Printing DVD covers?

[PegLeg Media]

I filmed a wedding for some friends and I am trying to create a dvd cover right now. I searched and found it was best to print as a .tif, but my cover is still coming out a little bit blocky and hard to see any detail. Is there a better way to print a dvd cover? I am using standard printer paper, is there a cheap dvd cover type paper I should buy? It doesn't need to be perfect, this was just a free/fun project.

[TERRA Operative]

What resolution is your cover image?

[PegLeg Media]

What resolution is your cover image?

umm, i didnt mess with it so I assume 72 pixels/inch... I just made the image the size of a dvd case and figured that would work. Sorry, im a newb

[TERRA Operative]

What software are you using?
If you right click on the image (in Windows), and select properties, you should be able to see the resolution in there somewhere.

[kylevant]

umm, i didnt mess with it so I assume 72 pixels/inch... I just made the image the size of a dvd case and figured that would work. Sorry, im a newb

Print material should be at least 300 DPI.

[TERRA Operative]

When resizing in Photoshop, deselect the 'resample image' tick box in the Image Resize dialogue, and change the parameters under 'document size' to get the right physical size you need.

This way, the size ends up correct to how you need it but you aren't throwing away them pixels.

[Michael Carter]

Print material should be at least 300 DPI.

Actually, for prepress, being around 270 often looks somewhat sharper on an offset press, due to how pixels align with offset dots during the raster. Plenty of testing done on this back in the early days of desktop.

For a photo printer or desktop inkjet, even at best quality, 200 dpi is often indistinguishable from 300. this varies with printers, but I've found it to be fine even for things like the office store's laser document services.

And finally, for offset - sending a file that's somewhat lower than called for, say 180 - 250 DPI - often prints better than enlarging the file in Photoshop. Neither scenario is optimal, but you'd be surprised when you're given an image and the client says "this is all we got". You can have your prepress shop run some test strips in the margin of a proof to decide. (Sorry, I'm a print geek on a video board...)

[TERRA Operative]

but you'd be surprised when you're given an image and the client says "this is all we got".

If I had a dollar every time......

[Taky]

I did my own DVD design and printing using a sub $100 Epson Artisan printer. The DVD insert is using Costco Kirkland photo paper. They look great.

Then for DVD itself, I use TY watershield DVD. The glossy finished makes the DVD looks exceptional.

I created template for the DVD insert and DVD label. You can download it here

http://lacoloronline.com/blog/?10037-DVD-cover-design-and-DVD-label-printing

[Taky]

The way my DVD insert is designed in a way using the borderless printing feature of the Epson printer. I moved the design to the top left of the paper. So I just need to use an Xacto knife to trim off the bottom and right side.