotation, causing read errors.

Summary

But despite all the arguments against using paper labels, they are very popular and continue to be the best solution. It is also very inexpensive, costing only pennies per disc. Paper CD labels when printed in a laser or inkjet printer they can look better than handwriting on the disc using a pen. A full-circle or "doughnut" label applied with a tool to center it perfectly eliminates any potential danger of imbalance. And a full-circle paper label provides a small measure of protection against minor scratches on the delicate top surface of lacquer-only coated discs.

The general conclusions that can be drawn about paper labels are that those made with appropriate materials in a full-circle and applied correctly are probably acceptable for short-term intermittent use, they are inexpensive and can be attractive, and they might give some protection against small scratches.

If you plan to use your CD-R disc for long-term (7+ years) archiving or for very heavy use, such as keeping it in a reader where it could be exposed to elevated temperatures over a long time, it would be better to find another labeling method than paper labels.

CD/DVD Templates

Ultra Smooth labels fits several types of CD label templates including Mini CD, Business CD card, and DVD label templates. FreePhotoPaper.com offers cross reference label templates for popular label software programs for Avery, Neato, CD Stomper and Memorex. You can download the CD/DVD label templates in these popular formats; Word (doc) and Adobe (pdf).

Ultra Smooth CD Labels

FreePhotoPaper continues to be one of the leaders in inkjet label printing. Our creative department is constantly working on improving printability and ease of use. We want to make it very simple for you to print professional looking labels.

We can help you with your CD and DVD labeling needs, software suggestions, sheet types and sizes, printing problems. Please do not hesitate to contact us by email.

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