The best advice on CD/DVD replication header image 1

Recycled printing terms

August 3rd, 2010 · CD DVD packaging

Are you looking for a recycled CD/DVD sleeve or case for an upcoming project? Do you get overwhelmed by the different terms that manufacturers and replicators use to describe the different options? This 3-part series is created to help you navigate through the somewhat confusing world of recycled packaging.

Our first step is to give you a brief overview of the most frequently talked about recycled terms that is related to CD/DVD packaging.

Virgin Paper
Paper manufactured from new pulp or cotton. Does not contain any recycled material.

Recycled Paper
Paper that is designated as “recycled” can be a mixture of virgin wood fiber, pre-consumer waste and/or post-consumer waste, which will be explained below.

Recyclable
Capable of being re-used, recycled into a new product. All cardboard, paper can be readily recycled.

Pre-consumer waste
Pre-consumer content is paper made out of paper scraps and trimmings left over from the paper manufacturing process. These paper scraps and trimmings are easiest to recycle, as they do not have to be collected, separated, de-inked.

Post-consumer waste
Post-consumer waste is paper made out of paper which has been used by the end consumer and then is collected for recycling from various recycling programs. This is the best paper to use, as it creates demand for paper which would normally end up in the landfill and no trees are cut down for manufacturing process.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The Forest Stewardship Council was created to change the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide. FSC sets forth principles, criteria, and standards that span economic, social, and environmental concerns. The FSC standards represent the world’s strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes.

Well Managed Forest
The exact definition of a well-managed forest will be debated as long as there are interest groups that value different sets of attributes available from a forest. Fundamental to all is the premise that forests are recognized as a community of interacting plants, animals, soil, water, air, and people within a major landscape – no longer just a concentration of trees.

Next we’ll look at choosing recycled jewel case and DVD cases.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenpomme/1775236399/

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:···

Marketing your indie-film on YouTube

July 26th, 2010 · Marketing

Getting the word out about an indie film with no big names on a shoestring budget is no easy task. Does social media make it easier to create a legitimate buzz and help you on the big break?

Uploading trailer to YouTube

As the 2nd largest search engine behind Google, YouTube is the first place you should consider in uploading a movie trailer. Together with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, you should be able to generate a number of views by sharing the link and posting on your profile.

Networking

But how do you expand the page views of the trailer beyond colleagues, friends and family? Be part of the community – network, take part in discussion, comment, share your opinion on other trailers, make friends, build a reputation and offer your experience and expertise as a filmmaker.

YouTube channel

The channel feature on YouTube made it a great way to show off some of your work besides the movie trailer. Create a channel and start building a fan base, by creating and uploading quality clips regularly. Subscribe to other channels, get inspiration of what others are doing. Overtime, as an active member of the YouTube community will help the page views and reputation as a professional filmmaker.

Long Term Strategy

One should view this is as a long time plan, instead of simply part of movie marketing. Building loyal fans and audience takes time, and when it is properly and creatively done, as we have seen in recent history, some independent films do come out ahead of the rest.

Continue to read the full article on Heavy Bag Media.

What is your strategy of promoting your last film? Did any particular website or social network help you more than the others? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/danprates/1485848148/

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:··

CD/DVD on-disc design 101

July 19th, 2010 · Printing/Design

In the past we have written various posts about design for CD/DVD discs, we thought it would be a good idea to summarize all the information, tips and tricks for a neat overview.

There are 2 methods in which CD/DVDs are printed in a large scale manufacturing environment – silkscreen and offset printing. Other technologies are available as well for short-runs but they are not covered in this post. There are significant differences in terms of the 2 print methodologies so it may make or break the print outcome.

Knowing the different components of a disc such as mirror band and stacking ring will help you understand better the results of an artwork – Mirror band, stacking ring – components of a disc

By now you may already have a design in mind, ready to get started? Take a look at our various design examples so you can decide about white base, spot colors, offset or silkscreen printing.
Design strategies of a disc – part 1
Design strategies of a disc – part 2

Don’t forget to also check out 5 small details that may affect your CD/DVD disc print for those little things that will make the disc print less than perfect!

