Custom Printed USB Sticks from CDwest.ca

CDwest.ca is pleased to announce that we have just added custom-printed USB Sticks to our line of products and services.

This month (March 2012) we have special pricing available on the very popular and practical "Swivel" style of USB Stick (as shown here in the photo). There's no cap to struggle with or lose, as there is an integral aluminum swivel that doubles as both as a cap and a holder. Please contact us for pricing and details.

We have a variety of popular styles, memory capacities, and colours available, along with different print options. If you're looking for a particular style or specification of USB Memory Stick that you do not see it provided on our website please contact us and we'll be happy to assist you with the item you require!

CDwest VIP Special Offers for January 2012

The entire CDwest.ca team would like to wish you a Happy New Year - hoping that 2012 is a happy, healthy and prosperous year for one and all!

We've had a lot of good responses on our running three VIP Special Offers each month (instead of just one) so it looks like we'll be continuing with three for the foreseeable future!

> One feature will relate to CD manufacturing or CD duplication orders... either a discount on product or a value added item tied into a CD order.

> A second feature will relate to a Commercial Printing product or service from our www.PrecisionPrinting.ca website.

> The third feature will be a bit of a wild card... we'll just have to see what we can do with that one on a month-to-month basis.

VIP Special for June 2011

Place your order in June 2011 to take advantage of this month's VIP Special offer from CDwest.ca

Two FREE order add-ons instead of just one!

As a CDwest.ca VIP Member you already get access to one free order add-on or incentive when you place an order with us, but this month you get two.

Choose two of the following free add-ons:

• (a) Up to *100 free posters
• (b) Up to *$100 shipping credit
• (c) Up to *100 extra packaged units

*Note: The quantity or amount of your free add-ons (ie: number of posters, amount of shipping credit, or number of extra packaged units) is determined by the quantity of units you have ordered. The ratio is based on 10%, but is capped at the quantity of 100, or amount of $100, as noted above.

So, as an example:

• If you ordered 300 units your FREE add-ons would equate to 30 units for the posters or extra packaged units, and $30 for the shipping credit amount.
• If you ordered 500 units your FREE add-ons would equate to 50 units for the posters or extra packaged units, and $50 for the shipping credit amount.

You must be a CDwest.ca VIP Member in order to qualify for this offer, but becoming a VIP is very easy to do, it's completely FREE, and you can choose to opt-out at any time. Learn more and sign up today.

Questions? Please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

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CDwest.ca is your factory-direct partner for CD manufacturing and CD duplication with eco-friendly print and packaging solutions. Located in Surrey, BC (a suburb of Vancouver), CDwest.ca ships daily to clients throughout Western Canada.

February VIP Special - CD Digipak

Place your order with CDwest.ca in February 2011 to take advantage of this month's VIP Special Offer: *10% off all standard CD Digipak packages.

This promotion is limited to Digipak products as provided on the web-quote system on our website. Get your quote and take 10% off the net price (the discount does not apply to tax, shipping or items over-and-above the Digipak web-quote price).

These standard package prices include all set-ups, pre-press, one round of .pdf proofs, assembly and wrap. Pricing is based on either (a) duplicated CDR media with colour inkjet print for quantities of 100 and 200 units, or (b) replicated CD media with offset CMYK disc print for quantities of 300 and greater.

Applicable tax and shipping are extra (Canadian tax not applicable for goods shipped directly into the U.S.). This VIP Special offer cannot be claimed in conjunction with other special, offer or discount. Package prices are offered 'as is' (no discounts or substitutions). No rush orders please.

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CDwest.ca provides factory-direct CD replication and CD duplication services along with eco-friendly print and packaging solutions to clients throughout Canada. Located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver), CDwest.ca is a brand of Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp., the sole replication plant located in Western Canada.
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November Special - CS200 style Eco-Friendly CD Sleeves

November is here and it's time for a new VIP Special so we've picked one of our mega-popular CD Sleeves to offer up with a special low low price.

