Short Run CD Printing, Outsource or In-House? Project Budget, Timing and Artwork Software

CDs versus Digital Downloads

The popularity of digital music downloads has led to a decrease in large volume orders for audio CD printing and duplication. However, it is not dead. This has not been due to a decrease in order quantity, but there has been an increase in short-run CD printing orders. A CD’s audio track is of higher quality than an mp3 file downloaded. This little detail is essential to many music lovers, especially audiophiles. The recording industry is more affordable than ever for artists with a limited budget. Music is still trendy. For less than 100 pounds, you can download complex electronic studio software that includes multitrack recording capabilities and then load it onto your computer. You can also get high-quality digital multitrack recording equipment at a very affordable price, and they will fit in your pocket.

Do it Yourself, or call in the professionals?

Many artists have started to produce their own CDs because of the ease and affordability of setting up a home studio. For a few hundred pounds, you can buy a CD duplication tower that allows you to burn 100 CDs in your own home studio. You can print the CDs using an inkjet-compatible printer or a regular inkjet printing machine. This is a time-consuming process that requires a lot of effort and can be frustrating. Do you spend the time and money to hire a professional company to print a CD? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.

Budget for Project

When it comes to choosing whether to outsource or in-house CD printing, the budget is a crucial deciding factor. It may be financially sensible to hire a professional graphic designer who has experience designing artwork for CD printing or CD packaging. You might be better off hiring professionals to do the CD packaging and printing. Then you can spend your time creating the music and mixing it in the studio.

Once you have reached an agreement with a supplier, the next thing to consider is how many CDs you will order. The unit cost of each CD is affected by how many you order. This is particularly important for orders less than 500 discs, as there can be significant price differences per hundred units. The savings per 100 units decrease after the 500-unit mark. However, if you order in the thousands, you’ll see a significant saving. It is essential to have confidence that you will be able to sell these units. It’s not worth paying $300 for 300 CDs if you only sell 100. A website is an excellent option to sell online, as it’s easy to create a decent website for your band and solo artist.

Time

Outsourcing CD printing is a good option if you are short on time and have a tight deadline. Many small businesses can produce 200 CDs within 48 hours. If you decide to make your own artwork, you must be careful about what you send to your supplier. Unsuitable artwork or copyright issues if the artwork is created by another artist that prevents the supplier from legally producing the work for them have caused many game-breaking delays.

Artwork software skills

Even for experienced graphic designers, creating artwork for CD packaging and CD printing projects can be difficult. It is essential to have a good understanding of CD printing and packaging design. However, it is also essential to know the printing processes used to print on CDs. This knowledge will help you create a design that is easy to print. You can save money by asking your supplier for the disc artwork templates. Different suppliers may use slightly different templates that are customized to their specific processes. While it is unlikely that there will be any significant differences, they might delay your order if you submit artwork again to meet their requirements.

The following information is for those who want to do the artwork design themselves. It may be helpful and save you a lot of headaches later on.

You can use a variety of artwork software packages to create a CD-on-body and CD packaging print. While some are simple, others are specifically designed for this task. These packages are available for download via the internet. Some of them are also free to download:

* CD Label Designer 6.0 – (Free Download)

* Cover XP 1.65 (Free Download)

* Nero Cover Designer – (Free download)

* Sure Thing Disc Labeler v6 Deluxe – (around PS20

* Disketch Label Software – (around PS17).

* Ashampoo Cover Studio (around PS15).

These packages can be expensive, so you may not get the value you paid for.

You may be familiar with professional artwork software packages if you have previous experience in graphic design. Although these examples aren’t specifically designed for creating artwork for CDs or packaging, they can all be used to create high-quality vector artwork files.

* Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, or Photoshop

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

* Quark Express

* Xara Designer

* Serif Drawplus

These professional software packages are not cheap, but you can still find them for a reasonable price on various websites. If you’re willing to use an older version of the program, you can search for them online. You can find tutorials online for those who have limited experience with these software packages. There may be a tutorial that focuses on CD packaging design and CD on-body design. You can also find forums and communities that will help you with any aspect of your CD printing project design.