Finally, if this is your first time putting a disc design together, we have videos on how to get started to put together a simple label:
Create CD/DVD label with Illustrator (Video)
Create CD/DVD label with Photoshop (Video)

If you have additional tips and suggestions, please share them in the comments below!

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:····

5 small details that may affect your CD/DVD disc print

July 14th, 2010 · Printing/Design

1. Matching color on disc to paper packaging

It is rare that you can match the colors on the disc to the color on the paper insert or covers exactly. Whether the disc is printed with silkscreen or offset printing, the nature of the canvas (silver disc and paper stock) makes in impossible for an exact match.

In the following example, both the cover and disc were printed with the same PMS pink, but the results still slightly vary.

disc packaging and disc with same PMS pink

disc packaging and disc with same PMS pink

2. Color variation in center hub
As the image below illustrates, because of the color difference of the inner plastic, mirror band, and the main silver area, the ink that is printed on top will vary slightly, even with the application of the white flood.

white base over silver disc

white near the center is lighter than the rest

3. White base or no white base?

Since the surface of a disc is silver, white base/white flood can be applied as a base coat for closer color match. If no white base is applied, all the white areas on the artwork will be silver.

4. Printing large area of solid color with CMYK

If you have a full color image sitting on top a solid color background, beware that the solid color may appear inconsistent in different part of the disc. This is actually the case for a lot of CMYK printing process, not just for disc printing. The disadvantage of printing solid color with offset can be remedied by screen printing the solid background as a 6th color (spot color).

In the following example, the solid orange appears to have a slight gradient from the top to bottom.

Solid orange printed with offset printing on disc

Solid orange printed with offset printing on disc

5. Spot color vs CMYK in silkscreen printing

Many companies may advertise a lower price with silkscreen printing on the disc. Spot colors yield way better results than CMYK. We cannot stress this point enough: CMYK colors on screen print often produce less desirable grainy print. If you have CMYK images offset printing should be used.

In the following example, the blue is not a spot color, but a CMYK color, therefore when looking closely, the grainy effect is visible. (click on image to view in full size)

The CMYK blue appears grainy on the silkscreened CD

CMYK blue on silkscreened CD

Check out our design strategies of a CD/DVD disc part 1 and design strategies of a CD/DVD disc part 2 to see some real-life examples and suggestions.

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:····

Design strategies of a disc – part 1

July 13th, 2010 · Printing/Design

Many customers love the shiny effect of the disc to come through the design. Silver effects can be printed on blank discs, replicated CDs or replicated DVDs.  Here are a few example of how silver can be incorporated into the design:

1. Print over silver (no white base)

The reflective nature of silver adds an interesting factor to the design, just keep in mind that the mirror band and inner ring is a different color than the main silver color, as shown in the examples below:

1 spot color on silver

1 spot color on silver

2 color silkscreen with silver knockout

2 color silkscreen with silver knockout

2. Avoid the stacking ring altogether

Because of the difference in color of the mirror band and stacking ring, some people avoid the them altogether. The art is only printed to the edge of the main print area, as illustrated below:

CD print with larger inner ring

CD print with larger inner ring

3. Using white base

Another solution to the silver base problem is adding a layer of white base. However white ink appears lighter in the stacking ring area, for example:

white base over silver disc

white base over silver disc

If the background color is darker, the difference in color seems almost unnoticeable:

silkscreen CD sample

silkscreen CD sample with darker color background

4. Spot varnish

You probably have seen title of a book or CD with a layer of a clear coat to stand out, this is called spot varnish and it can be done to a disc print as well. We can either do “gloss over matte print” or “matte over glossy print”. Either way it will be subtle way to make the title or any graphic element stand out.

gloss over matte print / spot varnish

gloss over matte print / spot varnish

For examples of how to incorporate silver for more experienced designers, read part 2 of design strategies of a disc.

