CD Box Labeller Pro, Format: PC CD ROM, Publisher: Greenstreet Software.

Sure Thing CD Labeller, Format: PC CD ROM, Publisher: Sure Thing

Press It 2.0 SE. Free download

Neato CD Label Designer, Publisher: Neato

ALMOST every PC these days comes with a CD burner and, with blank discs costing 30p a pop, it's tempting to go copy crazy and back up your entire music collection.

That's great but how do you catalogue that growing pile of copied data?

Special CD pens are fine but, unless you have a steady hand and neat writing, the results can leave a lot to be desired.

The answer is a professional CD labelling system. A quick trawl on the net reveals scores of programmes promising to transform your collection, some of them free. But not all software is created equal so to help I've been putting several to the test.

First up is CD Box Labeller Pro, a shareware package designed by an English company, GreenStreet Software. You can download a trial over the net and if you like it, pay a small fee for a registration key that allows you to keep it.

This software has been around for a few years now and, in its latest incarnation, really is about as foolproof as it is possible to get. A wizard walks you through the business of creating a label for your CD/jewel case and DVD box. Just a few clicks creates something really smart looking.

Even better, Box Labeller Pro allows for printing on a myriad different labels so you aren't stuck with one particular brand. With some brands available for a few pounds (compared to regular retail prices of three times that) this move can save you a lot of money.

The Sure Thing software has the same feature. In fact, its list of templates is absolutely massive; it also encompasses videocassette sleeves and labels plus mini discs, Zip discs and audiocassettes.

Sure Thing reckons its software is the most popular labelling package in the world, yet it is still relatively unknown over here.

I found the programme simple to get to grips with and powerful enough to grow with my confidence. At less than £20 for the software, two labellers and a stack of labels, it offers excellent value.

Sure Thing may be popular in the States but over here Press It software is more likely to reside on your PC mainly because the company has licensed its product to the likes of Dixons and WH Smith.

You can download the latest Press It software for free over the Net. This makes it great value but locks you into the Press It labels for good, unless you want to chance printing on plain paper.

To be honest, I found the Press It software slow and poorly designed. There's no way to enter spine text easily (the label templates can't be rotated) and the supplied clip art is poor. To add insult to injury, the programme runs hideously slowly, even on a PC equipped with plenty of RAM. Avoid.

The Neato software is almost as comprehensive as that offered by Sure Thing but it suffers from a terrible interface that makes designing a label something of a hit and miss affair until you are familiar with the programme. To be fair, Neato has redesigned the programme to make things more straightforward but copies of the earlier programme still lurk on shop shelves so make certain you buy the latest Neato 2000 kit.

So which to buy? For me, two programmes stood head and shoulders above the rest. Both CD Box Labeller Pro and Sure Thing are comprehensive and powerful. The first is probably easier to learn and the results are impressive even for the beginner; the latter offers more label templates and more scope for creativity.

Priced as low as they are perhaps you should just buy them both.