Precision Disc Blog

May's VIP Special: CD Digipak

The Precision Disc VIP Special for May is another super deal on CD Digipak!

Our CS1020 style CD Digipak is featured and minimum order quanities begin as low as just 100 units.

As always, this is an all-inclusive package so you get full colour disc print, all set-ups, assembly, wrap, barcode, pre-press and one round of .pdf proofs included in the price. Our CS1020 features two folds, printable spines and you can choose to place the disc tray either on the middle panel or on the right panel.

Quantities of up to 200 units are supplied with quality CD duplication on recordable media. Quantities beginning at 300 are supplied with professional CD replication manufacturing.

All you need to do to take advantage of this special offer is become a Precision Disc VIP Member – it’s free to join and easy to sign up – and place your order in May.

If you really like the product and price but you’re not quite ready to take advantage of this offer in May, you can “hold” this special by placing a 50% downpayment and then we’ll hold the special offer pricing until you’re ready!

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Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. is your factory-direct partner for DVD and CD manufacturing, DVD and CD duplication, along with a wide variety of eco-friendly print and packaging solutions including CD Sleeves and DVD Sleeves as well as Digipak. We are located in Surrey, British Columbia (Canada) which is a suburb of beautiful Vancouver (host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games), and we ship to clients throughout Canada and the U.S. every day.

For inexperienced designers, figuring out the correct page sequencing when designing a CD Booklet or DVD Booklet can be rather confusing. This article is intended to clarify the difference between what looks right and what is actually right. In short, Printer Spreads versus Reader Spreads.

If you’d like to include additional information in your CD duplication or DVD duplication project you will likely need to incorporate a booklet into your budget and designs.

Booklets tend to be more popular than “folders” because we’re much more accustomed to the format of a booklet. Just like a book or magazine, a booklet is folded in half and is stapled in the middle, so they are very compact and easy to browse through.

Printer Spread Page Sequencing

Designing the booklet for your CD duplication or DVD duplication project shares many of the same design rules that apply to every other aspect of your project, but there is one commonly overlooked aspect we want to bring to your attention: Printer Spreads.

Through a whole lifetime of familiarity with books and magazines we know that ‘page 3’ comes after ‘page 2’ and then ‘page 4’ comes after ‘page 3’. This is absolutely correct after a book has been printed, cut, assembled and stitched but you actually have to design it counter-intuitively.

For the purposes of your CD duplication or DVD duplication project your ‘booklet’ is a series of 2 panel folders that are stacked together, stapled and then folded to create the book. There is a specific page order required to assure the booklet has the correct page sequence after it has been assembled, and this sequence (or page order) is referred to as Printer Spreads.

Create A Mock-Up

The best way for you to see this is to make a Printer Spread mock-up of something simple. Here’s how you can create a Printer Spread mock-up of a 4 panel (8 page) booklet using two pieces of scrap paper:

[READ MORE]

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Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. provides factory direct CD DVD manufacturing and CD DVD duplication in eco-friendly print and packaging for clients throughout Canada and the USA. Get an instant online quote now!

Another new eco-friendly CD Digipak style is available from Precision Disc.

This new Digipak is called our CS1025 and is an upgrade to our CS1020 version. The CS1025 features 6 printed panels which, after die-cutting, folding and gluing, creates a double-walled finished product with two folds. This single disc capacity Digipak includes an integral tube pocket to accommodate a supplemental printed insert – be that a folder or stapled booklet.

As always, our CD Digipak products are an excellent green choice for your CD packaging: We print on FSC certified 15pt boardstock using waterless printing technology, provide low minimum order quantities, recycle all plastic and paper waste, and provide Digipak trays (standardly available in clear or black) that are 100% recyclable.

Please visit our website for instant online quoting or contact us directly with any questions or comments you may have!

Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. is pleased to announce a new eco-friendly CD and DVD packaging product that we’ve named the “CS221″.

