Rimage White Paper

Disc Publishing vs. Disc Duplication

Summary

When most people think of making large quantities of discs, they think of the term ‘disc duplication’.

Disc duplication can be defined as recording large quantities of identical CD, DVD or Blu-ray discs from

one master disc. There are many products on the market that can perform disc duplication, and it is

quite likely you have the ability to duplicate a disc with the computer you are currently using. Disc

duplication provides an effective and efficient solution for the basic need to distribute a large amount of

the same information.

But what if you need to distribute a large amount of diverse information? For instance, your company

may want to supply marketing material to a wide array of clients, including a personalized message on

the disc to each recipient. Perhaps, you need to supply class materials to students, and you want to

embed a unique code in the disc content that tracks which students completed the material. This is

where disc publishing can provide the solution.

Disc publishing can be defined as making large quantities of unique CD, DVD or Blu-ray discs. Disc

publishing is a more robust form of disc duplication, allowing you to do more than simply make several

copies of the same content. Disc publishing allows you to customize each individual disc, opening up a

world of possibilities for your projects that include discs.

This white paper highlights the main customization features of disc publication.

Introduction

Disc publishing’s customization features offer distinct advantages over traditional disc duplication

technology. Customization can be achieved in two distinct ways:

• On the disc surface

• In the content of the disc

Customization of the disc surface

The visible surface of each disc in a project can be customized with personalized information or artwork.

Even if the content on all the discs is the same, each disc can be visibly distinct from the next in the

batch. What is the benefit of customizing the disc surface? It saves you, the publisher, time and

resources. Rather than creating individual label files for every disc, the features behind disc publishing

enable you to automate unique label creation. When you use these features, which are similar to the

common mail merge, you only need to create and design the label once. Automation ensures that the

distinct information is included on each label. Unique label information may include:

• Recipients name and address for mailed discs

• Thumbnails of the digital photos included on the CD

• Barcodes with serial numbers

These are just a few examples. The possibilities for disc surface customization with disc publishing are

unlimited.

Customization of the disc content

The content recorded to a disc can be customized, allowing you to create numerous discs with

distinctive content at the same time. Rather than manually creating multiple data sets for a number of

discs, automation allows this task to be done in batches. As with disc surface customization, you only

need to set the parameters for the disc project once. After that, automation takes over, giving you more

time and energy to focus on the fundamental tasks of your business. Here are just a few examples of

what you can do when you use disc publishing to customize the content of your CD, DVD or Blu-ray

discs:

• Back up folders on a network location to a set of discs, making sure that each user’s folder is backed

up to his or her own disc

• Archive video content from a shoot, clearly listing each disc’s content on the label

• Record financial reports for individual accounts, ensuring each individual only receives the data from

his or her account

Whatever your content distribution needs may be, disc publishing can help.

Disc publishing has numerous advantages. Most importantly, it allows you to distinguish the external

and internal content of your discs swiftly and easily. The customization features behind disc publishing

not only allow you to store your data cleanly and systematically, they also ensure that you can distribute

information in a convenient and unique package. No matter which industry you are in, disc publishing

lets your professional disc projects go the extra mile.

Rimage disc publication systems are designed to make CD, DVD and Bly-ray publishing simple and

successful. Learn more about Rimage’s disc publishing solutions at www.rimage.com.