Creating CD/DVD Art/Labels/Booklets on a Budget

[Muffit]

Hi all! For a change of topic, I thought I would venture into an area which is getting really popular nowadays. Based on my recent trial and error experience, I thought that perhaps some of you might be able to benefit from what I have been through, so here's a post about creating your own CD/DVD art, labels and booklets, and on a budget to boot! Maybe you've created your own CD or DVD and want it to look more professional, or perhaps you're just copying/arranging something and think the labels and jewel case paper art at the flea market look too chintzy. Well, hopefully here's something helpful to get you started!

First of all you need the case, and I'm sure you know there are basically 2 kinds, slimline and standard. Which one you choose is up to you, however there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The standard size case requires a front jewel insert paper or booklet and a rear jewel insert paper. The rear paper almost always includes side pieces (for you ladies, wings :)). This style gives you the most real estate to put information, for instance a cover art piece for the front and a track listing on the rear. However not all label companies make labels for these, for instance the SureThing company is aimed squarely at the slimline cases, so you'd have to buy jewel case inserts elsewhere. The slimline cases take up less space and you only need to print one jewel case insert, the front, however it's hard to fit both art and a track listing on this one sheet (I divide the sheet in half and put art on the left and a white rectangle on the right for tracks).

Next you need a labeler program. On this I can't say which company has the best one cuz I've only tried one (SureThing Deluxe, for $29). Ask friends and read reviews on the net to help you decide. Make sure it handles labels/inserts from /any/ company, or you'll be stuck buying expensive ones from them alone. I bought the SureThing one because it's really cheap and handles labels from many companies -- and most importantly, plain paper which can save you $$$!). Also make sure it works with your inkjet printer, and see if it's easy to design the kinds of labels/inserts you want. For instance, it should have user info fields which can be inserted anywhere (like your name and address), built-in templates for quick and easy creation, and better yet a full range of features to allow designing labels and inserts from scratch (both images and text).

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[Muffit]

Once you’ve decided on the case style and program, you need to decide on the paper you use. Here I hope I can help you the most. Most people probably buy labels and inserts from a company (usually the one who makes your label program). This can get /really/ expensive, especially if you only need to make a few packages and have to buy in bulk. They come on thicker paper stock (usually 40 weight and above), and come pre-perforated for ease of tearing. They usually also come in what they call “2-up” configurations, meaning 2 labels per sheet. Pay particular notice to this; when you buy them, the stated number is usually /per label/, not per sheet, so you end up getting far fewer sheets than you thought. They also come in 2 flavors – matte and glossy. This is a big decision for you. Matte is basically a flat non-coated surface, that looks dull when printed. They are much cheaper than glossy, and dry much quicker, usually smudge free. The finished product will not look professional though, but more home made. The glossy labels and inserts can sometime look gorgeous – however they cost /way/ more than matte, sometimes a dollar or more per sheet! Also, they can smudge if you do not set your printer properties correctly (properties must be set to glossy paper), and some take a long time to dry (up to a day). But the rewards are worth it – they can really make your package art look professional. I recommend you get the glossy full-face CD labels at least (the round ones that go on your CD) if you really want best results, even if they cost a bit more.

But here’s where I think I can save you oodles of cash – forget about buying the glossy jewel case inserts from companies – it really gets expensive! Instead, set your label program for plain paper inserts, and buy unperforated glossy paper direct from an office supply! The best (and cheapest luckily enough) paper you can find is HP Brochure and Flyer Paper (it comes coated on both sides in a stunning finish, perfect for booklets). It’s 44 lb. glossy, so it’s thick enough to be printed on both sides without bleed-thru, but not so thick you can’t make a multi-page booklet from it. Here’s the link at Staples: http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=433625. It’s only $12 for 50 sheets, which is /way, way/ cheaper than any label company! (It also comes in boxes of 100). If you only need one sided paper, and don’t mind a slightly cheaper gloss finish, you can get HP Everyday Semi-Gloss Paper instead (it comes finished on just one side). The Staples link is: http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=517040. This is far cheaper, especially if you’re just doing the rear insert, which is only one sided anyway. However bear in mind the paper is not quite as nice as the previous one. But it’s still better than matte.

