Disk Specifications...CD-R: 52X/80 Min. ~ DVD-R: 8X/4.7GB General Purpose.

Standard Size 4.75" Round / White Inkjet Printable Surface / Grade A or better.

We can accept files from the following Macintosh applications...

• QuarkXpress V7
• Photoshop
• Illustrator CS2
• InDesign CS2
• Acrobat

Make sure to include all images and fonts, or convert all fonts to outlines, or output the whole mess to an image file.

Click here for a disk template

Disk image design services are available starting at $ 19.95 for a basic layout. Just let us know what you're looking for, we have well over one million pieces of clip art and photographic images available, or send us your own images and we will whip up a design based on your specifications.

The following graphic image file types are acceptable no matter what computer or application you use...as long as they are full size and at the proper resolution:

• .tif
• .jpg
• .pdf
• .bmp
• .psd (with fonts rasterized)
• .pict
• .eps (with fonts vectorized)

Ensure that images are at least 240 dpi/ppi resolution or greater, otherwise the printed image on your disks will print pixelated, solids and graduations will print with banding. In other words, your image will look pretty bad when printed on the disk, and on any literature, if it's under 240 dpi/ppi resolution at full size.

If in doubt about any of the guidelines, go ahead and send your file(s) and we'll let you know if they will work or not. Most of the time we can fix small problems without any extra charges.

Disk printing is performed on Microboards automated disk printers (720 dpi CMYK inkjet direct-to-disk), and literature printing is done on a Hewlett Packard toner based color laser digital press (600 dpi CMYK).

Click here to ask any question, no matter how stupid you may think it is...remember, there are no stupid questions, just people that don't ask questions and look stupid later :)

Duplication is when data is burned on to an already existing disc. The quality of duplication can vary dramatically depending on the type of discs used, the machines used to burn them and the speed at which they are burned. Creative Graphics uses only the highest quality name-brand discs, along with the highest quality burning equipment to ensure you receive the best possible quality and compatibility.

With ANY duplicated product, it is important to be aware of potential playability issues. Some CD players can have difficulty tracking on duplicated discs. The majority of duplicated discs and players function without any problems but it can happen on some older CD/DVD player and in rare cases on newer players as well. In general, DVDs are more temperamental that CDs.

Creative Graphics currently burns DVDs at 4x and CDs at 8x to try to minimize any potential problems with playability. We have run tests and we see the most reliable results at those speeds and have found that reliability starts to gradually fall off at higher burn speeds. We also have an option on our burners to optimize for most players and perform a bit by bit verification against the original master after the disks are burned, which takes a little longer to burn but is worth the extra effort. There are different types of media and some work better in certain players than others. Different CD player manufacturers build their players to slightly different standards, this is why you will see the variability in the market. Most of the newest players coming out are pretty reliable with most burned DVDs and CDs.

Every time you burn a disc, errors are introduced. Better media burning at a slower speed will introduce the fewest errors. Errors in the burn typically won’t translate into any audible defects. The CD and DVD standards have error correction built in to them to minimize skipping and tracking issues. As players get old and discs get abused by normal wear and tear, it is harder for players to read them. Also, older players may even have a hard time tracking discs without errors for a variety of reasons like a dirty or worn out laser, calibration problems etc. Another important thing to consider is that discs can inherit any flaws in the original master. So as you make a copy of a copy of a copy, the disc error rate increases slightly. When creating your master to send to us be sure to consider all of the following recommendations to create the most reliable disc with the fewest errors:

Send only a first generation disc.

Burn at very slow speeds. 2x, 4x, 8x. Some burners are more compatible with one brand of media over another and burn more reliably at certain speeds. In general, speeds under 8x will yield the best results.

Use a late model burner with the latest firmware upgrades.

Test your disc in a CD or DVD player to ensure it works reliably.

Utilize testing tools to ensure that you don’t have too many errors. Nero burning software includes testing applications that are compatible with most CD/DVD burners.

Don’t touch or scratch either side of the disc. Handle it by the edges only.

If you are making an audio disc, ensure that you have an actual “Audio” disc and not MP3 or WAV files on a data disc. If you test your CD in an audio player, it typically won’t play if it is not an audio disc. Some newer CD players will play MP3 files, however. If you test in a computer, it will often play a disc full of MP3 files as if it were an audio disc.

All discs are duplicated with full disc verification. After a copy has been created, it is automatically reread and compared to the master on a bit by bit level that includes all error level validation and missing pulse analysis. If, during the verification process, an uncorrectable error situation occurs, the copied disc will be classified as defective and pulled from the run.