CD Cover Printing
- CD Covers
- CD Inserts
- Articles
Digital music distribution on services such as iTunes has decreased the number of physical CD’s produced. However, most music artists who play live still need a physical CD to sell at shows, and there are plenty of people who continue to purchase CD’s at retail outlets. With CD cover printing from PrintFirm, you can be confident that your covers will have consistent quality at a reasonable price.
Our complete CD printing product line includes CD sleeve printing, CD insert printing, and CD booklet printing. PrintFirm’s CD sleeves measure 5” X 5” with available printing on the front only, or front and back. They are printed on durable 14-point card stock with a glossy UV coating that repels dirt and moisture. PrintFirm’s CD covers have the following size options: 4.75” X 4.75”, bi-fold design of 4.75 X 9.75, tri-fold design of 4.75” X 14.25”, and a 5.9” X 4.625” CD tray card with perforated spines. They are printed on 100 lb. gloss text.
PrintFirm’s CD booklets measure 4.75” X 9.5” and fold to fit the CD case. Page number options are 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24. These page numbers include the cover. CD booklets are printed on 100 lb. gloss text. CD booklets give you extra space for lyrics, additional text, artwork, and photos.
You can upload your own print-ready CD cover design to our website or ask our team of talented graphic artists to design your cover. You can still upload any custom graphics to our graphic artists to incorporate in the design. PrintFirm recommends that any uploaded images have a resolution of at least 300 DPI (dots per inch). Lower resolution images can look fine on your screen, but the typical CD cover printing result is a blurry mess. Additionally, images found online might be unsuitable because of low resolution. To check the DPI of a graphics file, open it in a reputable graphic design program and note the file details.
Because CD covers and related materials must fit perfectly in the CD case and display properly in the folded and unfolded layouts, it is probably a good idea to select electronic proofing from PrintFirm’s drop-down menu when you place an order. With electronic proofing, we send you a PDF file showing the graphics along with the crop and fold lines. This gives you a last chance to check the design before we load it into the machine for CD cover printing.
We recommend that you proofread the CD cover text carefully before uploading it to us. Your fans will probably see a text error as unprofessional. Ideally, multiple people should proofread and at least one of those people should be a skilled editor. An experienced editor can catch mistakes that others miss. If you don’t know anyone with enough skill, it might be wise to hire a professional.
Please consider PrintFirm for all your CD cover printing needs. We believe that quality is just as important as giving discounts for quantity.
PrintFirm’s CD inserts are printed on our quality 100 lb. gloss text. We have flat inserts, bi-fold inserts, and tri-fold CD inserts available. Printing can be on the front only or both sides.
The following CD insert design tips should help you achieve success with your CD insert campaign goals.
-
You can upload your own CD insert print-ready design to PrintFirm. We accept all the popular graphic design file types such as PDF, PSD, and TIF. If nobody in your organization is skilled enough in graphic design, you can hit the “custom design” button when you place your order. PrintFirm’s talented team of graphic artists can create a unique design.
-
If we handle your design, it’s a good idea to select the electronic proofing option when you place your order. CD cover inserts must fit perfectly in the CD case and display properly in the folded and unfolded layouts. Once we finish with your design, we send you a PDF file showing the graphics, crop marks, and fold/score lines. This gives you a last chance to check the design before we load it into the printing machine.
-
Avoid a cluttered CD insert design. There should be plenty of whitespace (area without design) so that text and artwork are easy to read and view.
-
Proofread your CD inserts carefully. A small text error can ruin an otherwise promising CD insert printing campaign. Ideally, multiple people should proofread the design, or you can give the task to a skilled editor. A skilled editor can catch mistakes that others could miss. You can hire a professional editor if you want.
- You can print CD inserts in bulk to save money. Offset printers such as PrintFirm require initial resources to setup each job, but once the job is loaded into the machine, the cost per copy decreases as the number printed increases.
-
You can upload your own CD insert print-ready design to PrintFirm. We accept all the popular graphic design file types such as PDF, PSD, and TIF. If nobody in your organization is skilled enough in graphic design, you can hit the “custom design” button when you place your order. PrintFirm’s talented team of graphic artists can create a unique design.
