CD Printing - Finding the Best Printing Method for Your Project from Theodore Streitz's blog

CD Screen printing is ideal for artwork designs that involve solid areas of colour. Screen printing is performed with a machine with a rotating bed that has 5 distinct stations where a different color of ink could be implemented. The CDs can have a base colour applied first over the entire disc area which means that a screen printed CD design can consist of a total of 6 distinct colors highest. Impresion 3d

The ink used from the CD screen printing process is UV sensitive and as each colour is applied at a channel, the disc moves under a UV lamp as it moves round to the next station. The UV lamp cures the ink and this only requires a moment of exposure.

Since the procedure name indicates the screen printing is put via the use of very fine mesh screens. There's another screen for each color in the art layout. To make a display, a film is produced which has the areas where ink is not to be placed on the disc, blacked out. The film and the display have been aligned on top of each other using guide marks and are placed to an exposure unit. After the display is subjected to a hot, bright light, the region of thermal emulsion not protected by the dark spot on the movie is cured. The display is then washed with a water spray and the areas of uncured emulsion wash away to reveal the net. Dinamica de Fluidos Computacional

The display is then fixed at its station. Once all the screens are prepared this way, the printing can start. The CDs are loaded on the machine by an automated robotic arm program. They are placed to a platen that holds the disc securely in position. At each channel, ink is added on top of the mesh screen along with a rubber squeegee blade extends over the top pressing the mesh down onto the disk surface and forcing the ink through the fine mesh holes and onto the surface of the disc. The ink program stroke takes about another and each station applies ink to some disc simultaneously as soon as the first five disks have been fed to the system. This rate means a screen printing machine can print more than 3500 discs in one hour so big orders can be completed quickly.