[OPLINTECH] Donut label printing

[Ken Butler]

I'm curious what other libraries are doing for CD/DVD donut labels.
Specifically:

   1. Does your library use donut labels on your CDs/DVDs/Blu-Rays?
   2. If you use them, do you print them in house, or order them
   pre-printed from somewhere like Demco?
   3. If you print them in house, what software, printer, and labels do you
   use?

Ever since upgrading to new label printers several years ago (the TSC
TTP-247), printing these has been a struggle. After a lot of
troubleshooting and research, the conclusion I've drawn is that the gap
sensor on our printers can't tell where labels start and end when it comes
to the circular die cut type. The result is that the text is offset by
anywhere from a centimeter to an inch, randomly, and the printer errors out
with a red blinking light often. Other labels work flawlessly. I recently
got a trial of Nicelabel software, thinking that maybe it was the Bartender
software we use, but had the same results. Using a diagnostic tool shows
that our gap sensors simply do not pick up the correct information when it
comes to calibrating for donut labels. And for reference - yes, I am moving
the gap sensor so that it lines up with the center of the donut and
calibrating the printer after. I've tried other gap sensor positions too.
I'd think that it might be a faulty gap sensor, but we have two printers of
the same model giving the same result, and it's only donut labels that give
us trouble. These
<https://www.bayscan.com/dvd-labels-1.5-x-1.5-2-wide-doughnut.html> are the
label's we're using.

These printers weren't cheap, and replacing them when they work perfectly
for everything but donut labels seems extreme. Maybe there's a different
type of label that we could try? Some setting I haven't thought to check?
Pre-printed donut labels are also an option, but they cost a lot more per
label. I'd like to hear if other libraries have faced similar issues, and
if so, what you ended up doing to resolve the problem.

-- 
Ken Butler
hcotech at holmeslib.org
Head of Information Technology
Holmes County District Public Library
3102 Glen Drive
Millersburg, OH 44654
PH: 330-674-5972 ext 224
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