Making your own DVD covers (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_HR]

It looks like it's back to cutting up the 13x19 Epson sheets for me!

Ric it is nice to see someone besides me actually using the
13" x 19" Epson SuperA3/Super B Photo paper.

 

[Ric Easton]

Hey, I think I invented the trick! By the way, what does "Cogito, Ergo Sum Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam" mean?

Tricky Ricky

 

[JohnRice]

I've done a number of covers and you can see some of my work over at dvdcoverart.com. I also don't see any reason to use glossy paper when a good matte paper looks like glossy when it is under the plastic cover. I use Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight. I've tried a number of others, but that is the one I settled on. I don't know the specific weight, but it is much heavier than 28 lb. Unfortunately, it is not available in 8.5x14, but I have a larger format printer and use the 11x14 size. It is hard to find, but you can order it from epson.com with free shipping.

I actually find this paper looks better than glossy. Regardless of what paper you use, it is important to let the cover dry for at least a day before trimming it and putting it in the case.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

After reading this thread a few days ago, I decided to see what I could come up with. It may not look like much, but fuck me this is very time consuming! Seems simple in theory, but scanning the images and removing half-tone dots, cleaning up dust specks, spine creasing and fading at the top and bottom (Because my scanner is a piece of shit). Takes a long time.

The minor little touch ups like correcting the listed aspect ratio (My Austin Powers dvd is the first pressing with the 2:35 listing) where a real pain in the ass to figure out for a Photo-shop dunce like myself. The Platinum Banner I took from another New Line dvd, as mine just says "special edition"



[c] [/c]

I kind of like the contrast of the yellow and pink, but If I get ambitious enough to design a new spine and back cover, I will probably go for a light pink background.

 

[Jeff_HR]

but fuck me this is very time consuming! Seems simple in theory, but scanning the images and removing half-tone dots, cleaning up dust specks, spine creasing and fading at the top and bottom (Because my scanner is a piece of shit). Takes a long time

That's right. It is no piece of cake. It takes time & discipline & some talent.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Brian, I'm *lovin* that cover! Nicely done!

I use Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight

John, I think I have some of that stuff at home. Perhaps tonight I'll print out a couple of covers, one on my standard glossy stuff (I'll letcha know later Chet) and one on the heavyweight matte. See how it goes.

I do tend to find that the colors are a little richer looking on glossy though...but we'll see.

 

[GarySchrock]

I use Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight.

Hmm, I wonder what you're doing differently in setup than I've ever done. I've consistantly found that printouts on that paper just have never looked good for me. I know I've seen recommendations from people on printing photos that say use this paper, and I've been confused by them too.

Meanwhile, on the glossy photo paper, results look absolutely terrific. I've printed a few things there were the results look pretty similar to an actual photo.

 

[JohnRice]

That very well might be, but I get a deeper black on the matte, which tends to be more of a priority to me.


Be aware, the matte paper heavyweight has a front and back. If you print on the back, it looks terrible.

 

[JohnRice]

BTW, Brian, it looks like you did a nice job, and yes, it does take a long time to do. After you do a few of those snapper conversions, it tends to go faster, though. I don't even want to tell you how long I spent on my custom cover for Legend (which is on dvdcoverart) but I ended up recreating every element from the multi layer front cover, cleaning them up, creating the back cover from scratch, doing the grid and all. Probably as much as 10 hours to get it all clean and just screwing around treaking different things.

 

[Cees Alons]

The difference between "photo-paper" and ordinary paper isn't the glossy aspect alone. Photo-paper has a different structure (with channel-like pores that run perpendicular to the surface) that absorbs (and needs!) more ink, giving more saturation and hence a better colour-depth to the image.

The special photo-cartridges (4 or more colours) of the best printers (e.g. Epson) replace the blob-like black of the black-ink cartridge in the more common colour printers by a more realistic and versatile photo-black and do the same for many of of the colour shades.


Cees

 

[JohnRice]

The paper I'm talking about is not glossy, but is a wax coated, photo quality paper. It gives excellent results for covers, but is not intended to look like a photograph that comes from a lab as far as surface texture goes.


FWIW, I'm using an Epson Stylus Photo EX, which is a large (13" feed) photo printer that uses 6 color inks, basically equivalent to the current Photo 1290 printer. Epson printers are different from others because they do not heat the inks to propel them onto the paper. As a result, some glossy papers do not work well with them. On the other hand, this may be a reason I get outstanding results with Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight where someone using a Canon or HP inkjet may not get as good results.

 

[GarySchrock]

For me, even using an epson printer I never liked the results I got with the heavyweight matte paper. They included a few sample sheets when I bought the printer, and I played with those and just always ended up with what seemed like washed out photos. Maybe I was printing on the wrong side, since I'm not sure I knew at the time there was a specific side to print on (it's been a little bit since I last tried it, so I don't remember). I might have to go back and see if I have anymore of the paper left to try again with.

I'm using an epson 785EXP photo printer (or something like that, that's as close as I can get to the model off the top of my head).

 

[JohnRice]

Gary, you printed on the wrong side. I can virtually gaurantee it.


The print side is whiter than the back and has a little rougher texture to it.


Print using the photo quality matte or some other photo quality setting, just not the glossy setting.

 

[Andrea W]

I found some great paper at Wal-mart. It's called Kodak Anytime Picture Paper. It's a soft gloss, so it has the "slick" feeling. And it's 44 lb., so it's not too thin and not to thick. I've tried it with my inkjet printer (HP DeskJet 970 Cse) and I'm very happy with the way my cover art looks printed on this paper.

 

[CraigL]

What type of paper do I have to say I'm feeding to the printer to NOT have the image clipped? Any? I have the longer paper feeding into it but because it's still set to "letter" it cuts off part of the cover.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Well I find the A4 setting with a piece of extra paper taped on works, so maybe it would work with a longer sheet of paper as well. Of course I don't know how this works if the image is for a dvd cover of one of those 6 or 7 disc amary cases, but it should be fine with the normal sized keep case covers.

 

[JohnRice]

Craig, you can probably set it for "Legal" size, which is 8.5x14, but you should also be able to create custom sizes. I created a custom 11x14 paper size for the 11x14 paper I use.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Slowly starting to get the hang of this.

[c] [/c]


Been tinkering around with this for a week or two, Not one of my favorite movies by any measure, but I happened to have some nice artwork to scan for it.

I'm also working on a 5 Star edition variation.