So yes, all you have to do is join our VIP Program (it's absolutely free to join and it's very easy to sign-up), then place your order with CDwest.ca in November to get our special rate on CDs in CS200 eco-sleeve. This is a fully-packaged offering so you don't have to worry about being nickel-and-dimed:

• Full colour on-disc print included
• Duplication or replication included - see below for details
• CS200 eco-sleeve printed CMYK (4/0) included
• All set-ups included
• Pre-press and one round of .pdf proofs included
• Assembly and shrinkwrap included
• Barcode included (if required)

Applicable tax and shipping extra.

Orders of 100 and 200 units are supplied with duplicated CDR media and full colour CMYK inkjet print.

Orders of 300+ units are supplied with replicated CD media with your choice of full colour CMYK offset print or up to 5 colour silkscreen print.

If you'd like to take advantage of this special offer but aren't quite ready yet, submit your order forms and downpayment in November and we'll hold the pricing for you until your production assets are ready!

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Choose CDwest.ca as your factory-direct CD manufacturing and CD duplication partner right here in Canada. We're a family-owned and locally-owned company located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver), and ship daily to client throughout the country.

CD Duplication, Intellectual Property and Copyright

In the CD duplication and CD manufacturing world, we pay a lot of attention to Intellectual Property and Copyright because we produce countless CDs (and DVDs) each business day. While personal views on copyright and 'ownership' can vary wildly from person to person, that must be put aside because, for the good of our clients and our business, it's important that we operate within the laws of the land.

So first of all, what is "Intellectual Property"? The following definition is provided by Wikipedia:

“Intellectual property (IP) is a term referring to distinct types of ‘creations of the mind’ for which property rights are recognised – and the corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.”

This is very important to note because, due to the legal aspects, you can violate copyright laws with your CD duplication or CD manufacturing order if you are not the intellectual property rights owner of all content on your master. Violation of these copyright laws is generally referred to as ‘piracy’ and can be punishable in a court of law.

If you don’t own all of the intellectual property on your CD or DVD master you will need to get licensing for all un-owned content and then provide proof of licensing to the company doing the CD duplication or CD manufacturing of your order.

Obtaining Licensing for Audio/Music Content

If all the songs on your CD are your own original compositions and you're not using audio samples or sound bytes that you took from somewhere (or someone) else, then you shouldn't have any licensing concerns.

The most common licensing requirement for an audio CD is if you're performing a 'cover' version of someone else's song. If this is the case you require Mechanical Licensing - which is essentially a royalty for each CD that is made featuring the song. Separate licensing agreements must be made for each individual cover song.

[READ MORE]

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Choose CDwest.ca for factory direct CD manufacturing as well as CD duplication with eco-friendly print and packaging solutions. With offices located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver) we ship daily to our clients throughout Canada.
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Eco-Friendly Digital Printing for CD Duplication

At CDwest.ca we recognize our responsibility as a good corporate citizen and global citizen, so we have invested in the equipment, processes and materials to provide sustainable and environmentally-friendly printing solutions for our clientele.

Digital Printing Technology

The evolution of digital printing has made fundamental changes in the printing process. Printing is an industrial process but digital printing is a computerized process which is, by its very nature, less demanding of resources and less wasteful than conventional print.

Digital printing has eliminated many stages of traditional printing that were time, energy and resource-consuming, and were accompanied by liquid and solid waste and fumes, some of which require specialist treatment for disposal. The use of chemistry for film and plate processing is eliminated with digital print, as is the substantial waste of materials used in the 'make ready' stage of offset printing.

Digital printing enables shorter run lengths and turnaround times which leads to less consumption and waste - it is estimated that prior to the advent of digital printing as much as 56% of all print was thrown away unused.

Dealing With Sources of Printer Related Waste

▪ Imaging Oil: The imaging oil used in conjunction with the Indigo's ElektroInk can be disposed of using normal means - it does not require special handling for disposal. To cut down on the consumption of imaging oil in the printing process the Indigo Printer recycles its own oil and, as an added enhancement to that feature, at CDwest.ca we clean and re-use our imaging oil to further extend its life.

