Copytrax Promises Cheaper CD and DVD Printing

Copytrax has announced the availability of a new 'colour management' technology that enables CD and DVD duplication companies to boost profitability and offers quality print on optical disc media

Whilst developing its Project 37 bulk CD and DVD printing machine, Copytrax has introduced a new technology that automatically calibrates the machine to take into account performance and colour variations due to the differing surface profiles of CDs and DVDs, inconsistencies in ink types and the variable performance of the actual print heads.

This colour management technology is now available for their Picasso smaller batch machines, both as an upgrade to many Picasso machines that exist worldwide and also as a new feature to all future Picasso CD and DVD printing machines.

"The Copytrax Colour Controller product that we are rolling out is being very well received", said Steve Woods, managing director of Copytrax.

"In the past, a kind of trial and error approach has been used to set up a machine for CD and DVD printing, to ensure the colours are correct and the overall quality is acceptable".

"Those involved in CD printing will know that this is very time consuming and very wasteful".

"The new technology completely automates this process, enabling far more time to be dedicated to profitable production and also offers a consistently higher quality of print".

Copytrax claims that the new colour management technology also saves on ink costs, as the previous approach often led to 'over inking'.

The new system enables the operator to use only the minimum ink required and has proven to save up to 20 percent on ink usage.

"Another major benefit of the new colour management systems is that it will set an industry standard", said Steve Woods.

"It will enable CD and DVD printers to produce consistent colour performance when printing a CD or DVD, especially when the CD or DVD production is spread across different machines and different geographical locations".

"In fact, the calibration data can be stored as a file, so that you can be sure that future print runs will also be an identical colour match".

Copytrax is also celebrating the winning of a UK Research and Development Grant that will help fund enhancements to their Project 37 industrial CD and DVD printing machine.

Although Copytrax is reluctant to disclose any information about this new project, it is understood that it will further enhance the commercial performance of the Project 37 machines and also address environmental issues relating to CD and DVD printing technologies.

"We are really pleased with this Award", said Steve Woods.

"We feel that this shows that Copytrax is valued for its role within the Cambridge Technology sector and acknowledges the effort and expertise that Copytrax invests in this field".

"We have some great ideas and this funding will help us put our ideas into action and enable us to launch certain technologies sooner than we had been expecting".

Copytrax has been developing systems for digital media reproduction for 15 years and has distributors around the world.

The product range includes the Picasso CD and DVD digital printer that is ideal for small batch production, the Art Coater that provides a coating to enhance the visual quality of CD and DVD print and provide protection to the print from handling; and the powerful Project 37 bulk CD and DVD printing machine capable of printing 1200 CDs per hour.

Based at Bar Hill near Cambridge, Copytrax works closely with leading ink jet development company Xaar and global ink supplier Sun Chemicals.

All aspects of machine development is undertaken in house at the Bar Hill factory, with expertise in mechanical design, motion control, real-time software programming, electronics and computer arts.

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