CD Design

Reggie Duncan · Post by **Reggie Duncan** » 31 Dec 2014 6:05 am

To cut my costs in 2015, I plan on designing my own cd covers. My question is concerning software. My duplicating facility requires Photoshop. There are several versions out there and I am not sure which one to purchase. I'd rather not purchase one with a whole lot more than I NEED, as most of my designs would be pretty basic. Any direction would be appreciated! Happy New Year!

Michael Maddex · Post by **Michael Maddex** » 31 Dec 2014 9:13 am

I'm sure others will jump in, but here goes: I doubt that your Duplicating Facility requires Photoshop, but rather it requires a certain file format, maybe image size and resolution. Anyway, get the gimp:

http://www.gimp.org/

It does what Photoshop does and it's free, it's available for most all Operating Systems, has online instruction and I've been using it for years.

Have a tuneful new year! HTH. Enjoy!

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 31 Dec 2014 10:37 am

I have been using Corel's Paint Shop Pro for years, as a substitute for Photoshop. I have an old version of Photoshop that I rarely use anymore, and then mainly just for its Actions. The price is about 1/5th.

It seems like the latest version of Photoshop is for online use (Creative Cloud) and for rent by the month. It is called SaaS; Software as a Service. I did not see a price to buy just the program for offline use.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 31 Dec 2014 10:55 am

I was correct in my last statement about Adobe switching Photoshop to SaaS only (1). They are no longer selling perpetual licenses for desktop versions of Photoshop. You must use it in the cloud and pay a monthly fee, which varies by which other apps you use and how much storage space you take up.

Shockingly, if one fails to pay for a month due to oversight or financial problems, not only does the onboard software stop working instantly, but the proprietary work files saved to the Adobe Cloud goes away.

I am glad I use Paint Shop Pro which has perpetual licenses for computer only use. It is currently updated every year with new features, some of which are targeted at unhappy Photoshop customers who don't want to play the cloud game.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 31 Dec 2014 10:59 am

I do a lot of CD work, as I have a (busy) home recording studio. I use "Discus" as the program to design and print CD's (I print directly to ink jet printable CD's) and Jewel case covers.

DISCUS

I burn my own CD's with a bank of 5 USB connected CD/DVD burners. My "burn standard" is 8X. I only use JVC/Taiyo Yuden ink jet printable CD blanks.

I have a "Primera Bravo" disc printer for printing the labels on CD's. My regular printer is used for the Jewel Case covers. I use Avery 8693 card stock for the Jewel Case covers. I used to use a Epson printer to print on CD's but the Epson's only lasted about two years in my shop. With the Primera Bravo, I can load up to 20 discs at a time and print with the automated disc handling.

Reggie Duncan · Post by **Reggie Duncan** » 31 Dec 2014 12:43 pm

The duplicator I use can send me the templates. Can you use them with Gimp? Thanks for all of the input, fellows!

Michael Maddex · Post by **Michael Maddex** » 31 Dec 2014 3:27 pm

gimp supports a wide range of file formats. I would be surprised if the templates were not available in one of them. See the format list and other features here: http://www.gimp.org/features/
Please also note that there are links to the Introduction and the Tutorials and other basic beginner information on that page as well.
HTH.