The following instructions relate to artwork and film making for labels printed on the CD/DVD
Of the following formats: CD-Audio, CD-Rom, CD-R, CD-Shape (Business Card), DVD-5,
DVD-9 and DVD-10.

The printing technique is Silk-Screen printing, a method with different Requirements regarding artwork and film preparation then the common Offset printing.
The artwork and films should adhere to the specifications in order to ensure optimal printing quality and delivery time. Our machines can print up to five Pantone colors (Spot PMS Colors) or four process colors with or without a white background (Except for DVD-10 - Two Pantone colors only(

Artwork as a file
CDI can make the color separation and films that will perfectly fit the printing process, and
Therefore prefers to get the original graphic file and produce the films in-house in order to achieve the optimal quality and the best possible matching to the proof. In addition, having the file will allow us to do small corrections and save time, thus avoiding having to send the films back to the customer for repair.

Films
If the customer decides to submit films, they must comply with the specifications
In this document, incl. size and markings.

Instructions for the Designer
As explained above, C.D.I. prefers to produce the films in-house, but in the case when the
Customer decides to do it in a service bureau, the relevant instructions were placed in paragraph. We recommend that the designer familiarize himself with these instructions, so that he can check the quality of the bureau's films.
For gradient surfaces. Printing half-tone and graduated tints (screens) does not take advantage of the special characteristics of the technique.
Designing a full color artwork label (CMYK) might be a bit misleading. Since the CD is
Made of transparent polycarbonate coated with a thin aluminum layer, it has completely different printing and ink absorption properties than paper. Furthermore, while the Offset technique is being used for paper printing (175 LPI), CD’s are being printed in the Silk Screen technique, which has a lower resolution 100 LPI.
Another factor that has to be taken into consideration is the Tonal Range. As a result of the Silk Screen’s characteristics, it is possible that dots that are smaller than 15% will be lost and dots that are bigger than 85% will gain into solid (100%). Further to the Dot Gain and the Dot Loss effects,which are very notable in Silk Screen, dots that are under 50% will be printed smaller and those that are over 70% will be printed bigger.
Due to the mentioned above and some additional factors, the proof (usually IRIS) will contain more details than the printed CD. The proof does not always reflect the final result, this is also the reason for not being able to match the printed CD to the Paper (Booklet + Inlay) that is printed in the Offset technique.
All those facts should be taken into consideration while designing the label film.

Tips and Recommendations
Avoid complicated and detailed designs.
Try to avoid graduated tints (screens). The technology is limited and can cause unwanted
tone jumps.
When using the CMYK separation, try to avoid small, white text do not “burn” text in all 4
films.
While using 2-3 spot colors, make sure that the color separation is according to Panton
(PMS) and not CMYK.
Use only Black Overprint for black text.
Do not use any bleeds, over the given borderlines.
While using the “burned” text technique in spot colors designs, make sure the text is trapped, in order to avoid registration and "hair lines".
Avoid thin fonts see minimum line thickness.

Centering dots
In addition to the regular centering (registration) cross please add on every film (including the background film four full dots, 2 mm diameter, spaced 90 mm from each other (center to center and centered to the CD label. Each dot should be at a vertical distance of 45 mm and at a horizontal distance of 45 mm from the center.
The minimum line thickness is 0.2 mm or 0.3 mm in negative.
The minimum font size is 4 points or 6 in negative. Also, the font shape should comply with the minimum line thickness requirement.
Tonal Range 15% minimum, 85% maximum.

Copyrights
ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE RECORDED WORK RESERVED.
UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, LENDING, HIRING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, DIFFUSION AND
BROADCASTING OF THIS RECORDING IS PROHIBITED.

CD-Audio
The ACUM logo or any other artist organization's logo.
Made in Israel by CDI
The Compact Disc logo for CD-Audio, see example.
White background in Process
The white background film should be submitted together with the rest of the films. Otherwise, it should be explicitly stated that there should be no white background. Giving up this option, creates special effects on the printed label.

Film identification
A separate film is required for each color, and should contain the following information:
The customer's catalogue number.
The color or ink to be used on this film.
The order of printing (i.e., 2/5 means this film will be printed second out of 5 films).
Transferring/Submitting files
E-mail is preferred for transferring files to CDI our address is: graphics@cdi.co.il
CMYK files.
Attach a copy of all display and printer fonts being used in the artwork.
Macintosh files are preferred.
Big files can be compressed by ZIP or STUFFIT.
Black text should be "Black Overprint" only.
No bleeds are allowed over the printable area borders.