|
Gritware Duplication Services |
What Who Why FAQ Price Chart Clients Contact
Gritware Duplication Services performs CDR duplication services, specializing in small, custom runs in the 50 to 500 disc range, targeting independent artists and musicians interested in producing demos or limited edition output.
Gritware Duplication Services is owned and operated by Chris Castiglione, an artist, musician, computer programmer and human being located roughly in the area of Lowell, Massachusetts (USA). For more information on musical activities and output, please visit Ukuphambana, Zero Times Infinity, or Voidstar Productions. Or better yet, all three of them.
Because I am an artist myself, I know how frustrating it can be to get small runs of discs produced. Most CD duplication companies, even those who work with CDRs, prefer to do large runs of discs. That's because they make most of their money on the high volume jobs. Runs of under 1000 are, if available at all, typically priced to discourage artists from using them. I've seen duplication places charging a difference of $100 between a run of 500 discs and 1000 discs.
Now, I don't think duplication places do this out of malice. If you're a big place making money on runs of several thousand discs, you'll worry more about small jobs' setup costs taking away time and energy from those big jobs. And if you've got a fair chance of getting an extra $100 out of some small-timer in order to make the job worth your while, then it makes sense to price the run of 500 high; you'd rather not do it anyway.
I'm not knocking the full-service dup houses. They do a lot of things that I can't: full shrinkwrapped packaging, very large runs, full production glass-master CDs (as opposed to CDR's), and so on. On the other hand, I have a degree of flexibility that they don't as far as prices and job sizes. My goal is not to compete with them; it's to help out artists and small businesses who are looking for something those places don't do.
To put it another way: I bought the equipment because I was frustrated with what was out there, and wanted it for myself. But I think a lot of other people share my frustration and could use my services. Maybe you're one of them. If I can help you out while paying off my investment, everyone ends up better off. Right?
Other questions that come up from time to time:
How should I get my master to you?
The best thing to do would be to send it to me, regular postal mail, at the post office box listed below. If you need to do something different for whatever reason, email me, and I'll try my best to work something out. I like to be flexible. Generally though, the PO box is best.
What format should the master be in?
Sadly, I don't own a DAT player, so I can't handle DAT tapes. I figure anyone who has access to a DAT recorder probably can either burn their own CD master, or knows someone who can. So, long story short, send me your master on a CDR, please.
Can I email / upload my audio master?
No, sorry. I know postal mail can be slow and inconvenient, but I've tried this and it turned into too much of a hassle for me to deal with. Email doesn't work, because my email provider may or may not deliver your file. Graphics are okay for email, but audio files are just too big. I don't have an FTP server of my own, and I really don't want to spend my time downloading your files off an FTP server and hoping that what I get is the same thing that you intended. And that's the real bottom line: even putting aside the inconvenience factor, I can't adequately quality check the work I do for you if I don't have a hard original to compare it against.
How do I get my graphics to you (for print jobs)?
If you want, you can send a floppy or second CD with your audio master. Or, you can email me the graphics files, which I assume will be relatively small, at least when compared to a CD's worth of audio. Either way is okay with me.
What format should I send the graphics in?
A JPEG, GIF, TIFF or some other standard graphics file, sized to fit on a CD is ideal. The print area we're talking about is a 4.625" inch diameter circle with a 1.75" diameter circle cut out of its middle, for the spindle hole and center ring.
The program I use to design my own CD's, and as a print host, is called SureThing, and it has a print template called "CD printer III"; I'm sure other design programs have something similar. I also have a copy of Photoshop Elements, which handles a lot of Photoshop documents. If really need to send me files in some other format, email me and we can discuss it. I try to be flexible.
I don't have a standard graphics template or anything like that, because it seems to me an unnecessary complication if you can just send me the rendered graphic. I'm not a graphic designer, so the way I look at it is: the closer your graphics are to their final format, the happier we're all likely to be with the results.
How do the graphics look?
Well, I think they look great, but then I'm biased. There is a small difference between the inkjet printing I do and on-disc commercial printing; if you look at the inkjet CD's really close and squint at an area with dark printing, you might be able to make out the lines traced by the printer head. But really, it's not an obvious difference in quality. To put it another way, it's a smaller difference than the difference between commercial CD's and CDR's, right?
If you think you want printing but this is the deciding issue, I'll be happy to mail you a sample disc so that you can make an informed decision.
Is there a price break for fewer colors? Say, just black and white printing?
No, it's all the same. Since most of the extra cost between plain and printed CDs is either labor or the difference in price for the blank CDRs -- printed ones require blanks with a special coating for the ink to stick. There's a tiny difference in the rate at which the black ink runs out versus the color ink, but it's not significant enough for me to charge different rates.
Do you do packaging as well? Cases, inserts, shrinkwrapping and like that?
Not yet. It's something I've considered, but it doesn't come up often enough for me to think of it as a priority. If it's something that you would be interested in, drop me a line to let me know. I only started doing printing after a bunch of people told me it was what they needed, so I definitely take what people ask me about into consideration.
What about 3" or business card mini CD's?
It's not possible with my current equipment due to the way the autoloader works, so not yet. I'm seriously considering this as a future thing, though, because several people have brought it up. (See, I told you I listen to my customers...)
What's your turnaround time?
Two weeks guaranteed from the time I receive your master, not including shipping time. In other words, I'll have it in the mail poststamped no more than two weeks later, but what the post office does is a beyond my control. Having said that, I can often turn jobs around faster, but I like to give myself a little wiggle room in case you hit me at an unusually busy time. I'm just one guy doing this evenings and weekends.
Woah! Your prices are way too high! Can't you cut me a special deal?!
No. Seriously, no.
I've only heard this a few times, from people who I don't think did a lot of comparison shopping. If you find someone who will do what I do cheaper, feel free to go with them, and good luck to you. My margins are as slim as I can make them and still keep this something worth the time I put into it. It's not my day job and doesn't pay the rent, but it's not a charity either, and I think I offer excellent service for the price I charge. Judging by the amount of repeat business I've gotten, it appears that my customers agree.
There's a psychological angle to this as well: frankly, I think anyone who looks at my prices and immediately thinks they're on the high side but goes with me anyway is going to be looking for an excuse to be unhappy with the work I do, and I can't be bothered doing business
Okay, I want to get some CDR's done through Gritware. Who do I pay and how?
My favorite question! The answer is that you pay me, directly. Checks are fine, but if that's trouble you could send well concealed cash, I suppose. (I wouldn't!) Make checks out to "Chris Castiglione".
Oh, and at the risk of repeating myself, you should send payment to my PO box.
You'll notice that there are no volume discounts or price breaks listed for duplication itself. That's because I don't specialize in volume, and give the best price I can regardless of how many or how few discs you want. There is a small price difference for postage, but that's because the post office charges by weight.
Duplication prices:
| Duplication only (client provides own blanks) |
$0.40 per disc |
| Duplication, blanks provided | $0.85 per disc |
| Duplication with full color, on-disc inkjet printing (client provides blanks) | $0.80 per disc |
| Duplication with full color, on-disc inkjet printing (blanks provided) | $1.50 per disc |
Postage costs:
| 100 discs or fewer | $5.00 extra |
| More than 100 discs | $10.00 extra |
Email:
sales@gritware-dups.com
Postal:
Gritware Duplication Services
PO Box 5102
Andover, MA 01810
Telephone:
Coming soon...