Personalize a CD Without a CD Label Printer
CD label printers are all well and good, and look professional, but decorating the CD yourself is more personal and a gift with a memory attached to it.
Steps
- Have the tracks you want to put on the CD ready to burn.
- Purchase the plainest and/or cheapest pack of CDs you can find. It's better if they're not colored; you can get more if you choose the kind that come in a plastic container rather than in their own slim jewel cases. Memorex and Sony are good brands. Burn the tracks to the CD.
- Obtain a set of poster paints, the kind that come as a set of 8 connected by bits of plastic. Also, obtain a set of regular glass stains (or glitter, it doesn't much matter), preferably with some of the same colors as the poster paints. Both of these can be found in the craft section of your local store.
- Chances are the paintbrush that came with those paints will be useless, so pick up a big box of cotton swabs (not necessarily Q-tips and in some cases not actually Q-tips, as they have quite a lot of cotton on their tips). A box of 300 or so works.
- Have a fan handy. A little travel fan works best. Takes up very little room on the desk, has 2 speeds and is adjustable. Runs on just two D batteries, difficult to knock over, and has thick, soft foam blades that displace a lot of air.
- Set up your workspace. Clear off your desk, set up a work table, whatever - as long as the environment is clean, sturdy and comfortable it doesn't matter.
- Either keep a roll of paper towels handy or cut an old towel up into about 12x12 squares. When you're ready to start personalizing the CD, lay two paper towels (folded over to create a double layer the size of a single towel) or one towel square down flat on your work table and place the burned CD on it, with the side that goes up in the player face-up. Can't paint the bottom. Here is where anyone who knows anything about paint might get confused. The surface of a CD is almost perfectly smooth, and paint won't stick to a smooth surface. You could sand the CD, and ruin it, or you could keep reading.
- Expect to have to give your CD a second or even third coat. Keep the design simple, like a name or star. Work with one color at a time and dry between coats, using the fan. If you want to get creative and mix colors or paint and stain, then keep the fan off until you want to dry your work. If you want a solid color, work with the fan going. It dries the paint as you work, so you can start on a second coat directly after finishing the first.
- Work slowly! Patience is a virtue and your CDs look better if you take the time to make them that way. Use a reference picture if you want, but originality is always smiled upon.
- If you want to write something on the CD, like 'Christmas 2005', paint a background for it and then use a good quality felt-tip permanent marker. (Beware: Ballpoint pens are murder on CDs/DVDs. Use only as a last resort, with as little pressure as humanly possible and even then, if possible, limit ballpoint writing to the un-coated ring of clear plastic in the very center around the spindle hole). Seal it with a discreet coat of glass stain the same color as your background.
- Once the CD is completely dry, check the back for paint. It can usually be cleaned off with water.
- Play the CD! Or, if it's for someone else, find a suitable case for it. Paint the case if you want.
- Give to your recipient!
Tips
- With some well-placed paper and masking tape, you can spray-paint designs on your CD.
- You could always just decorate it with a sharpie or other permanent markers.
- Use the poster paint to color an area, and then highlight it with glass stain of the same color. Makes it shiny.
Warnings
- Make sure the CD is completely dry before handling it. Poster paints dry to a matte finish; glass stain retains a gloss. Tap with a cotton swab to test for dryness.
- Some CD players do not like decorated/painted CDs for whatever reason and refuse to play them.
- Always use spray paint away from heat or flame and in a well-ventilated area.
Things You'll Need
- Computer with media player/cd burner software and hardware
- Some means of getting the tracks you want
- Poster paint and glass stain
- Felt-tip marker(s)
- Cotton swabs
- Small portable battery-powered fan
- Workspace
- Time
- Paper towels or squares of towel 12x12
- Trash can
- Plain silver CDs
- A creative mind
- An appropriate CD case
For the Sharpie Tactic
- Sharpies or other Permanent Markers(an arrangement of colors)
- A CD
- A computer with the data your burning onto it, and all the software and hardware needed
- Paper to make the CD case OR a plastic or paper CD case
