NatrlBornThrllr

I chose the thread title because I realize that to most here, that's probably what this post will sound like. Anyway, I wouldn't mind having custom covers for a handful of my releases. My questions are as follows:

1) Printer. I have an HP PSC 500. Will this cut it for printing convincing replacement covers, or will the images be too pixilated due to the quality (or lack thereof) of the printer? I assume the answer is no, and that I'll need to use a laser printer. If this is the case, what's the best way to go about doing this without, um, buying a laser printer? Kinko's? What's the cost, and is any place cheaper? Will I have internet access if I go to Kinko's, or will I have to save the images from the website to a disc to bring in with me (and if the latter, what works best)?

2) Sizing. On most custom covers that I'll discover on the internet, will they be simple "open the file, click print" type things, or will it be necessary for me to do any resizing in order to get a printout that's the same size as the stock amaray covers?

3) Paper. What kind of paper (this is a very specific question; as in what, for lack of a better term, "make and model") will give me that authentic look and feel? Cost of this paper? Also, will I need to worry about varying sizes of paper? I've placed single and double amaray covers on a piece of computer paper. A double amaray cover extends to the very edges of the paper but it still seems that a single, standard piece of paper will fit the entire image. Is this correct, or will I need paper larger than standard computer paper to keep from cutting off the edges of the image?

I've abandoned the idea of creating my own covers. I simply don't have the ability to find large enough images, and my computer is too old to deal with holding a lot on the clipboard anyway. Though I love the creative aspect of it. I made this American History X cover just for shits an giggles. It's too small to be printed, obviously, but I had fun fiddling with the idea.



Anyway, I'll mainly be finding covers that others have created, and printing them that way. Any recommendations on this front?

Thanks in advance.

-JP

joliom

I'm not familiar with your particular printer, but you don't need an expensive laser printer to get good quality cover prints. A decent inkjet printer will get the job done fine with the printer settings set to the highest quality dpi. The best for photo printing are the Epson R series. You can get an R200 for like $75, so it shouldn't be cost-prohibitive. I have an R800 and it produces prints that rival most $5000 color laser printers (no joke). As for Kinko's, you'll need to bring the files saved on disc, however your success will depend on the particular employees/managers working that day. They usually won't let you print any copyrighted material. Also they're pretty pricey. Better to invest your money in your own printer.


I guess that depends. If you download them from any of the major sites, then they will be properly sized and ready for printing.


Imho, the best paper option is premium glossy photo paper. Some folks say matte is just as good since under the plastic of the case it will have the same sheen, but personally I disagree. Premium glossy photo paper all the way. There is no standard paper type that the studios use. And they're using multi-million dollar printing presses anyway, so it's pointless to worry about getting the exact same type of paper they use. That'd be like saying you want the same fuel Formula 1 racers use for your Ford. The covers I print out on my R800 on Epson Premium Glossy Photo paper look absolutely stunning. Just match the brand printer you have with the brand paper you buy for best results. Not all papers and printers are 100% compatible.

You can fit a single-sized cover on a single sheet of 8.5 x 11" paper. On mine, I merely have to select 8.5 x 14" as the paper size to prevent it from cutting off the edges. You may need to either activate your printer's borderless option (if you have it) or employ the "paper trick." For the paper trick, simply tape a 3" piece of paper to the edge of your target sheet to make a Frankenstein 8.5 x 14" (Legal) sized sheet. Then select Legal as your paper type. It will print right up to the very edge of your real sheet and you can just peel off the added strip when you're done. For larger sized covers you will have to buy some legal-sized paper - anything bigger than a single-sized cover will not fit on a normal 8.5 x 11" piece of paper, borders or no borders. Since no one currently makes Legal-sized photo paper (only “photo quality” paper), you’ll want to pick up either some 11 x 17" Ledger paper or some 13 x 19" Super A3/Super B paper and cut your own 8.5 x 14” sheets. Epson, HP and Canon all make photo papers in those two sizes.


