CD PRESSING - CD REPLICATION
When you need to reproduce more than 500 CD from one master, CD Replication (or CD Pressing) is the best option.
Replication is the process of making exact replica i.e. exact copies of your master. It is the most cost effective manufacturing process for high volume requirements for the CD Rom and Audio CD. This is the only process used in commercial CD production for software, music, and games. Since the replicas are physically pressed copies, they are 100% consistent with the master content, to assure perfect quality on every single disc
The replication process for CD consists of the following key stages:
- Glass mastering
- Stamper creation
- CD Pressing
- Disc printing
From receipt of your master, we create a Glass Master. A laser beam writes the data from your master onto a photo-resist layer, creating what are known as “pits”. After the laser process, the photo-resist layer is chemically cleaned to allow it to then be metallised with nickel. The glass master is now ready.
The Glass Master is placed in baths where nickel Stampers are grown through a galvanic process. The first Stamper to come off the Glass Master is called the Father Stamper and it is sufficient to replicate around 30000 copies. For larger quantities a Mother is grown from the Father to create what we call a “family set”. Practically any number of stampers can be made from the mother.
The CD Replication can begin.
The stamper is placed in the mould of the injection moulding machine. Liquid polycarbonate is pressed or Stamped on to the stamper to fill in the “pits”. The CD is then coated with aluminium (or metallised) to make it reflective and to enable the laser beam of the CD player to read the pits from below and convert them into audio or data signals. Finally, the thin aluminium layer is sealed and protected with a scratch-resistant UV lacquer and then tested for physical imperfections. The CD is now complete and ready to play.
When the discs come off the line, they appear silver on both sides, so next, the artwork needs to be printed onto the disc. The two common print methods used in CD & DVD printing are the Screen printing process and the Litho printing process. The look and nature of your artwork will depend on whether the disc is Screen or Litho printed. Please check our printing specifications before submitting your artwork.
