CD Cover Layouts

Tech talk about audio recording and live stage production.
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Re: CD Cover Layouts

Postby dennisthemenace » Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:20 pm

I may be late in replying to this thread, but printing is my bag so to speak.

Christian's tip of using the icc profile of the type of machine it will be printed on, if it can be found out,
is a great way to start. Great tip!

Adobe allows you to do this easily. Essentially you are then designing in a colorspace (think filter)
that will use the same color tolerances and gamut or range as the actual printer itself.

If it hasnt been stated already,
find the color mode they require for press. CMYK or RGB
this will make a huge difference in the color if the designer is makiung the thing look pretty in RGB (3 color press) mode
but the printer uses CMYK (4 color press). The colors will then be altered and result in looking like crap.

Ensure that sufficient bleed or overprint is allowed for CD Labels and insert booklets for trimming.
Since we're talking about measurements, ensure that you know what the final size that you are going to end up with.
That way your designs will fit correctly and not be squashed or stretched to fit. Find examples of CD Booklets or DVD Booklets
that you want to end up with as a sample. Then you can create the artboard in InDesign or Quark or other design app.

If your designer is working in layers (which of course they are) they need to flatten all layers for final submission.
If they do not, there could be bounding boxes or lines or other articfacts that will show up in the artwork.

Unless its been stated by the company that is doing the printing, a PDF file is best.
Some will prefer an AI or INDD file.

The type of PDF that I have been creating and encouraging for years follows the standard of
PDFX-1A. Its one of the oldest, most received formats. Gives a great file, but not huge in size.

package all fonts, and link all images (Quark and InDesign) and then save eberything to folder and zip the folder.
Use a standard zip tool. preferable just winzip or compressed folder Windows or Mac as they are the standard.

Ensure that Pantone or custom colors are kept to an absolute minimum, or ensure
that they have been converted properly to an RGB or CMYK equivalent.
Again, if the printing company doesnt have the correct recipe for colors, crapola print. :)

I'm proud to say that a number of years ago, when I did a project with Ian Vail, I did the booklet, CD label, the tray liner,
The recieving company said it was the first time in years that they did not have to make any adjustments to the file to prepare for print.
That was for a 4 panel double sided cd booklet.

In my previous department at Xerox (I miss that job now) that was the type of task I would help customers with.
Such as correcting some issues with artwork on the DVD liner for the movie Precious. The studio is a Xerox customer and my
task was to remote into their Mac and help correct the irregularities they were seeing, because the artwork was not flattened.

Be glad to help in the future.
D
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dennisthemenace
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