How to Make CD On Body Artwork. A Step by Step Guide
There are few steps you have to remember to follow when making CD on body artwork. In this article we’ve put them all in a simple step by step guide.
To make CD on body artwork follow these steps:
- Open Photoshop and template
- Import your artwork panels
- Resize the panels to fit the template
- Check the bleed and positioning
- Disable the template
- Export as .pdf
This is just the step by step sequence that you should follow to get your artwork ready. Let me explain each step in detail.
1) Open Photoshop and CD on bodyTemplate
First open up your Photoshop software and the template that you can download from our templates page. Do this by clicking on File then Open.
If you don’t have a Photoshop I suggest to use a free software Pixlr X
Once you load up the template, on the right hand side, you can see the layers section. This is where you’ll layer each of the panels of your artwork on top of each other. Make sure you keep our template on the top of the layer list.
If you can’t see the layers section go to Window then Workplace and select Photography. This should enable the layers section on the right hand side.
Template guide explanation
19mm arrows – indicate the inner inside hole diameter
26mm arrows – indicate the outer inside hole diameter.
In general, we advise not to have any important info/art unless you’re skilled designer and understand the print.
118mm arrows – indicate the whole CD diameter
2) Import Your CD on body artwork
Now is time to import your CD on body artwork. Your artwork should be imported as a square panel to make sure it covers the bleed area. Have a look below.
Now by clicking on your artwork panel move it to the template tab and drop it (anywhere where the template is).
Your artwork panel should be much bigger than the template size. That’s good. It’s means it’s in high definition and the will look good once printed.
You can now close the artwork tab.
On the right hand side in your layer section you can now see another layer. That’s the front panel image. To make things easier for yourself double click on the “layer 1” name and rename it “design”.
As you can see the layer is highlighted in the layers section. This means we will operate only on this layer and no other layer will be affected.
Get ready for your CD release!
Download our FREE pdf guide and be on the sure path to release your CD successfully.
Download pdf guide3) Resize the Panels to Fit the Template
Now it’s a time to resize the artwork layer and fit it to the template.
With the artwork layer highlighted (right hand side) on your keyboard press “Ctrl” and “t”. This will show you the whole panel even if it’s outside the template zone. With the bigger files you might have to zoom out (“Ctrl” and ” – “) to see the whole view.
Press and hold shift key (arrow above “Ctrl”) to make sure resizing will be proportional and make your artwork smaller.
When resizing any element always keep holding the shift key to make sure you don’t change the structure of the panel.
Now try to fit the design onto the template.
Depending on how well your artwork is designed you might have to stretch it either to the left or right.
It is essential that your artwork goes over the CD layout to make sure it prints correctly.
Now move your “design” layer under the template layer. This should look like this:
4) Check the Bleed and Positioning
Make sure you re position your design to fit inside the template. In the above image you could see that text “Sam Dickinson” was going over the template. I’ve re sized it to fit inside the template now:
5) Disable the CD On Body Template
Now, since your design is re positioned and you’re happy with it you can disable the template layer.
6) Export as .pdf
Now with the template disabled you can export the whole artwork to .pdf file.
Before you do that make sure your artwork is in CMYK mode (printing mode). To do that go to Image (3rd column from the left, next to File and Edit) and Mode and select CMYK. Make sure you’re happy with the colours as CMYK mode will not display very prominent colours.
Now let’s export the artwork.
To do that go to File, Save As and in the Format drop down menu select Photoshop PDF and click Save.
Does my artwork have to be square?
It’s much better to have square artwork that you can then resize and re position although round artworks are also fine so long there’s enough bleed left.
How to Know if My Artwork is in High Resolution?
You can check if the artwork is in high resolution by going to Image and Image Size in the top menu. You will see there Resolution tab. The artwork should be in at least 300 pixel/inch.
If the artwork is below 300 dpi, once printed, it might come out blurry and with visible pixels.
I only have my artwork in a .jpeg format. Is that okay?
It is not ideal to have your artwork in a jpeg file. This is lossy file which means it is compressed and some of the attributes of the original file are lost during the compression to jpeg format.
If you can’t avoid it, use it but make sure it’s the highest size possible to minimise the potential pixelasation.
I Don't Have Photoshop on My Computer. Is There an Alternative?
Photoshop is definitely the best and easiest software to use when prepping artwork. Some artists use Canva.com but it’s not ideal and the resizing might be problematic.
Do I Have to Use Your Templates? Are All the Templates the Same?
If you’re planning to print CDs with us than yes, use our templates.
Most of the templates are generally the same so if you have your artwork ready according to another CD on body template.
I Have No Idea What I'm Doing. Can You Help?
Of course we can help! That’s why we’re here. 🙂
Send us message via our contact page and we’ll help you out.
Hope that helps!
Thanks,
Tom
Get ready for your CD release!
Download our FREE pdf guide and be on the sure path to release your CD successfully.
Download pdf guideRelated articles
Hey, I’m Tom, and I’ve been involved in the music industry for over two decades now! I help bands produce top-notch records by lending my expertise in CD manufacturing, music business and mastering. But that’s not all – I also have a soft spot for writing and sharing knowledge with others. I hope you’ll find the content I create enjoyable to read and that it provides some valuable insights into the world of music.