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[Muffit]

In order to save all this money (and by the way, it’s really the /only/ way to do a multi-page booklet, such as for song lyrics), is if your label program supports plain paper jewel case inserts (SureThing Deluxe does for sure). Then just set your label program properties to “print crop marks” which are the cutting marks, and if doing double-sided booklets, make sure you have run the label program’s 2-sided printer calibration program, so the cuts line up on both sides. Aha, but how do you cut these inserts out straight you say? No problem – don’t use scissors cuz they leave crooked edges at each partial cut. Just get a paper cutter/trimmer! Any office supply has them. Yes, some are expensive, some over a hundred dollars, but the average is $40 to $60. There are 2 kinds – knife blade and rotary. The former you have probably seen at school or work, a square 12’’ to 16” wooden or resin base with a long knife blade (dangerous around kids), and the latter the same kind of base but a pizza wheel style cutter for safety (usually more expensive than knife blade cutters). However, I can save you $$$ here too – get a Fiskars 12” Paper Trimmer for just $16! It’s small, light, portable, and above all, cheap! It uses a hidden razor blade and is safe around kids. The cut is not as clean as a good quality cutter, but you may find it’s good enough for most uses. Also, it’s great if you have kids who need to make school projects at home. Once again, the Staples link is: http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=397407. Note that other stores like Office Max also carry this stuff.

If you’re making a multi-page booklet (more than 4 pages), you will lastly need a way to staple them. Here it gets tricky. The standard CD booklet is 9 ½” wide, so the staple would go at 4 3/4”. The problem here is, there are no staplers (affordable at least) with a throat size that deep. (Long throat/reach staplers cost hundreds of dollars and are quite large). What to do? No problem! As they say in Jurassic Park, life will find a way! Simply buy the longest /plastic/ stapler you can find, usually for $4 or so, making sure that the hinge is located 4 ¾” or more away from the staple insertion point. Then, simply cut out the plastic throat area up to the hinge and voila! You have a home-made long reach stapler! Don’t worry if you have to remove the hinge spring, it’s really just a convenience. Pretty neat, huh?

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[Muffit]

One last thing I should mention is about composing your CD label/insert art. Most label programs come with many standard “templates” that make designing your art simple. You may find these useful, although in the end they will look more flea-marketish than if you design them yourself. Some programs even allow you to download track lists from the internet of your favorite CDs if you’re making a backup. But for truly professional looking labels and inserts, I recommend spending a few hours designing your own. Photo backgrounds look best when printed (and you can often download album cover art from the net, or any variety of photo you want). But the problem here is overlaying your text (name, etc) and track lists. Most label programs allow you to create something called “text frames”, much like a desktop publishing program (some even have kerning, which is a neat mechanism that wraps text around any shape of picture). You can then specify font style, height, thickness etc. However these rarely show up well on a photo background, unless your art is all dark or all light. To get around this there are several fixes, for instance giving your text frame a contrasting background color beneath the text (but it looks cheap), or creating 2 text frames of the same text, the underlying one being 2 pixels right and down like a drop shadow, and in a high contrast color. This is quite difficult though, especially when trying to select the underlying text frame for editing. If you can, find a program that allows /any/ text to have a drop shadow, or, even better, color transparency rectangles like video games have. These are colored, see-through rectangles you overlay over a background, and they tint it substantially without actually obscuring your beautiful background art. This is the most professional look, although I do not know of any label programs that currently do this. Also, make sure your label program allows easy duplication of labels, so you can create 2-up sheets easily.

Well, that’s about it! Hope you found some or all of this interesting! Feel free to post any questions and I’ll try to answer usefully!

Bye all!
Muffit

[Muffit]

P.S. This is also a neat way to make jewel case inserts for your BSG boxed set if you have transferred the disks to other cases which are easier to extract them from. You already know where the art can be garnered!!!

:muffit:

[jewels]

thanks for the tips Muffit. I could use some of that HP paper for other stuff.
Jewels

[Muffit]

You're welcome Jewels :). Thanks for reading, sorry it was so long.

:muffit: