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Check the Glossary for explanations of the terms we use on this site! |
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SPECIFICATIONS
SUPPLYING YOUR OWN ARTWORK
If you supply your own artwork, we'll treat it as if it were our own.
Even though we're not preparing the art ourselves, we always check
every job, at no extra cost, to make sure that it's up to industry
specifications.
Please note: All of your artwork for the disc cover, booklet,
trayliner, etc. is usually referred to collectively as "graphics".
General Tips
- It's best to find an experienced graphic designer to make your music look great!
- Make sure you or your designer read the graphics specifications.
- You or your designer should download the MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES
downloadable templates for your cassette
insert.
- Your designer needs to complete the MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES Graphics
Form to accompany your art.
GRAPHICS SPECIFICATIONS
Art Disc Formats
MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES can accept your artwork in one of the following disc formats:
- CD-R
- Iomega Zip cartridge
- You can also upload your graphics online at our FTP site using our Electronic
Artwork Submission and Inspection system (EASI)
Software programs
You can create your design files in the following software programs
on Mac or PC, using MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES downloadable
templates:
- QuarkXPress
- Illustrator
- CorelDRAW
- InDesign
- Generic eps files with all font changed to outlines
Please note: Photoshop is fine for editing images, but when used for typesetting, may cause blurry text.
Free Bar Code (UPC)
If you plan to sell your cassette in stores, you must have a bar code or UPC (Universal Product Code) included in the packaging, so that retailers can easily track the sales of your product within their inventory system.
If you need a UPC number, we will provide it free of charge,
and will generate the correct barcode for your artwork. If you don't
want the barcode to be part of your cassette graphics, MUSIC MANUFACTURING
SERVICES can supply barcodes on stickers applied to the shrink-wrap.
If you already have a UPC number, simply give the number to MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES or your designer (whoever is designing your packaging, and the bar code can be generated and inserted.
Graphics Checklist
Save yourself time and money by asking your graphic designer use the following checklist when submitting the artwork for your project.
- MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES templates used
- Completed MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES Graphics Form included
- 1/8" bleed allowed beyond all trims
- Text & logos 1/8" inside all trims
- All images saved as CMYK or Grayscale
- Correct resolution for all images (300 dpi for color or grayscale and 1200 dpi for bitmap)
- Layout file printout included
- File directory printout included
- All required image files included on disc or upload
- All required font files included on disc or upload
- Log sheet matches all layout pieces
When preparing graphics:
- DON'T use text style buttons in Quark - they will not print.
- DON'T use images from web pages or inexpensive digital cameras - the resolution is only 72 dpi.
- DON'T use software that is not created for production quality graphics - eg. Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, CD Creator, Neato Disk Software, ClarisWorks, or Adobe PhotoDeluxe.
When the MUSIC MANUFACTURING SERVICES graphic design department gets your artwork,
it checks to ensure sizing, bleed and trapping are correct before
your project gets to the costly Direct-to-Plate and printing stages.
However, we expect you to have checked for other errors like correct
names, spellings, track names etc. |
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