The labeling industry underwent a sea change with the invention of the inkjet printer. In the beginning of the 1980s, inkjet was welcomed by people who began to print CD labels at home. The printer was commercialized and, with rising popularity, the cost of the ink and the machine went down considerably. Now the sales of inkjet printers boomed and people stopped relying on the label printer, which was an expensive option.

Presently there are various methods used for CD labeling. Writing by hand, sticking adhesive labels and using innovative devices to print directly on the CD surface are a few popular ones. All these have their own operational costs, take a different amount of time to be implemented and vary on the degree of ease and convenience.

Manufacturers are now coming up with discs which are coated to protect the CD from handwritten labels. Although applying an adhesive label is a convenient way to attractively label the CD, one should be well-informed about the ill effects of heat, humidity and handling. With regular usage, the adhesive labels separate from the disc surface and hinder the smooth operation of the drive. As a rule, labels are not removed once they are applied. In fact, a seemingly harmless act like smoothing the air bubbles can delaminate the disc.

It is a well-known fact that all labels change the disc in some way. This may lead to some undesirable consequences and affect the product warranty. To avoid any hassles, the least expensive and quickest way to label CD is to write the information on the surface. Always use a soft fiber or felt-tipped permanent marker. Check out the quality of the pen, since using a poor quality marker can result in the seepage of some solvents into the surface of the disc. This may damage the CD and defeat the purpose of labeling.