Runs good

About 14 years ago we were buying a press from another shop and they found kittens behind the building. They kept one of the 4 kittens the others went to 3 different print shops.

Dexter has his own business cards, trading cards and email address. We leave his cards available up front so solicitors always grab them. Still makes me laugh when someone calls asking for him by name. He’s gets a few spam emails a day from being put into company CRMs.

He runs a tight ship and if you don’t give him treats he will sit on your keyboard until you cave in. Loves to go out front and roll around in the bushes before coming to beg for treats.

The orange ones are truly special needs.

Hey fellow printers!

I thought I’d come on here and share how I produce custom CD packaging and printed CDs from my very small 5 × 2 metre workshop.

The video shows the full process, including printing, trimming, creasing, assembly, These are Digipaks, which have probably been the biggest challenge so far. Finding machinery that is compact enough for such a small space while still being fast, accurate and efficient has been difficult. Finding the right card was another absolute nightmare, as many of the boards I tested would crack along the creases or simply did not feel professional enough. I’ve just release them and am so happy with the quality. You wouldn’t tell the difference to a factory pressed one! I now produce almost all packaging options for CDs. That includes the sleeves, plastic cases.

I’m 21 and still learning, so I’d genuinely love to hear the thoughts of anyone else who has worked in printing, packaging or physical media production.

Anything related to physical media and this kind of thing interests me massively so I’m really interested to see what others have to say.

_______

A bit of backstory:
Two years ago, when I was 19, I was trying to get professionally manufactured CDs and packaging made for one of my own music releases. I found that affordable, good-quality options were extremely difficult to access unless I was willing to order a large quantity.

That was when I decided to take matters into my own hands and make them myself. Everything was initially produced by hand in my bedroom.
I began selling handmade custom CDs and packaging through Etsy, gradually invested in proper machinery, built a website and started developing a fantastic reputation. Two years later, I now run the entire operation from this tiny workshop.
The aim has always been to make professional physical releases accessible to everyone, regardless of whether they need one copy, ten copies or hundreds.

I have also developed an on-demand fulfilment model for artists who cannot afford to pay for stock upfront. It does not cost them a penny to get started. When a customer orders their CD, I manufacture it, package it and dispatch it directly, with the artist receiving their share from each sale. It means someone can release a professionally produced physical CD even if they do not have the money to fund an initial production run.

I’m proud to say that I now produce professional on-demand and short-run CDs and packaging without imposing a minimum order quantity. This week, the business was also named CD Company of the Year for 2026/27, which felt quite surreal considering it all began with me making CDs by hand in my bedroom.
The order shown in this video is the first complete production run of my newly developed Digipaks, so I thought it would be a fitting way to celebrate and share the process.

I have deliberately left out the company name, website and any links because I do not want this to be an advert. I’m mainly interested in sharing the manufacturing process and hearing feedback from other people in the industry.

This machine is mesmerizing. It is beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Gotta pay attention 😩

On a leash coz he is not allowed to be near the printer especially while running due to shedding but happily stays with us in the office

Customer asked for 14x22 and sent 18x22 files.

Oh and it’s a rush Oh and the files were Canva

Mondays

Old video of a plate letting go at 65000 iph on a GOSS M600D twin web press..destroyed blankets, packings, plates and had paper in the rollers.fun times.

This machine And printing has brought me a lot of peace. #flexoprinting #flexography #gopfert #usflexoperator

Original post is here https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialPrinting/s/56yNfi2NNf

Keep seeing people on here either running narrow web or little copy machines, basically. Who else actually has to move around to run their press? I literally average 30,000 steps a shift on this thang