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EOP Recording Media provides CD & DVD Duplication and Replication as well as printing for jewel box inserts and DVD inserts. Folks often provide their own artwork to go with the CD or DVD’s they are having reproduced.  If you are planning to submit art files, here are a few guidelines and tips to help you. Using these guidelines will help ensure that your project will be printed and ready to go without delays or extra costs.

Lots of Dots

When an image is printed, the printer is laying down a bunch of dots in a certain order.  The more dots used, the more refined the image will appear. The dot density is measured in DPI (or dots per inch).  The more dots used, the finer the resolution.  Simple.

So what is the appropriate DPI for commercial printing?  The answer is 300 DPI.  So when creating a design, make sure that all of the elements (such as photographs, logos, and text) used within the design are 300 DPI or higher.

A quick note about photos:

A common mistake is photographs submitted at low DPI.  Most consumer cameras are set to take photos at 72 DPI.  Although 72 may look good on a computer screen, it doesn’t carry over when printing to paper. So if you are taking the photos for your project, I recommend setting your camera to the highest resolution possible.

A quick note about scanning images:

If you are scanning images such as logos for your design, make sure that you set your scanner to 300 DPI or higher.  Most scanner programs have this option.  It will ensure a nice sharp image for printing.

General Layout Tips

When creating your design layout, here are a few guidelines to follow.

1. When creating the design, don’t put elements of the design too close to the edge.  I recommend 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the edge.  This helps ensure that your design will be preserved when the printed paper is cut to the final size.

2. If you want an image or background to extend beyond the edge of the page, add a 1/8-inch extension for what is called a “bleed.”  An example would be a single sheet jewel box insert. The final insert will be cut to 4 -3/4 inch square.  So if you want the image to extend all the way to the edge, you would have the image measure a 5-inch square.  You are adding 1/8 to each side, to extend it out beyond the cut marks.  By adding the bleed, you eliminate a white line running around the entire insert.

Finalizing Your Design for Submission

Once your design is complete and ready to submit for printing, it is important to follow these final few guidelines and tips:

1. If you are using a design program such as Adobe Illustrator, make sure that you Create Outlines for all Text.  This is a function within the program that enable’s you to submit the design without having to include all of the fonts used to create the design.  It saves a great deal of time in the setup and prevents possible delays in production and extra costs.

2. Don’t forget to remove all guidelines, template text, and other elements that are not to appear in the final print.

Formats

Once the design is complete, it is time to save the files for submission.  We recommend saving the file as an Illustrator EPS (Encapsulated Post Script file).  Make sure to include all layers for editing.  This enables us to make slight adjustments to fit our templates if necessary. We can also accept JPEG Files, as will as Print Quality PDF Files.

I hope I have covered some of the key aspects to remember when preparing your art work.  There are many aspects to graphic design and I encourage you to contact me by calling 609-813-2311 or email rich@eopco.com if you have any questions.  I will be more than happy to guide you through the process.

You can also visit our web site at www.eopco.com for templates, additional specifications and guidelines.

You have finished your recordings, mixed them, and now it is time to put them on a CD for Duplication or Replication.  Easy enough, but wait. Just a few guidelines that can make all the difference in how your work is received by the masses.  So here we go.

Mastering the Finished Mixes

After months and months recording, editing, and mixing your production, you are finally satisfied.  But one problem: you now have a bunch of individual songs that all have different sounds characteristics.  So how do you put the whole thing together to flow from one song to the next without constantly adjusting your stereo? The solution: Master the final mixes. Mastering is comprised of three steps.

Step 1: First, you will need process the final mixes for optimum CD playback.  This includes Normalizing, Compression and EQ Adjustments if needed. Normalizing is the process of taking the final mix and raising it up to a predefined peak volume level.  In most cases, the peak level for CDs is 0.  (If you normalize above 0, you run the risk of clipping or digital distortion.)

Step 2: Next is adding compression to the mixes, if needed.  Without getting too technical, compression is the process of narrowing the distance between the quietest and loudest parts of the recording.  So it sounds loud enough without sounding distorted.  To achieve this, the process will raise the volume of the quiet parts of the recording while lowering the loudest parts at the same time.   With the right amount of compression, your song will sound dynamic, punchy and clean.  It  is very important to use discretion when applying compression.  Too much and the song will have a Pumping sound, which can be very annoying to the listener.

Step 3: And finally, EQ.  EQ (short for equalization) enables you to adjust the overall tone of the recording.  Suppose you have spent a lot of time on a mix, and, despite your best efforts, it lacks a bit of high end (treble).  With EQ mastering, you can adjust the overall sound to have just the amount of high end that suits you. I recommend using  Mastering EQ, however, only when absolutely necessary.  Remember, when adjusting the EQ for the final mix, you may also be altering other sounds on the mix that you did not intend to alter. If possible, take extra care in your initial mixing so that you can avoid this step altogether.

CD Authoring and Burning

After all of the songs have been mastered, it is time to create the actual CD master for Duplication or Replication.  I will explain the difference between Duplication and Replication in a moment, but first, you will need to import all of the finished masters into the authoring program.

Second, arrange the songs in the order you want them to play on the CD, and determine how many seconds you want to have in between the songs.  I am a big fan of relatively rapid transitions from one song to the other. In any case, I would recommend a range from 2 to 5 seconds between songs, depending on how the preceding song ends.  If it is a slow fade out, then it can make it sound like it is taking forever to get to the next song if you add too much of a gap—unless that is the effect you’re going for. If the preceding song comes to an abrupt end, then you can stretch the gap out a bit before the next song begins.

After all the songs have been lined up and the transitions have been created, it is time to add the PQ Codes. The PQ codes are data that is written into the CD master track to determine the start time for each song.  When you load a CD into a player, you have the option of toggling (that is, moving) from one song to another. This ease of motion is achieved by adding the PQ codes.  So this is an essential step in the CD Authoring.

Finally after the songs are in order, the gaps between the songs are just right and the PQ codes have been added, it is time to burn the final CD Master.  It is very important to use the proper burning format for duplication when running this process.  You will need to run the copy using what is called “Disc At Once.” Important: Do not use “Track At Once.” Using “Disc At Once” ensures the proper formatting for mass production.

Duplication and Replication

There are two methods for reproducing CDs for playback.  First is Short Run Duplication.  Duplication is simply the process of creating one-off copies of CDs on blanks from the CD master you provide, for instance to EOP.  This is the preferred method if you want fewer than 1000 copies. At EOP, they are printed and copied “in house.”

Replication is the process to use if you are mass producing 1000 or more copies.  Replication is an automated factory operation.  The discs are printed and molded from raw materials.

The main differences are turn around time and budget. It generally takes one week or less to duplicate short run CDs, whereas it could take up to 3 weeks or more to manufacture the replicated CDs.  The replicated CDs cost less per unit, but the minimum order is 1000.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you gain a general understanding of the steps involved when preparing your CD master.  EOP Recording Media provides all of the services mentioned in this article.  Please feel free to call 609-813-2311 or email rich@eopco.com if you have any questions.  You can also visit our website at www.eopco.com.

Rich Krents