Burn beautiful images onto CDs with ones and zeros, no LightScribe needed

In a nutshell: Longtime Compact Disc artist arduinocelentano stumbled across some code a few years back that was originally abandoned in 2008 relating to burning visible pictures on the data side of discs. Rather than continue to sit on it, the artist built on it and released the entire project on GitHub for all to enjoy.

It’s not a totally unique idea – there are at least two other well-known efforts – but it might be the most comprehensive. If you recall, HP came out with something similar in the mid-2000s and marketed it as LightScribe. Their version allowed users to create text and graphic labels on the top side of CDs, but required specially coated discs and compatible writers.

In contrast, arduinocelentano’s technique burns visuals onto the data side of the disc. This surface consists of “pits” and “lands,” and each differ in their light reflection properties. Remember how you could look at the bottom of a CD and tell if data had been written to it or not based on the rings? Master the shades of light and voila, you can create all sorts of gorgeous artwork on the underside of a disc.

The process involves writing data to the disc as an audio CD, making it essentially useless for anything else. That’s not a huge problem these days, because who even uses CDs anymore?

Arduinocelentano created a GUI with a visual preview mode to help interested parties craft their own CD art. One thing you’ll want to make note of is the type of CD you are using and specifically, their dimensions. Not all discs are created equal, even those that follow the same standard. Precise values vary among brands, and even between packs of identical discs. In short, expect lots of trial and error.

Get it right, however, and you’re left with a stunning piece of artwork that repurposes old tech into something that’s at least somewhat useful again.

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