▪ Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): During the printing process, volatile organic compounds are released from inks. None of the Indigo inks or other supplies used in the Indigo printing process contain substances that are listed on the US Federal list of Hazardous Air Pollutants as established by the Federal Clean Air Act, or the European Union's VOC Directive.

▪ Ozone Exposure: Ozone exposure levels in the workplace are subject to control and regulation across the world. The Indigo Printer produces ozone at low levels, generated by the scorotron and charge roller that charges the photoreceptor. In regular operation, ozone peak levels are found to be well below the international occupational health standard of 100ppb for an eight-hour exposure level.

Additional sources of waste include empty ink cartridges, used imaging blankets, Binary Ink Developer (BID) and cleaning rags. Under U.S. Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria, none of these waste products are classified as hazardous waste and so they can be disposed of by normal means.

The Inks We Use For Digital Printing

▪ The "ElektroInk" used by the Indigo Printer is the single most recognizable difference between the Indigo and all other forms of digital printing. Most digital printers use dry toner, but because the Indigo uses liquid ink it is much more able to reproduce the quality "look and feel" of offset print than other forms of digital print.

[READ MORE]
 
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Choose CDwest.ca for factory-direct CD manufacturing and CD duplication services along with the best in eco-friendly print and packaging solutions.
 
With offices and replication facility located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver) we ship to clients throughout Canada daily.
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August VIP Special - Printed Promotional Materials

Place your CD replication order (minimum order of 300 units) to take advantage of our August 2010 VIP Special offer for printed promotional materials.

• 100 Printed Posters - 12" x 18" printed CMYK 4/0 with 1/2" white border on all sides.
• 100 Printed Stickers - 2" x 2" printed CMYK 4/0, bleed to edge (not for outdoor use).
• 100 Printed Postcards - 4" x 6" printed CMYK 4/1, bleed to edge.

This month's Special Offer is applicable to replication orders only (minimum order of 300 units). Graphic designs must be supplied by the client in final form AT THE TIME OF ORDER and on CDwest.ca graphic design templates. This special is offered as is - with no discounts or substitutions and cannot be claimed in conjunction with other special, offer or discount. Standard turn-time orders only - no rush orders.

Can't take advantage of this month's VIP Special right now? If you make a 50% downpayment we'll hold the special until you're ready to deliver your production assets!

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Choose CDwest.ca for factory-direct CD manufacturing and CD duplication services along with a wide range eco-friendly print and packaging solutions.

With offices and replication facilities located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver), CDwest.ca ships to clients throughout Canada daily.
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CD Duplication Explained by CDwest.ca

People are much more familiar with the phrase "CD duplication" (as opposed to "CD replication") because it just happens to be the same process you perform on your home computer. Duplication is also commonly referred to as 'burning' or 'copying' but it is definitely not the same as 'replication'.

To put it simply, the duplication software on your computer automatically copies your selected content onto a pre-manufactured CDR (the 'R' stands for 'recordable'). This is very simple and convenient to do and makes a lot of sense when you only require a small number of discs.

The Benefits of CD Duplication

• Because you don't require any specialized equipment or training you can duplicate discs on your personal computer.
• The lack of set-up costs, lack of set-up time, and low cost of blank CDR media means duplication is very cost-effective for small quantities of discs.
• Modern computers and CDR media are better quality than they used to be, so the quality of duplicated discs is generally higher now than in years past.
• The only downside to duplicating discs on your home computer is that it's not particularly speedy, so companies such as CDwest.ca use duplication towers that can burn a large number of discs at the same time.
• At CDwest.ca we provide the most popular packaging alternatives for our duplicated disc products including short-run printed CD Digipak, CD Sleeves and CD Jackets.

Is CD Duplication Inferior?

