There are 5 pieces to CD artwork: Booklet Outside, Booklet Inside, Tray Card Back, Tray Card Front and Disc Face.

The CD Booklet is placed in the front sleeve of the CD jewel case.  From the CD Booklet Outside Template, the right side image will appear in the front of the CD case. The left side image will appear on the back page of the CD Booklet. The Booklet Inside image is what the customer will see when they take the booklet out of the CD case and open it.

The CD Tray Card  is placed in the back of the CD jewel case and includes the spine of the case. The CD Tray Outside image is what a customer will see when they look at the back of your CD case. This is traditionally where artists put track listings, and include the basic title information on the edges/spine. We will automatically superimpose a barcode in the lower right corner of the tray card outside image.

 

The CD Tray Card Inside image is what appears when a customer removes the CD from the case as it is located underneath the CD.  Review the CD/DVD Artwork Quality Standards (below) before proceeding with your artwork.

 

To use the CD templates:

 

    Download the CD Artwork Template ZIP file

    Open the ZIP file

    Open the PDF for the CD booklet outside image artwork in your image editing software

    Create a new layer in your image editing software

    Design your cover using the template PDF as the guide layer. Do not move the guide layer, as it is properly aligned for printing.

    Design your artwork so that it extends to the edge of the template to ensure a white border will not exist in the printed work.

    Ensure text and/or images that appear to be intended to be read do not appear in the pink zones of the templates.

    Do not place any important images or text appearing to be read in the barcode locations, which are indicated on the templates in yellow. We suggest filling in this area with your background color or design. Do not leave a white box for your barcode.

    Once your design is complete, turn off the PDF guide layer so that it is not printed on your final product or rejected during the review process. If you are unable to turn off the guide layer, format the artwork so that it completely covers the guide layer.

    Save the file as a JPEG using the highest quality (make sure to stay under the maximum file size of 6MB for paper artwork and 2MB for disc face) and upload the files through your account.

    Repeat the steps above for the CD booklet inside image, tray card outside image, tray card inside image and disc face.

 

 

CD Artwork Quality Standards

 

Cover artwork must include the title name of your content as it appears in your member account.

 

•     All live elements (text and/or images that cannot be cut off during the production process) must be at least .25 inches (6.4 mm) from the edge to ensure no important elements are cut during the manufacturing process and the appearance of your artwork is consistent.

 

•     Make sure your artwork has at least .25 inches (6.4 mm) of bleed (background colors and/or images intended to run off the cover or disc face) centered horizontally and vertically.

 

•     Remove all existing barcodes from your artwork. Our system will superimpose barcodes onto your artwork. For exact barcode placement, please refer to the artwork templates.

 

•         For DVDs, the UPC barcode is superimposed in the upper right of the back cover, and an internal barcode is superimposed on the bottom of the disc face.

 

•         For CDs, a UPC barcode is superimposed in the lower right of the tray card outside image and internal barcodes are superimposed in the bottom right of the last page of the booklet, and on the bottom of the disc face.

 

•     Please do not use the standard DVD-Video and CD-Audio logos in your artwork as this logo is only licensed for use with replicated discs, not DVD-Rs or CD-Rs. If you would like to use a CD or DVD logo, please use the logos provided with the CD and DVD templates.

 

•     We strongly recommend your artwork be professionally produced in order for us to produce a high quality product. Therefore, submitted artwork should be at least a 300 DPI resolution and meet our specifications.

 

Accepted digital formats

 

• Uncompressed AIFF (44.1 KHz, 16- bit, 2-channel stereo files required)

 

• MP3 (320KBps, constant bitrate recommended; 44.1 KHz, 16- bit, 2-channel stereo files required)

 

• Uploading MP3s is supported but not recommended, as an MP3 source will result in lower fidelity. Your MP3 files will be re-encoded. If you plan to submit audio files in MP3 format, we recommend creating them using the highest possible quality settings (320KBps, constant bitrate).

 

Preparing files to upload

 

• All audio files must be uploaded as a single .ZIP archive.

 

• All audio file names must begin with a numeral, may not exceed 100 characters, and may not include any of the following reserved characters: < > : " / \ | ? * ' +

 

• Tracks must be sequentially numbered without any gaps in numbering.

  • Example: 01-First Song.AIFF, 02-Second Song.AIFF, 03-Third Song.AIFF, etc.

 

• All audio file names must end in an appropriate dot extension: (.AIFF or .AIF; or .MP3)

 

• The total number of audio tracks submitted must match the number indicated when you set up your title.

 

• Track length and total runtime must adhere to the Red Book audio CD standard.

 

• You may not include any advertisements within your audio tracks/files