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:······

Mirror band and stacking ring of a silver disc

July 12th, 2010 · Printing/Design

Main print area – as the name suggests, this is the main area on the disc for the artwork to be printed.
Mirrorband – this is the area between the main print area and the clear stacking ring. The silver color is usually a tone or two darker than the silver in the main print area. This is also where the stamper text, information about the glass master of the project, in the form of alphanumerical codes, will be printed.
Stacking ring / clear hub – this is the clear plastic area in the near the inner most part of the disc which can be printed. Usually the inner ring is set at 22-26mm depending on the type of disc (CD or DVD) and the machine.

sample of silver disc

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:···

Revolutionary digital music distribution with Tunecore

July 12th, 2010 · Marketing


TuneCore Music Distribution of Your Own Music
The great thing about digital distribution is that there is no need to ship or manufacture any physical items, however, most digital distribution service charge a royalty fee per sale/download, taking away profit for the content owner.

This is where Tunecore comes in.

Tunecore is a digital music distribution service to outlet such as iTunes, Myspace, eMusic, AmazonMP3. They take no royalty from your sale, so you get to keep 100% of the money you deserve. Tunecore also offers other promotional tools to let the word out about your music through different channels.

TuneCore has distributed tens of thousands of albums and millions of songs to iTunes and other digital stores including Grammy winners, record labels and unsigned artists. Customers include Aretha Franklin, Beck, Jay-Z, Keith Richards, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, Ricky Skaggs, Paul Westerberg, MGM Studios, Warren G, Bjork, Moby, High School Musical cast members, and tens of thousands more.

Start selling your music on iTunes with TuneCore today!

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:··

Join and check out our flickr group!

July 8th, 2010 · CD DVD packaging

Flickr is my favorite place to research images for blog posts, and for my own personal pictures too. I also come across lots of inspiring designs and brilliant home-made and unique packages as well.

I decided to create a group collecting some of the best ones I’ve seen in the flickr community and to share with you. Take a look at our new flickr group, and upload and share your designs perhaps?

Linky

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:

Publish fan testimonials from Twitter with Tweet-stimonials

June 30th, 2010 · Marketing

Testimonial is a powerful marketing tool, and Twitter is a great medium for that.  Tweet-stimonials is a neat little plugin that posts tweets about your band, film or company directly to your wordpress blog.

Here are the simple steps:

1. Go to Twitter and favorite tweets that you want to show on your website

2. Download the plugin from Tweet-stimonials and install in your blog

3. Configure to work with your blog

4. Start seeing live testimonials on your site!

How will you benefit from it?

This technique not only works for music, but really anything that you need to market for! The truth is marketing is much easier when others are saying nice things about you. Twitter provides an excellent environment for testimonials to travel instantly across the internet.

Read the rest of the post from Music Marketing – Gen-Y Rock Stars

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email
Share

→ No CommentsTags:···

Retail DVDs on eco-friendly style packaging

June 25th, 2010 · CD DVD packaging

While movies and films are traditionally manufactured in Amaray-style case, lately there have been more filmmakers that are doing things a little bit differently.
Tall wallet has been a popular choice for a few reasons:
- elongated shape is similar to Amaray case
- DVD in tall wallet weighs 60% less than  DVD in amaray case, making it a more eco-friendly option
- comes in a variety of stock and varnishes, including recycled stock containg 80% post consumer waste
- standard tall wallet comes with 4 printing panels, which is 100% more printing space than an Amaray cover

Jonna's body, please hold

Jonna's body, please hold

Letting go of god

Letting go of god

Got an idea for disc packaging and need some advice? Send us an email or contact us via Twitter today!
Want more? Get the latest tips and hints by email

→ No CommentsTags:···