hello guys,
it’s me again. i just want to ask if it’s true that it makes it difficult for the player to read burned dvd if it has a label on it? i just backed-up a few dvd and i’m planning to put a label on it. i’ve read some of the post here that they have issues with labels.
if putting a matte label is not advisable then how do you label your dvd?
thanks again.
Originally posted by eap_44
if putting a matte label is not advisable then how do you label your dvd?
with a permanent marker pen:)
I dont believe in that statement 
… Hundreds of DVD-Rs of mine with labels on them (Press-It or Avery) work flawlessly …
It all depends on how you do it and what type of coating the disc has. Poor discs can suffer from the glue. Also dont forget it’s important to be careful when applying the label so it does get really centered, otherwise it could affect the discs balance.
There are a number of cases where specific media was unreadable with a label applied. More than one member has seen this. My advice is don’t apply labels to ANY disc, CD or DVD, it’s just not worth the risk of the above issues, or peeling of the label in a drive (when it gets warm), chemical interactions, etc, etc.
I collect old time radio shows and we store those in mp3 format on CDs.
I’ve labeled them for years without incident . . . then . . . I went to play some that were 4+ years old and they wont play or copy, keep having errors. The discs look fine, the labels look fine.
I had some of the exact same discs that I did not label, I just used a permanent pen to label them. The unlabeled ones are actually slightly older than the labeled ones . . . guess what? The play perfect!
I’m a believer! I don’t label discs any more and I’m copying my labeled discs to new discs as my time allows.
I use a CD safe marker and I also just print the program on the paper sleeve for the disc.
-Bob-
There is always the option of getting inkjet printable media and labeling them that way. You will have in invest in a printer but dang do the results look good afterwards! (my friend has a injet that prints on CD/DVD’s)
From my understanding this is MUCH safer then using stick on labels.
I wouldn’t mess with stick on labels. Why take the chance. I use 2 types of printing. Inkjet and everest printing. Both give you a great professional look.
Edit: Sorry, no spamming allowed, link removed.
i tried putting a sticky label on to my burned dvd but after 20 mins of playing the artifacts showed up then freeze then it gets worse.
i remove the sticky label and played it again. everything works fine.
Although, i don’t label my DVDs (they are backups, so do not need to look nice), i don’t really believe this. Is it just me, or label glue/sharpie eating through 0.6mm of polycarbonate substrate and bonding layer on DVD is a little far fetch theory.
If they were CDs where there is only only 1 polycabornate on the recording side leaving label side protected by thin acrylic, i would be worried. IF i need to, i would not mind putting a label on my DVDs. However, i’ll be only using the thinnest grossy labels i can find. Just to make sure that it does not cause unbalance duriing spinning.
I labeled some DVDs. My set top reader Philips728 can’t read them. It seems the disc spins fast enough to cause problem. I also noticed the label was peeling at some places on the disc.
However my Philips DVDR70 has no problem reading it and without artifact.
Conclusion: it really depends on the reader but in all cases: be sure of what you do and do not complain if you get problem with labels.
You guys are right on the head with this one. Labels on DVD’s do cause problems. I use the best disks ridata matte finish and have put labels on the dvd’s. Made a backup of Barber Shop 2 put label on it and it froze when it gets to the outter half of the dvd where balance is more critical. Removed the label with denatured alcohol and the dvd works flawlessly now. I am a believer now to NOT put labels on the dvd’s anymore. Will be getting a dvd direct printer kit to replace the cd stompers I have been using. Thanks for all your great experiences.
There are 2 safe methods I use for labelling my discs:
Sharpie
Use inkjet printable disc + Epson Stylus R200 printer (only $139 CDN at Staples)
Every disc ive applied labels too have caused the error rates to litteraly sky rocket and some of them failed nero cd speed where before the label was applied they passed the scan with a nice neat curve, infact i just borrowed a load of discs from a friend and out of about 10 2 had labels on and guess what they both had POF errors and the rest of the discs were fine, ive also recovered a few discs for friends and each one had a label stuck on it, after the label was removed i was able to make an image of the disc where before nero would just come up with an error.
My labeled CD’s have been fine the errors pretty much unchanged from a disc 9 months old but i dont even label CD’s anymore as ive noticed after a few weeks the labels start to peel a mm or so round the edge in different places, nothing that would make the label come off in the drive but still not good.
So i’d say never label a DVD ever even the highest quality stuff just dont do it.
I have a friend who puts labels on his backups. I guess I should warn him of the possible consequences. Personally I haven’t used anything other than a sharpie marker to label my backups. After reading this, if I decide to do printed labeling, it deffinitely won’t be labels. I’ll get the printable ready discs for sure. 
Bit off topic, I’ve read of some people applying some kind of acrylic spray to seal the discs after printing, since inkjet printing runs if water gets on it. And to just generally protect the printed finish. Any opinions on this? What product to buy, precautions, good idea or not? Thx
Reminds me when I tried to label some of my cds loooong ago (when one empty cd-r costed about as much as a 10dvd spindle today). I simply glued the paper label on the disc. The glue of course shrinked as it driet and my cd was flat no more. I guess everyone knows did the discs work or not… LOL
I use GLOSSY CD Stomper Pro CD Labels on my CDs and DVDs. They look great and stay on. I have not had any problem with the glossy CD Stomper Pro labels. They don’t peel off and they don’t affect the PI and PO errors. I have tested some CDs both before and after labelling and I can’t see any change in the error rate that I can attribute to the label.
I have a bunch of home movies of my baby daughter on a couple dozen disks, all labelled with the glossy CD Stomper Pro labels. My daughter is constantly pulling the disks out of the CD wallet and is all over them with sticky hands and baby slobber. In spite of that the labels still look like new and are firmly attached.
I did have some trouble several years ago with some plain paper Memorex labels. The labels bubbled up when I left some CDs in my car when it was cold and wet outside. Apparently the paper absorbed moisture from the air and swelled, causing it to lift in various places. This made the CDs worthless as they jammed in my car stereo player.
For long term archiving of my most important stuff I just use a fine point Sharpie. To be on the safe side, I only write on parts of the disk that have no recording on the opposite side of where I write - such as the clear area at the center or along the outer edge past the recorded part . . . and I keep these disks away from the baby!
That would be a fixative spray. You can get aerosol of it cans for 8 bux CDN at art stores around here.
It certainly uses some noxious chemicals and you should only use it in a well ventilated area. I haven’t used any on my own printed discs because I don’t know if it is safe.
Maybe it will soak in and destroy the data layer? I don’t know