With my first printable DVD-Rs I used to print before burning – until I noticed that the data side of the disc had picked up a fair amount of dust in the printer. Even though the printer is used almost exclusively for CDs and DVDs, occasionally it will see a sheet of paper, e.g. to do a “nozzle check” on. And paper leaves fine dust particles in the printer.
Because dust can scatter the laser light of the burner I reversed to process, burn first, then print. 🙂