LightScribe for Mac - Easy Disc Labeling

This is intended to help anyone who has ever asked "How do I engrave a custom DVD label?"
One answer is a Mac compatible LightScribe drive (assuming you are already using an Apple). Using a LightScribe burner for Mac, you can go from never having printed a label, to etching custom disc labels within a half hour. And unlike other CD printing methods, LightScribe requires no additional purchase after the initial LightScribe drive (and continuous supply of discs).

Until recently, buying and printing custom disc graphics could be tedious or pricey. Conventional press-on methods required continuous effort; and ran the risk of potentially becoming lodged in some slot loading optical drives. CD/DVD capable inkjet printers do provide quality results, but demand a large quantity of ink or toner. Not only that, without a high quality printer, the results of inkjet labeling tend to be a little lacking.

Recently, a developer ad Hewlett-Packard (Daryl Anderson) stumbled upon the idea of chemically coating the upper sides of CDs or DVDs in order to engrave custom disc images. The imaging and optical storage divisions at HP then brought this technology to life in a line of external disc burners (2004). Labeled "LightScribe," the technology uses an infrared laser to alter the color of a reactive dye coating the disc. This functions much in the same way as CD burning; the disc spins in concentric circles, while the laser etches an image from the center to the outside.

The only con of the device is that it will only provide a greyscale image. Unfortunately, while the laser may be able to alter the pigmentation; it really can only darken and lighten. This is not to say it will provide an unsatisfactory graphic by any means. While it lacks color, LightScribe provides laser precision for any text or graphics. And since the introduction of color LightScribe discs, Apple users may choose from 5 different colors (along with the original sepia or white).

At the moment, if you want to add a LightScribe drive for Mac disc burning and etching, you have to do so externally (as Apple does not provided internal LightScribe disc drives). This is done by obtaining a compatible LightScribe burner for Mac (along with the correct software for labeling CDs and DVDs compatible with Apple). After the purchase of the drive (along with the coated discs), your set to start burning your own laser engraved fonts and images onto CDs.