Recommendations for a dvd cover design/printing program? (1 Viewer)

[MattHR]

I'm looking for recommendations for a good program (purchase or downloadable) for designing and printing custom DVD cover inserts. I've tried a few different downloaded programs, but haven't been too impressed with them. I'd like the program to have templates for various-sized DVD cases.

I'd be using the program for making covers for home movies and photo CD's, but I'd also like to be able to make modifications to some of my movie covers.

Anyone have any recommendations for a program they've been using and are pleased with? Thanks in advance!

 

[Gregory E]

Nuttin' better than Adobe Photoshop.

 

[Paul D G]

I use MS Publisher for all my cover needs. I have outline "templates" for DVD, CD covers, and labels then I just throw in the graphics, text, etc.

If you want to create graphics, then go with Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.

-paul

 

[Scott Leopold]

I can't recommend a good one right now, but I can warn you against a really bad one. I make Christmas CD's each year for my brother and sister, and this year I found myself out of ink, labels, inserts, and ultimately my favorite program. Previously I'd used Fellowes' MediaFace v2, and it was a great program--great interface, easy to use, and had everything I needed. It was on my old PC, though, which I moved into my son's room earlier this year. To get it working properly with my home network, I had to install XP. I found out the week before last that not only could I no longer to get MFv2 to load, but I'd lost the install CD. I ran out and bought the latest version (4), and some new labels and inserts, figuring that since v2 was so good, v4 must be even better. How wrong I was.

MediaFace v4 is awful. It has a label-making wizard that, as far as I can tell, is completely useless. The interface on the standard version sucks compared to v2, and is not nearly as user friendly. Still, I slogged through it figuring that I'd at least have good looking labels since I'd splurged and bought some of the glossy ones. That's when I discovered the program's biggest shortcoming--it can't print properly.

I wasted tons of labels and ink trying to get this thing to work. Each insert I printed was off by half an inch, both vertically and horizontally. I ran the printer calibration tool, and it showed my printer being aligned perfectly. I then tried making manual adjustments, but these didn't help much. The program either overcompensated or undercompensated for each adjustment I made. When I finally had it almost perfect, the very next adjustment set it off a half inch in the wrong direction.

I eventually settled on buying some decent paper and printing the inserts on it, then cutting and folding them myself. The labels, oddly enough, weren't nearly as bad as the inserts. One slight adjustment had those printing nearly on center, although the inserts are still off by a huge amount. I tried calling their tech support twice, but after half an hour on hold both times, gave up on it.

 

[Paul D G]

I tried one or two of those types of programs and found they didn't allow me to customize enough. Which is why I like Publisher. I simply measured the inserts of a real CD then drew outlines and set the lines to the thinnest possible with a light grey color (this allows you to see where to cut if you have a white cover, and where to fold for the back inserts).

Labels were more tricky since they have to be perfect and you need to use the same brand labels every time or you have to redo it. With some trial and error I got it pretty much perfect.

I also bought a paper guillotine which makes cutting the inserts SOOOO fast and easy.

-paul

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I use Paint Shop Pro to do any necessary graphic work but MS Publisher to do the actual design layouts. I don't like the way any of the art apps (Paint Shop, Photoshop etc) handle text so I find Publisher massively better for that.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Nuttin' better than Adobe Photoshop.

As a professional graphics designer (print media), I'd have to say that although Photoshop is essential for image editing, it is not ideal for the small "liner note" type that you typically find on the back of DVD inlays. That's because Photoshop uses rasterised type rather than vector type, so the letters look "dotty".
The best approach (IMO) is to use Photoshop for all the photographic work (and any large special effect-laden type), then import your image(s) into a bone-fide layout application, such as Quark XPress, Adobe Pagemaker or InDesign (although drawing programs like Freehand or Illustrator will get the job done, too) and finally generate all your "simple" (and small) type (and lines, etc.) in your layout software.
I cannot recommend Publisher for a variety of reasons. First off, it is not a professional, full-featured graphics design program, although Microsoft is trying to pass it off as such to some customers of ours. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, it is not compatible with the Macintosh platform at all. I know, most of you are PC users, and if you plan to print these at home on your inkjet, you're probably okay using publisher, but if you plan to take them to your local print shop and ask them to print it on their colour laser, more often than not, they're using Macs, not PCs.
To be fair, though, I think Publisher finally added PDF capabilities in their newest version, so if you can figure out how to make a PDF, you might be okay.

 

[Gregory E]

I didn't really think the original poster wanted to go through THAT much trouble. Most people aren't graphic designers. Thus, I just recommended Photoshop. You can also find templates floating around the web.
I'm actually in the middle of my Illustrator class at school. And yes, it is better for text than Photoshop.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Most people aren't graphic designers. Thus, I just recommended Photoshop.

All the more reason not to recommend a £600 application

 

[Gregory E]

All the more reason not to recommend a £600 application

Well....you could get Photoshop 7 off eBay for under $200. And that's not a bootleg copy. Still too expensive for some, but not THAT expensive if you wanna start making your own DVD covers.
Shop smart. Shop S-mart.

 

[Paul D G]

Like someone else said, I don't think he intended to go through all that. But for me, printing onto glossy photo paper is enough. (I use Epson Premium Glossy A4 sized for the few DVD covers I make, and regular sized glossy photo paper for CDs and such)

-paul

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Well....you could get Photoshop 7 off eBay for under $200

Very true. I just don't think apps like Photoshop and Paint Shop are primarily geared up for this kind of work.
Another one definuitely worth looking at is Open Office. It has a Draw component which looks similar to Publisher. It's also free and can export to Adobe .pdf if you ever need to.

 

[alexstone]

Also you can make a cover by youself using special software. There are a lot of freeware software you can download e.g coverxp, lightscribe, dvd label software(my favoirite). They are all easy in use and have user friendly interface, but as people say, every man to his own taste. Good luck!!!