Don't give up on designing. You'll only get better if you keep doing it. Finding hires images can be difficult, but try thinking outside the box. Movie magazines, poster art books like the one's Bruce Hershenson puts out, calendars, postcards, and even wallpaper sites are good places to look. Don't make yourself a slave to a particular image. If you say, "I have to find this particular hires pic of whatnot for my cover" then your limiting yourself design-wise. Better to find what you can and design around what you do have. And there's nothing wrong with using original poster art scanned from the dvd cover. Sometimes that's all you have to work with, and sometimes that's a good thing. Some original poster art is just plain amazing and would be a crime not to use. As for places to check out for covers, resources, and tutorials, give me your email address and I'll point you in the right direction.

NatrlBornThrllr

Very helpful post, thanks a ton. I mainly just want to do some replacement covers for a handful of releases (most typical; the snapcase to amaray conversions...in addition to a few upgrades for covers that I don't particularly care for).

[email protected]

-JP

Living Dead

While I do agree with Joliom that glossy photo paper is an excellent option, it can also get pricey. Personally, I started out with glossy photo paper, but I print a lot of covers, and I got sick of cutting large photo sheets down to legal size, and I went through several brands looking for an easier and cheaper alternative. I discovered a brand of paper put out by Epson called Epson Stylus Pro that looks amazing when printing covers, and it's already sized at 8.5 x 14. It is NOT glossy photo paper, but rather photo quality matte paper and is designed to accommodate high resolution printing up to 720 dpi.

I buy it nearly exclusively from ebay, I've never actually seen it in any store. The product number is s041067, and you can usually buy 100 sheets at a time for about $25.00 after shipping is factored in. Just do a search for the product number on ebay (if you're a member), and you'll find several sellers offering the item.

I've found that that once I've placed the covers under the glossy plastic, they are nearly indistinguishable from the photo paper glossies I used to print. Of course this is just a recommendation. It's also a cheaper alternative to experiement with if you're just getting started with printing your own covers.

If you do decide to check this paper out, be warned that one side is slightly glossier than the other. The glossy side is a bright white and will stick to your finger, while the other side is an off white. It's not at all like glossy photo paper where it's easy to tell one side from the other... it's hard to tell the difference if you're not looking for it, because I printed a few covers on the off white side when I first got the paper, and they looked like crap and I couldn't figure out why until I noticed the very slight color difference. Printing on the correct side makes a HUGE difference. Nowhere on the box does it tell you one side is different from the other, so you'll have to look closely.

joliom

If you're a Costco member, they have some good deals on photo paper that can save you some $. Unfortunately they don't carry the oversized papers, just 8.5 x 11" (Letter), but the Kirkland packs are 125 sheets for $20 and are virtually indistinguishable from genuine Epson Premium Glossy Photo paper. So that at least helps cut your costs for single-sized and thinpak covers. Hopefully they'll start carrying the Ledger and Super A3/Super B at some point too. That would be sweet.

darkflounder

I picked up a 100pk of Kodak soft gloss 8.5x11 at Wal-Mart on clearance (labeled $10 with $3 off because the register didn't ring up the correct price) and it works great for covers. Printed on my Epson R220, it's indistinguishable from the factory covers (if the source images are sufficiently high enough resolution).

enrage

tips:
scan at 300 dpi.
use high quality ink. dont get the knock off generic ones.

use UndercoverXp to print your dvd covers out. you can print slim or regular sized covers out.

joliom

I agree with tip #2, but not the other ones. Scanning at 300 dpi is good for cover purposes, but 600 is more ideal (provided your system has enough juice to handle the load, that is). Some people even prefer 1200 dpi, but that's a monster file and only useful if you have some serious processing power under your hood. And CoverXP is a decent program, but it's nowhere near as good as Paint Shop Pro, or the all-mighty Photoshop. Whichever you prefer, it's usually best to print from the same program you created the file with.