Here's a way to easily make labels for your CD-Rs

[Finch Platte]

I saw this in the S.F. Chronicle. I was making a CD this a.m., and didn't really want to go thru the hassle of typing up a label for the case. Then I saw this article, and checked it out. In about 1/2 hour, I had made my first label. It's basic, but it looks like there's quite a bit you can do with it. The parts I like best are that it automatically looked up the disc and put the songs on the label for me! No typing necessary. Then I was able to put the band and name of the disc on the spine. Very cool.

Here's the Q/A article.

Q: I have all my data files backed up on compact discs. I'd like to print a list of the contents of each CD, but I can't figure out how to do it. I can display a list of files and folders on the CD by using Windows Explorer, but after that, I'm stumped. I remember in the old days of DOS, you could display a list of files and folders, then print it by pressing the Print Screen key. The key -- now it's called PrtScrn -- is still there, but when I press it, nothing happens. What gives?

A: On today's Windows computers, pressing PrtScrn sends a picture of what's on your screen to the clipboard. You can then open up a new Microsoft Word document, paste the image into it, then print it out. So, it's harder to print a screen today than it was 20 years ago. Go figure.

Fortunately, you don't have to worry about that. Just get yourself a program that can make inserts for your CD cases. Check the software that came with your CD drive because it might do labels and inserts. If not, I'd recommend cdrLabel, a nifty little program you can try for free and buy for $15 at www.ziplabel.com. It lets you easily make inserts for the case cover and back, or a booklet if you have lots and lots of files on a CD.

fp

[jack70]

There are 2 different types of "labelling" the article is talking about. (it's a half-as_ed answer IMO... cause it only adresses one). I had this problem in the past (with data anyway), and here's what I learned...

The first is what you apparently wanted... that is, a simple track list for the "cuts" on a music CDR. (PS:I find it quicker to just print them manually in my txt editor...LOL). There are lots of programs that do this... they allow transposing of the names of the cuts on any music CD to the sleeve-layout part of the program. Of course, if you're like me, this is a waste of time as I have my own way of "naming" tracks when I rip them... so all this would give me is a bunch of meaningless numbers and abbreviations to look at. (I "retitle" "racks when ripped because of other issues having to do with editing.)

The "PrtScrn" option doesn't always work because the resolution it "captures" the screen at will be different depending on your display and set-up. Also, unless you know your way around graphic editors pretty well, you might have a hard time working wth that data. There is a better way to actually "capture" a copy of your screen anyway... it's a freeware program called "Captura." It's simple, yet works better than the default "PrtScrn" option. I seldom use it, but it's nice to have.

But the original question also asked about something different:

I have all my data files backed up on compact discs. I'd like to print a list of the contents...

This is something they DIDN'T answer (really). If you're like me, you have LOTS of CDRs... of MP3 files.... of programs files... of windows files... of data files... of txt, html, photos (LOTS), and other junk. Since a CDR holds almost a gig of data, you can lose track of what's on any disc, even if you give it a name. I have CDRs full of folders of junk. But I use a freeware program called cdTree that scans the CD. It remembers all the folders and files on any disc. It also allows you to copy either all the folders (names), and/or all the files (names), and then paste them into a text editor so you can print them out.

For example, for a CDR full of MP3 files, this is 2-3 pages of 8pt text. For other data files, you can JUST copy/paste the names of the folders on the CDR (usually a dozen or 2). If you really WANTED to print out ALL the data on some CDRs, it could take 40-50 pages of text because of the huge amount of stuff you can fit on a CD. (hardly printable on a label...LOL). The program takes some time to get the hang of, but unless you know DOS (not even accessable on newer PC's), there's no simple way of copying or printing the data in an "explorer type" layout we use on our screens all the time.

If I didn't have those basic print-outs of what's in my back-up CDRs of photos, MP3's and other junk, I'd waste hours trying to find stuff in the future. I keep them in a notebook, although it's also saved within the programs' dat files for browsing. (not much good though if your hard-drive dies... which is why anything of importance is put on CDR).