Lightscribe Software
Published by: SoftDistrict, in Reviews
December16th2009
We all have personal computers and we have a lot of information on them. We use this information for personal purposes, but sometimes we want to share it with our friends or relatives. You may want to give your girlfriend a CD with a selection of songs that you like or make a surprise for your grandparents and give them a gift: a CD with photos and films with you and your sister. These are personal gifts and they have meaning only for those who receive them. So you may want to make them even more personal and add something particular to the CD. That might be a label, your personal label printed on your CD. But how to do this? The CD burner won't work on the cover, it is very expensive to go to a specialized shop and have the label printed in coloured ink. But this can sometimes be a abd idea, as the weight of the ink can unbalance the CD and reduce the quality of the pictures and data burnt on the CD.
So what can you do? Use a permanent marker to write on the CD what the contents are? No, absolutely not: it's primitive and not a very nice sight. Well, some people have already though of these problems and invented a very recent and innovative technology: Lightscribe software. This technology allows you to make your own CD labels at home. However, besides the Lightscribe software that you can purchase or download for free from specialized web sites (usually as freeware, that is you may use a 30 day limited trial) you also need the Lightscribe technology adjusted to your drive and burner. It does not work otherwise. I did some research to help you and I have found some web sites that offer Lightscribe software for download as shareware and freeware: www.burnworld.com, www.software.informer.com and www.cnet.com.
You can use your own photos, drawings and templates to make the label for your CD or DVD or choose from different models available when you install the software or if you access the web page directly (www.lightscribe.com). But the software part is the most important one. Ok, so you go to these web sites and get the lghtscribe software needed to create labels for your CD. But this is not enough: you also need Lightscribe software for your system. Each system needs a different version of software that si compatible with its features, so mots hardware manufacturers have starting proving the necessary version of the software compatible with the hardware they produce. But if that does not happen, you can also purchase some universal system software.
Lightscribe technology was invented by a HP engineer in Oregon and this company also made efforts to release it on the market. This is relatively new technology and it allows the user to burn the label he designed or imported from somewhere directly on the disc instead of using a cover like before. This operation can be performed by the burner, but it needs additional software, besides the CD or DVD burning software. So the process of burning now has three steps: first you burn the data or music or whatever you want to on the CD or DVD and then simply turn the CD on the other side and burn the label on it. It may take you a while to do that, as this technology is only at the beginning and still needs a lot of improvement. However, it is an amazing thing that you can add your label on your CD at home, using nothing much than your personal computer. the most popular software used for burning CDs already incorporated Lightscribe software in the packages they offer. A few examples are: Nero, CyberLink, InterVideo and Sonic. It takes about twenty minutes to burn a label, but this happens because the technology involves collaboration between all the parts of the system you have at home. And there are a lot of steps from a normal CD to a labelled CD. First you choose the label you want to burn on the CD. If you don't have it already (a photo for example) you can create it at the moment, using differite templates offered by the software. You can choose from different kinds of writing , or import all the names of songs and singers from MP3 files directly to the disc in order to have a list with the contents on the CD. Then, if you chose some text or picture, the software must transform it from rectangular shape into circular shape in order to fiot the shape of the CD. Then there is the actual burning that may take some time, as I said, but I am sure the result will make it worth the effort.
Because this technology is still developing it still has some disadvantages that I am sure will be solved in time. Some DVDs might not support it, so you'd better check before starting the labelling process. Then the pictures and labels are only made in a shade of grey and not colour, because this technology uses the burning process and does not involve ink.
But the satisfaction of labelling your own CDs and DVds is immense. It's about personalizing objects and that makes them a lot more valuable to you. Imagine that you receive a CD with a special song composed for you and the CD has your face on it or even a love poem or a marriage proposal. Or you can use labelled CDs with the faces of the bride and groom as personalized wedding invitations. There are a lot of examples and they all make all the effort seem very little when you think of the result, when you see the faces of the loved ones happy and excited and, besides, these make perfect gift choices. You can never fail with a specially labelled CD or DVD.
Indeed, technology has evoloved a lot, but human beings still have hearts and value family and friends.
So what can you do? Use a permanent marker to write on the CD what the contents are? No, absolutely not: it's primitive and not a very nice sight. Well, some people have already though of these problems and invented a very recent and innovative technology: Lightscribe software. This technology allows you to make your own CD labels at home. However, besides the Lightscribe software that you can purchase or download for free from specialized web sites (usually as freeware, that is you may use a 30 day limited trial) you also need the Lightscribe technology adjusted to your drive and burner. It does not work otherwise. I did some research to help you and I have found some web sites that offer Lightscribe software for download as shareware and freeware: www.burnworld.com, www.software.informer.com and www.cnet.com.
You can use your own photos, drawings and templates to make the label for your CD or DVD or choose from different models available when you install the software or if you access the web page directly (www.lightscribe.com). But the software part is the most important one. Ok, so you go to these web sites and get the lghtscribe software needed to create labels for your CD. But this is not enough: you also need Lightscribe software for your system. Each system needs a different version of software that si compatible with its features, so mots hardware manufacturers have starting proving the necessary version of the software compatible with the hardware they produce. But if that does not happen, you can also purchase some universal system software.
Lightscribe technology was invented by a HP engineer in Oregon and this company also made efforts to release it on the market. This is relatively new technology and it allows the user to burn the label he designed or imported from somewhere directly on the disc instead of using a cover like before. This operation can be performed by the burner, but it needs additional software, besides the CD or DVD burning software. So the process of burning now has three steps: first you burn the data or music or whatever you want to on the CD or DVD and then simply turn the CD on the other side and burn the label on it. It may take you a while to do that, as this technology is only at the beginning and still needs a lot of improvement. However, it is an amazing thing that you can add your label on your CD at home, using nothing much than your personal computer. the most popular software used for burning CDs already incorporated Lightscribe software in the packages they offer. A few examples are: Nero, CyberLink, InterVideo and Sonic. It takes about twenty minutes to burn a label, but this happens because the technology involves collaboration between all the parts of the system you have at home. And there are a lot of steps from a normal CD to a labelled CD. First you choose the label you want to burn on the CD. If you don't have it already (a photo for example) you can create it at the moment, using differite templates offered by the software. You can choose from different kinds of writing , or import all the names of songs and singers from MP3 files directly to the disc in order to have a list with the contents on the CD. Then, if you chose some text or picture, the software must transform it from rectangular shape into circular shape in order to fiot the shape of the CD. Then there is the actual burning that may take some time, as I said, but I am sure the result will make it worth the effort.
Because this technology is still developing it still has some disadvantages that I am sure will be solved in time. Some DVDs might not support it, so you'd better check before starting the labelling process. Then the pictures and labels are only made in a shade of grey and not colour, because this technology uses the burning process and does not involve ink.
But the satisfaction of labelling your own CDs and DVds is immense. It's about personalizing objects and that makes them a lot more valuable to you. Imagine that you receive a CD with a special song composed for you and the CD has your face on it or even a love poem or a marriage proposal. Or you can use labelled CDs with the faces of the bride and groom as personalized wedding invitations. There are a lot of examples and they all make all the effort seem very little when you think of the result, when you see the faces of the loved ones happy and excited and, besides, these make perfect gift choices. You can never fail with a specially labelled CD or DVD.
Indeed, technology has evoloved a lot, but human beings still have hearts and value family and friends.
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