CD replication is the professional standard for CD production but there are minimum order requirements involved with replication that might not suit your needs (at CDwest.ca our minimum order requirements for CD replication is only 300 units).

When you require a smaller number of discs or you need discs faster than replication will allow, CD duplication is the obvious choice. The quality of our duplicated discs is very good because we don't use cheap economy-grade media and we 'burn' the content onto the discs using state-of-the-art multi-disc duplication towers at slow speed to ensure the best quality disc image possible.

[READ MORE]
 
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CDwest.ca provides factory-direct CD replication manufacturing and CD duplication services along with an excellent line of eco-friendly print and packaging solutions. With offices and manufacturing plant located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver) we ship daily to clients throughout Canada.
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CD Replication Explained by CDwest.ca

There tends to be a lot of confusion between the two types of technologies used in the CD production industry. There is CD replication, and then there is CD duplication - this article will explain the difference between the two processes.

But First... CD Duplication Explained

People tend to be more familiar with the phrase CD duplication because it's the process that you are able to perform on your own home computer.

In short, you use a program on your computer to automatically copy your selected content onto a pre-manufactured CDR (the 'R' stands for 'recordable'). This is very simple and convenient to do when you only require a small number of discs.

The Benefits of CD Duplication

• Does not require specialized equipment or training - can be done on a personal computer.
• Cost-effective for small quantities of discs.
• Can produce small quantities of discs relatively quickly.
• CD Replication Explained

CD Replication: Glass Master and Stamper

The first step in the CD replication process is creation of the 'stamper'. While this process is highly specialized and technical, the following explanation is intended to be very basic:

• A piece of highly polished glass is laser-etched with the digital data from the client's content master. Note: The data from the client's content master is not altered or changed in any way, it's strictly a transfer of data.
• The laser-etching creates pits and lands in the glass in a tightly grouped spiral pattern emanating from the center and progressing outwards.
• The Glass Master is then metalized, but it is far too fragile to be used to replicate discs so the data must now be transferred to another material that is resilient enough to handle the replication process.
• The metalized Glass Master is electroformed with nickel to produce a "father" master which is a 'negative' image as it has bumps instead of pits.
• The father master is then electroformed with nickel to produce "mother" masters which are used as 'stampers' in the injection molding process.

CD Replication: Injection Molding

Now that the 'stamper' has been made the replication of the CDs or DVDs can begin. Again, the process is highly specialized and technical, so the following explanation is intended to be basic.

• Optical grade clear polycarbonate pellets are fed into an injection-molder which creates a clear CD/DVD disc in its finished size and shape.
• During the creation of the clear disc, the injection-mold forces the molten polycarbonate up against the 'stamper' which embeds the pits and lands into the clear plastic.
• An automated process using robotic arms with vacuum suction cups transfer the clear discs onto a conveyor line where they cool.

[ READ MORE ]

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Choose CDwest.ca for factory-direct CD replication manufacturing as well as CD duplication with a full line of eco-friendly print and packaging solutions. Located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver) we ship to clients throughout Canada daily.
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CDwest.ca Sponsors RAWK Wednesdays

CDwest.ca is sponsoring "RAWK" Wednesdays at the Redroom Ultrabar in Vancouver during the month of July.

Each Wednesday night features:

• FOUR live bands
• DJ Ant1hero
• $3.50 pints

Performing on July 7th:

• The British Empire
• The Drew Camp Band
• The Robots
• The Some X6

Performing on July 14th:

• Underlion
• Moniker
• Bell Tower Dreams
• Skytrain

Performing on July 21st:

• Far Beyond Driven
• Gynosaurus X
• Excruciating Pain
• Sick Logic

Performing on July 28th:

• Culture Def
• Winter Of Freedom
• My Moist Moustache
• Vinl Theory

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CDwest.ca provides factory-direct CD manufacturing and CD duplication services along with environmentally friendly print and packaging solutions.

With offices and replication plant located in Surrey, B.C. (a suburb of Vancouver) we ship to clients throughout Canada daily.
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