street singer Posted January 1, 2004 Report Posted January 1, 2004 Since receiving the Hank Mobley Mosaic set for Christmas, I've decided to make CD-R's for all of the albums contained within. I've downloaded album cover images from here and am now trying to make some covers and inlay sheets with the Adaptec Easy CD Creator software that I've got. I'm finding this to be a much more difficult procedure than it should be since the software interface is extremely cumbersome. Especially when attempting to replicate the back cover "look" of Blue Note albums. I know there are some of you out there that are into doing this kind of stuff as well. What software do you use to do this? Any good free/shareware out there? Any suggestions are appreciated! Quote
couw Posted January 2, 2004 Report Posted January 2, 2004 (edited) I use MSWord. For a sample click here (350 Kb) Insert your jpg cover image using [insert]->[image]->[select file] (or something close to that, my computer talks German to me) and adjust the size (double click the image->size & frame->12cm x 12cm [or equivalent in inches]), then adjest the layout (double click the image->layout->fit square). You can now move the picture using drag/drop and fit it on the correct place (you can delete the pics I have in the file, there will still be a frame left to fit the new pic over). The personnel listing uses small caps. The titles are listed in a table. Contact me if you have problems. Edited January 2, 2004 by couw Quote
.:.impossible Posted January 2, 2004 Report Posted January 2, 2004 MSWord is probably your most economical solution. I use Quark XPress 4.1, but it is much more expensive software than MSOffice. Quote
couw Posted January 2, 2004 Report Posted January 2, 2004 Morganized, this is just a text field with an embedded table. I got the info from various online discographies and wrote it all down. There are some tricky things in the formatting, like for instance the little squares around the track numbers. These are done by drawing a frame around the number and a blank space before and after. These blank spaces dissappear when you copy the thing. I haven't found out why. Sometimes it's really a drag getting them back there. Glad you like how this all looks. another trick when moving the pic around: if you use select the pic by clicking it once (after you went through the format stuff I described above), then you can use your cursor arrows while pressing [ctrl] and the pic will move one pixel at a time instead of snapping to the grid. Quote
Parkertown Posted January 2, 2004 Report Posted January 2, 2004 (edited) Avery Media has great software and perforated inserts that are photo quality and work great. It's free software at Avery Media Very easy to learn too. Edited January 2, 2004 by Parkertown Quote
marcoliv Posted January 4, 2004 Report Posted January 4, 2004 couw, i´m having troubles to have a look on your ms-word stuff. your link doesn't work for me. what i'm doing wrong? Marcus Quote
Swinging Swede Posted January 4, 2004 Report Posted January 4, 2004 I've dabbled with using Word too. Getting the first cover right may be a bit arduous, but then one has a templet and making the necessary changes for other covers is easy. Here's an image of something that I was fairly pleased with: Quote
White Lightning Posted January 4, 2004 Report Posted January 4, 2004 I've dabbled with using Word too. Getting the first cover right may be a bit arduous, but then one has a templet and making the necessary changes for other covers is easy. Here's an image of something that I was fairly pleased with: Swinging Swede, that's an excellent job you've done! Do you think you can attach that back cover as a word file? I'll be very grateful if you'll do that. Thanks! Quote
Shrdlu Posted January 4, 2004 Report Posted January 4, 2004 We use exPressIT - it has easy-to-use templates for booklet covers and back tray inserts. You can stretch or compress your images to get an exact fit, and even change the colors. I'm not sure who makes this, as the details flashed off the screen when I opened the software just now, but a Google seach would bring it up. Quote
Soulstation1 Posted January 5, 2004 Report Posted January 5, 2004 i have said it before, i still don't get how to use the avery cd/dvd design kit #8931. i've had the package over 2 years and still ain't made a single cover yet. my computer skillz really are subpar ss1 Quote
street singer Posted January 5, 2004 Author Report Posted January 5, 2004 Thanks for all the responses, everyone. As an update to my original post... I was in Best Buy yesterday looking around and found a package of Memorex CD Jewel Case Inserts. It was $9.99, so I figured what the heck. It came with the ExPRESSit software mentioned by shdlu. I've been playing around with this and have come up with some fairly decent results. The software is easy to use and the labels are perforated on the edges for easy tearing. I'm pretty happy with this as a solution and think I'll stick with it. Now, does anyone have better scans of Hank Mobley's 'Hank Mobley Quartet' (Blue Note 5066) and 'Hank Mobley Sextet' (Blue Note 1540)? The ones available from here are not that great. Also, anyone upload a good image of the Blue Note logo for use on my back covers to make them truly authentic looking? It seems that this would be easy to find on the web, but I have been unable to do so. Quote
couw Posted January 5, 2004 Report Posted January 5, 2004 couw, i´m having troubles to have a look on your ms-word stuff. your link doesn't work for me. what i'm doing wrong? Marcus It works for me. It may be the empty spaces in the filename. I have uploaded a new version without them here Quote
couw Posted January 5, 2004 Report Posted January 5, 2004 Like your work Swede! I have at one point decided not to take this too far and inlcude the logo and the fine print on the back. It does look very spiffy of course. Quote
Swinging Swede Posted January 5, 2004 Report Posted January 5, 2004 Swinging Swede, that's an excellent job you've done! Do you think you can attach that back cover as a word file? I'll be very grateful if you'll do that. Thanks! Thanks for the kind words, although it was just an amateur attempt really. The Word file is unfortunately too big to be attached to a post here, even when zipped. I'll PM you. Quote
couw Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 Now, does anyone have better scans of Hank Mobley's 'Hank Mobley Quartet' (Blue Note 5066) and 'Hank Mobley Sextet' (Blue Note 1540)? The ones available from here are not that great. I don't have these but have others you might want. I promise nothing but think I can spiff up the 5066 and 1540 w/ photoshop. Give me some time. What are the covers you are looking for? Quote
couw Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 this one (CD issue) was once available from walmart, I downloaded the pic for saving. Quote
street singer Posted January 6, 2004 Author Report Posted January 6, 2004 Thanks very much, cuow! The covers you uploaded were much better than the ones I had. I did manage to touch up 5066 and 1540 using Photoshop, but still am not completely happy with 5066. It's good enough for my purposes, however... Thanks again! Quote
marcoliv Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 couw, i still have a dnserror when i try to have a look at it would you mind to send it by email for me? marcoliv@sjteixeira.com.br thanks! Marcus Quote
MuseOfLife Posted August 12, 2009 Report Posted August 12, 2009 My brother advised me to use this CD cover maker. Now I’m totally satisfied with it. Quote
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