Customer Reviews

CD Stomper Pro Labeling System

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

For very low volume labeling of CDs there probably is no better solution than this system. With it, you will be able to label your CDs in a handicraft kind of way that will largely satisfy. Especially for the home hobbyist or giftmaker, it will be surprising how good the finished products from this system will look. Throw in the modest pricetag and you've got a genuine argument for buying this product.

There are difficulties, however.

First, the preferred kind of CD labels--those included with the package and made by CD Stomper--have adhesive not entirely harmonious with the Memorex brand of CD-R's. Long term, the instruction manual warns you, the adhesive may become less sticky on the Memorex CD-R's surface.

Second, the software is a memory hog. You've really gotta empty your system tray before you run it. Unless you have something over 40% of system resources free, you won't be able to preview graphical elements. Worse, you may think that the graphic element is going to print, but then it doesn't, making you waste labels. When system resources drop extremely low, merely attempting to use the "insert Graphics" command will make the software crash. Repeatedly. (By contrast Corel Draw had little difficulty functioning properly in a system resource-poor environment, despite being a much more fully-functioned editing package. Clearly, this is not the world's most robust program.)

Third, the software isn't so revolutionary that you care to try to re-run it after it crashes. While it makes the process of CD labeling more convenient, I'd rather just have a template to use in concert with more serious--and more stable--graphical software, like Illustrator or CorelDraw. Nothing this software does can't be done ten times better by full-featured graphic editors.

And fourth, should CDs labelled with this product come into contact with moisture, the label will be adversely affected. This isn't exactly the fault of the good people at Stomp--it's symptomatic of anything printed on an inkjet printer--but it's worth mentioning that people trying to make more professional labels would be advised to choose other solutions.

Now, having said all this, I would still definitely recommend the product for its intended audience. Home users will enjoy this software. Most people could probably make attractive labels within 30 minutes of installing the software. The interface *is* intuitive and convenient. The artwork included for backgrounds is in many cases actually stunning. As long as you give the software plenty of system resources to work with, and can accept the potential impermanence of your labels, you'll probably find little fault with this product.

I don't know how good the PC version of this program is, but I have to say the Mac version is rather awkward and poor. Yes, you *can* print decent looking labels and jewelcase liners with the software-- and the stomper device itself does work quite well. But, the software user interface is terrible. Basic actions like cut-and-paste aren't permitted, let alone drag-and drop. If you accidentally start using the wrong template, you can't convert to another one (let alone cut-and-paste the data), you have to start over from scratch. The clip art and patterns provided are OK, but unremarkable-- and I haven't seen a lot of support out there (i.e. new patterns or clip art to download).

In short, it works. But there surely must be something better out there, no?

This is really a fun program to use. If you like to 'burn' your own CD's, you can make very attractive, colorful labels for the CD itself and the jewel case insert. Unlike one of the other reviewers, I found no difficulty at all running the software on my system; nor do I find it to be a memory hog. No crashes or freezes at all (I suppose this may be related to the particular system, in all fairness). You can make very colorful labels from the CD, which has many choices of art and layout, and customize them to your heart's delight. This is especially nice if you want to present a custom made CD as a gift to someone, or for business purposes. For business use, there is more conservative label artwork; and for the 'wilder' projects, there is appropriate artwork, as well, with much in between. It is very user friendly, easy and intuitive to use. I think you'll like it a lot!

I think this is as good as it gets. The software is good, the label applicator is second to none and the learn time should be around an hour. What I do is hit the coversite.com to get my labels then use the picture tool to paste the pic over the template then hit print. The kit comes with plenty of cd labels to last for awhile and a handful of jewel case inserts as well. Replacement labels can be bought from the stomp site and is not as expensive one might think. You cant go wrong with this one. As always, check for software updates. There is one for this. Also have a good printer. I have the HP 900c for around $200 is great. I had the 600c which was terrible compared to my new one.

I just got mine and am VERY Happy. This is the complete package that includes the applicator, the software,and a HUGE amount of stickers(for the cds as well as jewel case inserts. This is a great price and you get it directly from Amazon, so you get it quickly and you get the great costumer service. Again this IS The COMPLETE system, This is a great product. Five Stars all around!

Sorry this is so long, but I am very annoyed. Too bad there is no zero star rating, because this product would get it from me. This product DOES NOT work on a Mac with OS X. I have used this product with windows machines and it worked fine, but it does not work on a Mac with OS X. A search in the Macaddict.com forums revealed that many others had this problem too. When I contacted support, the response was "Our current version is operable through Mac OS 10.3. [No!] Secondly, the majority of Mac users are very creative. Most of the time,
they are creating their own templates."

Two things here.

One: They are not going to admit that their product doesn't work on the Mac because they do not intend on upgrading the software and they are not going to remove the Mac-compatible logo from the box. As far as I'm concerned, this is false advertising.

Two: Software that requires a work-around straight out of the box is VAPORWARE, and a rip off.

Don't buy this. 'Nuff said.

This used to work well on OS 9. It is worse than worthless on OS X. The internet downloads do not work either. Stomper is a "has-been" for Mac users

This software trumpets on the box that it will work with Mac, then lists in tiny font at the bottom of the package that the ONLY!!!! version of OS X that will run it is 10.1.

Version 10.1 was the original version of OS X that came out at least three years ago. There are no upgrades available.

Unfortunately for me I didn't notice this problem until I went to use the product six months after I bought it, too late for a refund. It completely will not work on my system, so I'm out the $40 or so I spent on the software and labels. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT, is the bottom line here.

Sorry in advance for the length of this. I agree with an earlier comment, oh my gosh it ... in XP. First of all when you install it, it looks great. Lots of graphics, lots of labels ($ at sams, $$ at costco, not sure about this amazon version). Made a label, but when I went for graphics the screens were blank. Rebooted the program and they were there, applied one to the template, went back and they were gone. Spent a while manually transferring the song titles (will get to that later) and saved it. Exited and it asked me do I want to save it and I said yes again. Guess what? Now I had a blank label. All my work was gone. It would not stop "erasing" it after that. I went for the usual "just kidding, here is the update" on their website. Guess what again? They only support version 4.7 and above which adds things like loading songs from XP media player, duh. ... have v 4.6.6, so too bad charlie. I tried anyway and sure enough it stops and says buy a new version. It was a bit hard to design a label, but that may have been a newbie factor. So I returned it to sams and am trying to find a different labeller, maybe print shop's one, since I love PSD15. Last little diddy is that the "cd stomper box" it says xp, on the inside sw "3d click and draw", it does not. I noticed amazon does "not" say xp.

I've been using this program for a couple months now and came to Amazon to look for label refils, and I happened across this page with some really bad reviews. I just wanted to add my two cents. I haven't had problem one since I used this program. I, too, am using Win XP. Photo browswer works fine. No crashes. Interfaces with XP with great awesominity.
I dunno what the deal is. They might have come up with a newer version of the software. I'm using 4.8.23 and it works just hunky dory. I import my own graphics after I make them, although 'import' makes it some complex. All I do is browse for it and it's there.
Anyway, works great.