I discovered something the other day that many readers of Steves-Digicams forums may have known for quite sometime - that you can actually use many Canon printer models to create professionally printed CD's and DVD's. Canon owners in Europe already have this capability as Canon ships most of their printers overseas with a CD tray, CD print software, and the necessary printer settings, however due to patent issues Canon has chosen not to provide this capability to its U.S. customers

Over the past few years I have been using both an Epson Stylus 1270 for my wide-format printing (11x14" and 13x19") and a Canon MP760 all-in-one photo printer, scanner, and copier as my daily workhorse - printing everything from spreadsheets to full-bleed (edge-to-edge) 8x10" enlargements. The one feature that I have been missing [and wanting] is the ability to create professional quality, full-color, CD's or DVD's. Many of the new Epson printers have this capability right out of the box, but I have been reluctant to replace my Epson 1270 just to get CD printing.

The other day I decided to do a Google search to see if any of the new Canon printers could print directly on CD/DVD media and was amazed at what I found. Many Canon printers that have been manufactured in the past few years actually have this capability but Canon, most likely for patent infringement reasons, have disabled this feature for the U.S. market. Since the printers in the U.S. still have this feature - though disabled - it is a fairly simple task to enable this capability. Basically, all you need is to purchase an inexpensive Canon CD tray ($16-$20 on eBay), a letter opener or flat-head screwdriver to easily remove a plastic 'door' that hides access to the CD feeder, and CD-Labelprint software (a free download from Canon).

Before describing this fairly simple process I wanted to first let you know which Canon models have this hidden CD/DVD print capability. You will also need to order an inexpensive ($16-$20) CD tray specific to your Canon printer model. The chart below provides this information and a quick search on eBay will lead you to these fairly inexpensive CD trays. I purchased my CD tray last week from eBay user "annocjr" (aka. CDTrayStore) and was absolutely thrilled with their service. I ordered the product on February 4th and it arrived on the 7th using U.S.P.S. Priority. I have provided links to them in the chart as they carry all of the different CD trays for Canon printers. These are the genuine Canon trays.

Note: You will find some listings on eBay that make mention of an additional "roller kit" that is needed on select printer models that do not include a pre-installed roller. My Canon MP760 is one of these printers, however I have found that I didn't actually need the roller kit. I just slide the CD tray in manually and the printer takes it from there. Even so, I have listed which models already have a pre-installed CD roller and which models do not.

Canon CD Printer & Tray Chart

Modifying the Canon PIMXA MP760 Printer

The following steps describe how to get the Canon PIXMA MP760, MP780, or MP790 to print on CD/DVD media. See instruction links above for other printer models:

Step 1: Open front paper tray and pull down inner CD feeder. You'll find a snap-on plastic 'door' that covers the opening to the CD feeder. (See photos). Using a flat-head screwdriver pop this plastic door off, starting with one end and then popping it offer the other end. The plastic cover should come off easily and can be re-attached if so desired.

Step 2: Enable CD/DVD Printing within the Service Menu of the printer.

With the printer powered on

1. Place the printer into "Service Mode" by pressing the following buttons in this order: MENU, then SCAN, then COPY, then SCAN again. The LCD menu will now read:
   
   
   SERVICE MODE
   #1 SSSW



2. Press the "down" arrow on the control panel until the screen reads:
   
   
   SERVICE MODE
   #5 Type
   Press OK.
   



3. Now select the REGION type by using the up or down arrow keys and select "STANDARD" then press OK.
   
   
   #5 TYPE
       STANDARD



4. After selecting "STANDARD" as the region, press the POWER button to reset the printer. Do NOT unplug the printer. Then press the POWER button again to turn the printer back on. If the printer LCD asks for a language preference - select the appropriate language (english, etc.). The printer never asked me to do this so you may not be asked.
   



5. The Printer has now been ENABLED to print on CD/DVD media.

Step 3: Make Sure Printer Driver is setup correctly.
Now you have two choices, you can either uninstall your printer driver and re-install it or make a simple registry change. While editing the registry is easy, a mistake could cause major problems for Windows. This isn't meant to scare you - rather just to follow the instructions carefully.

• A) Click the Windows START menu (bottom left of your screen) and then click on RUN (bottom right of START menu pop-up).
  
  
  
  
• B) Type [regedit] then click "OK"
  
  
  
  
• C) Backup the registry by clicking at the very top option titled "My Computer"
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Now select EXPORT from the FILE Menu
  
  
  
  Give the backup a filename (I used: regbackup_Feb102008) then click "SAVE"
  
  
  
  
  
• D) Click the [+] link next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to expand its options
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to SYSTEM
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to ControlSet001
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to Control
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to Print
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to Printers
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to your printer. In my case it's the Canon MP760 Series Printer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Click [+] next to PrinterDriverData
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In the right window you will now see a lot of options that start with Cnm..... Look for the one that reads "CnmFSI_CDRSWITCH". When you find it, double click it - or right click and select "MODIFY."
  
  
  
  
  
  Change the field value from 0 to 1 then click "OK".
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Now you can close the registry editor by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the registry editor window

Step 4: Install Canon's CD-LabelPrint Sofware (free)

• For Windows
• For Macintosh

Step 5: Purchase the appropriate Canon CD tray on eBay (links in above chart) or you can try to make your own

Step 6: Look for a new media type in the Canon MP760 Printer Properties drop-down menu labeled "Printable Disc (Recordable)." When you select this option you will get a message that reads: "Paper Feed Switch is not available for the selected Media Type. Paper Source setting has been changed to Disc tray." After pressing OK the printer will automatically change the paper source to "Disc Tray."

Printing your CD or DVD

The Canon CD-LabelPrint Software is a very simple and effective CD printing solution. It provides a few backgrounds that you can use and also allows you to use your own photographs and add text to the CD. Once you have the CD layout as you like it all you have to do is select PRINT, wait for the requester box to pop-up to let you know when to insert the CD Tray and click "Continue," then just nudge the tray into the printer, very lightly, until the printer grabs the tray. From here, the printer takes over and will deliver you a professional quality printed CD in less than a minute.

Find Inkjet Printable Media

Additional Resources

• Make a Canon PIXMA CD Disc Tray (Instructables.com)
  Explains how to make your own CD tray. I tried this myself and failed miserably.
  
  
• Modifying Canon PIXMA Printers to Print on CD/DVDs (Instructables.com)


• How to Enable Your Canon Printer (CD-Trays.com)


• How to Enable A Canon PIMXA Pro9000 (Pixma.ulmb.com)


• Tray Rejection General Guide (Pixma.ulmb.com)


• How to Reset the EPROM in your printer, if needed (Pixma.ulmb.com)
  Some printers may need to have the EPROM reset if the printer is having problems with Tray Rejection.


• Steves-Digicams Forums:
  The Canon CD print initiative for the U.S. all started here. Most of the posts are now fairly old.