Canon Inkjet Printers

Direct Printing of Discs from User Applications

BD/DVD/CD Tray Dimensions

Disc Printing Templates

A variety of pre-constructed CorelDraw, Photoshop and other templates can be downloaded from:-
https://app.box.com/s/e3phpo137y7r4vpm20nizsdsl3rezeye

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Introduction
Most modern Canon inkjet printers have the capability of printing on the surface of printable optical
discs. The disc to be printed is assembled onto a separate tray, and inserted into the disc printing slot
of the printer.
Older Canon printers sold in the USA had the disc printing feature disabled, but on most models it is
possible to re-enable the function. Current models now provide disc printing as standard.

All Canon printers which can print to discs are supplied with “CD-LabelPrint” or the later “My Image
Garden”; both provide simple disc and case labelling applications. These applications can print text,
lines, shapes and bitmaps onto discs. However, with a specially designed template, most bitmap
editors or vector drawing applications can print directly to the disc, without going through an
intermediate printing utility.
The various models of Canon printers use different trays, however, they are all based on the same
principles but with differing physical dimensions.
This document explains how to design a template for use with any of the Canon inkjet printers. The
instructions are based on Tray M, but the procedure is identical for other trays. Tray and template
dimensions are given for Trays A, B, C, F, G, J, K and M.
The tray dimensional information can also be used to create templates for disc labelling programs
such as Roxio Label Creator and Nero Cover Designer.

The Tray
The diagram in figure 1 shows the tray and the important dimensions.
The tray is automatically positioned under the print head using two reflectors, 60mm below the disc
centre (i.e. on the edge of a full-sized disc) and is the same for all Canon trays, except Tray A which
has reflectors approximately 31 and 47mm above the disc centre.
The tray is not positioned by using the top or bottom edges of the media/tray in the way that paper
sheets are.
Orientate the tray with the edge which is inserted into the printer at the bottom, and measure the
following as accurately as possible (ideally to within a fraction of a millimetre):-

 Page With: The width of the tray

 Page length: The length (height) of the tray
 Offset “A”: The distance from the left hand tray edge to the disc centre
 Offset “B”: The distance from the bottom edge of the tray to the disc centre

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The Tray (M) - figure 1

Page Width

“A”

Page Length

60.0 mm

“B”

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Figure 2 - Canon Tray Dimensions (mm)

Tray Type “A” “B” “C” “F” “G” “J” “K” “M”

Page Width 135.0 130.0 131.0 131.0 131.0 130.0 151.1 148.0

Page Length 252.5 238.0 238.0 243.0 254.0 224.0 320.0 208.5

Offset “A” 65.0 65.0 65.5 65.5 65.5 65.0 81.0 74.0

Offset “B” 102.0 92.5 92.5 93.0 104.0 104.0 113.0 104.5

Maximum printable
118.0 118.0 118.0 118.0 118.0 118.0 118.0 118.0
label outer diameter
Minimum printable
17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0
label inner diameter

Notes: The dimensions in the above table have been collected from a variety of sources and may
contain small errors. There are also differences between printers of the same model of up to
1mm. Some adjustment of the Offset dimensions may be necessary.
Trays C, J and M have been measured by the author, and have been proven to work as
accurate templates.

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Figure 2 – Canon Tray M - Template Page Schematic

Canon Tray M Template

Design label between the circles

74.0 mm

104.50 mm

Page: 208.5 x 148.0

Offset: 74.0 x 104.5
Max Outer Dia: 118.0 dia
Min Inner Dia: 17.0 dia

Note: In this schematic diagram of tray “M” the rectangular outline represents the printer “page”,
and the circles represent the disc printable area.

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Constructing the Template
Templates can be constructed with a bitmap editor application that supports layers, such as
Photoshop. However, it is much easier and more accurate to construct the template with a vector
drawing application such as CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator and then convert the vector drawing into
a layered bitmap. The author has successfully used CorelDraw to construct a disc printing template
from which Photoshop templates have been generated.

In a vector drawing application construct a three layer drawing. The top layer will be “Guides” which
describes the template and provides brief instructions for use. The middle layer will be a “Mask”
which hides all the non-printing area of the tray. The bottom layer should be a “Design” layer and
hold the user label design to be printed.

The Mask layer will be a rectangle the width and length of the tray (the “page”) with a circular cut-
out representing the printable outside diameter of the disc. A circle representing the inner diameter
of the disc printable area is also required. Both of these circles must be accurately centred at the
intersection of the Offset lines A and B. The non-printable areas of the page must be white in colour,
and the annular printable disc area must be transparent. See figure 3. This Mask layer must be set as
being “printable”.

The Guides layer will be the same as the Mask, but with the white area changed to a colour (light
grey is optimal). Text should be added describing the template and brief instructions for use included.
Other visual embellishments can be included as required. This Mask layer must be “non-printable”.
See Figure 4.

The Design layer is the bottom layer and “printable” and is normally blank, allowing the user add the
desired text and graphics.
It is a good idea to add text describing the type of disc to be used and some label alignment circles so
that the template can be used for checking the disc label alignment – of course this would be deleted
before normal use. See figure 5.

Before creating the Guides layer it is advisable to test the accuracy of the Mask layer. With the Mask
and Design layers active include a disc alignment pattern in the Design layer. The alignment pattern
should consist of a small circle and a large circle just inside the printable area of the disc, both
accurately positioned on the disc centre of the Mask. Figure 5 is an example of an alignment pattern.
Print onto a disc, measure any error and correct the mask accordingly.
It is important to note that individual printers of the same model may print discs with up to about
1.0mm of difference in the position of the disc centre. If the best accuracy is required the template
should be adjusted for the actual printer to be used. Changes to the Page size are rarely necessary,
but changes to dimensions “A” and “B” may be necessary in order to achieve the best result. It should
also be noted that the printers positioning repeatability is about ±0.5mm, so some variation in the
label centring should be expected.

A user’s view of the completed template and disc label is shown in figure 6.

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Figure 3 – The “Mask” layer

Note: The above area shaded grey is simply to make the mask visible in this picture. The area in
grey must be white in the template. The annular area in white must be transparent in the
template. This will be the middle layer and must be “printable”

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Figure 4 – The “Guides” layer

Canon TS9150 Printer CD/DVD Template

Verbatim CD-R (118/23 mm dia)

To Use:
 Design label in Design Here Layer
 Delete the the existing Group in Design Here Layer
 Do not change Viewing, Printing or Editing layer default settings

To Print:
 Print from within CorelDraw
 Select Canon TS9150 printer
 Select BD/DVD/CD Profile and Preview from printer driver

J E F Template Paper Size:

Disc Centre:
148.0mm x 208.5mm
74.0m from edge; 104.5mm from bottom

Note: This layer can contain any descriptive graphics and informative text. It must be the top layer
and be “non-printable”.

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Figure 5 – A temporary descriptive label in the “Design” layer

CD-R

Verbatim
118/23 mm dia

Note: This image is the bottom layer. It should be removed before printing and
replaced with the user’s graphics.

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Figure 6 – User view of completed template

Canon TS9150 Printer CD/DVD Template

Verbatim CD-R (118/23 mm dia)

CD-R

Verbatim
118/23 mm dia

To Use:
 Design label in Design Here Layer
 Delete the the existing Group in Design Here Layer
 Do not change Viewing, Printing or Editing layer default settings

To Print:
 Print from within CorelDraw
 Select Canon TS9150 printer
 Select BD/DVD/CD Profile and Preview from printer driver

J E F Template Paper Size:

Disc Centre:
148.0mm x 208.5mm
74.0m from edge; 104.5mm from bottom

Note: The text and graphics visible here in the Guides layer will not be printed, only the Mask and
Design layers.

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Creating a Bitmap template from a Drawing Template
Bitmap templates are most easily produced from an existing template that has been developed with
a vector drawing application, such as CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator.

Each of the three layers in the vector based template should be converted into separate single
bitmaps with the properties of:
 300dpi
 RGB colour
 Anti-aliasing
 Transparent background
Higher resolutions can be used but will result in a larger template file size. 300dpi is the lowest
resolution which is acceptable for high quality use. The image backgrounds must be transparent.
Each of three layers of bitmaps should then be imported into a bitmap editor, such as Photoshop,
Corel Photo-Paint, or another application supporting bitmap layers. The layers should again be
labelled as Guides, Mask and Design, with Guides as the top layer, and Design as the bottom layer.
The Guides layer should be given the name “Guides (disable before printing)” so that the user is
reminded to disable (or delete) the layer before printing the disc label.
The Mask layer should given the name “Mask (do not unlock)” and be locked to prevent inadvertent
modification.
The Design layer should be given the name “Design Here (new layers below)”. The disc label is created
in this layer or in new layers below the Design layer.

The completed bitmap template must then be saved in a bitmap file format that supports layers, such
as .PSD for Photoshop, or .CPT for Corel Photo-Paint.
An example of a generic Photoshop .PSD disc printing template is shown in figure 7.

Pre-constructed Templates
A variety of pre-constructed CorelDraw, Photoshop and other templates can be downloaded from:-
https://app.box.com/s/e3phpo137y7r4vpm20nizsdsl3rezeye

It should be noted that these templates have been developed for specific examples of different
printers and therefore the label positioning may not be accurate (±1.0mm) on another printer of the
same model. The templates may have to be adjusted to suit the user’s requirements. Also, bear in
mind that the positioning repeatability of the printer will be in the order of ±0.5mm.

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Figure 7 – Photoshop disc printing template

Note: This is a generic template for any type of printable disc. It can print on discs with the largest
printable area, and has guidelines for the most common inner printable diameters.

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Printing the disc
This section refers to printing with tray “M” on a Canon TS9150 printer, but the principles are the
same for all Canon printers.
In the Canon printer driver the following should be set:
 Media Type: Printable disc
 Paper source: Disc tray
 Page Size: Disc tray M
 Select Preview before printing
It is advisable to set up a pre-set for BD/DVD/CD discs using the above settings.

The label must be printed full size, without any scaling such as “fit to page” or “fit to printable area”
etc.

When “Preview before printing” is enabled the printer driver will display a view of the label inside a
red circle. It shows how the label will look when printed and gives an indication of the accuracy of
the label alignment by its position within the red circle.

It is worth noting that the white disc printing surface is printed onto the disc itself, and its position
can vary. The label can therefore be exactly aligned to the central disc hole but appear off centre in
relation the edges of the printable surface.

Figure 8 shows a printed disc label (an alignment pattern) printed with a Canon TS9150 printer on
tray “M”.

Canon Printer Firmware

The device firmware of modern Canon printers have the facility for adjusting the centre position of
the disc label. The range of adjustment is small and is a global adjustment that will affect the printing
of discs from all sources, including the Canon “CD-LabelPrint” and “My Image Garden” printing
utilities. Its purpose is to correct small permanent errors in the positioning of the label due to wear,
repair, or imperfect factory calibration.

It is advisable not to use this adjustment to compensate for errors in any bespoke user templates,
unless the user limits disc printing to one specific template. Template errors should be corrected in
the templates themselves.

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Figure 8 – Printed disc label on Tray “M”

Note: This is a scan of the disc tray and disc. It shows the good alignment accuracy that can be
achieved.

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