This new eco-friendly disc sleeve is constructed with six panels which, after die-cutting, folding and gluing, creates a durable double-walled disc sleeve that features two folds with a printable spine, and two closed pockets. This is the perfect format for a two-disc packaged set, or for a single disc with a supplemental printed folder or booklet in the second pocket.

As with all of our standard eco-friendly CD and DVD Packaging Products, there’s only a 300 unit minimum order requirement which includes the superior quality and durability of replicated discs.

Place your order in October 2009 to receive special pricing on CD or DVD dics in the CS221 eco-sleeve. This limited time offer includes all set-ups, pre-press and one round of .pdf proofs, assembly, wrap and even a free barcode if you require one. Applicable tax and shipping are extra.

If you are in need of an alternative packaging solution for your CD or DVD disc needs, Precision Disc provides a full line of styles including CD Sleeves and DVD Sleeves, CD Digipak and DVD Digipak, CD Cases and DVD Cases, and Unprinted Sleeves.

Visit the website to generate your own quotation sent directly to your email inbox, or contact us if we can be of additional help in any way.

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Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp., is pleased to announce that we are enhancing our in-house print capabilities with the addition of an HP Indigo 3500 series printer to improve our product offering, price and production turn-times.

“A large proportion of the work we do includes the provision of CD packaging and DVD packaging as to provide retail-ready products for our clientele. Due to this, the ability to produce such packaging materials in-house makes a lot of sense.” explains Mike Arnold, the company’s General Manager. “The additional of this particular HP Indigo printer improves our ability to be self-sufficient with our print and packaging enhances our product lines and gives us better control over costs and managing tight turn-times that our clients require.”

The market for DVD Duplication and CD Duplication services is rapidly turning away from traditional plastic packaging products, and Precision Disc has been a leader in complimenting their disc products with eco-friendly CD packaging and DVD packaging alternatives that feature low-plastic, no-plastic and 100% recyclable solutions.

About Precision Disc:

Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. was founded in 2001 in Surrey, British Columbia Canada, and provides full service CD and DVD manufacturing, print and packaging services for clients in the United States and Canada. As the actual manufacturer of your product, Precision Disc’s mandate is to provide only the highest quality products and services, which includes a growing line of eco-friendly packaging solutions that features low-plastic, no-plastic and even biodegradable materials.

September has arrived, people are back from vacation, school is getting back in, and Precision Disc has a great new special offer for this month!

With this month’s special offer you have a choice of style CS1000 CD Digipak or style CS2000 DVD Digipak. Our package pricing includes all set-ups, assembly, pre-press and one round of .pdf proofs, barcode and shrinkwrap.

Minimum order is only 100 units for duplicated discs in Digipak, and minimum order is just 300 units for replicated discs in Digipak.

Visit our website for all the information and pricing and don’t hesitate to give us a shout if you have any questions!

(September already… does this mean summer is over???)

Due to the high demand for our July Special Offer, it has been HELD OVER for August!

Place your order in August to get a great deal on Discs in our eco-friendly CS100 style CD/DVD Sleeves.

For quantities of 300 or greater, pricing is based on top quality disc replication with full colour offset (CMYK) disc print. For quantities of up to 200 units, pricing is based on disc duplication with full colour inkjet disc print.

Our CS100 eco-friendly CD Sleeves are printed full colour on 15pt stock containing recycled content, and they are 100% recyclable.

Standard turn-time is 15 business days after all approvals – but no rush orders please! Our package pricing includes all set-ups, wrap and even a free barcode if you need one.

Contact us with any questions you may have. If you’re wanting this CS100 package you’ve got to order it in August because next month’s special product offer will definitely be a new product!

Discs in Eco-Sleeves are always a favorite of our music industry clients and corporate clients alike, so July’s Special should be right on the mark!

Place your order in July to receive special pricing on CDs or DVDs packaged in our CS100 style Eco-Sleeves. Order as few as 100 units or as many as you require.

Quantities of less than 300 units are duplicated CDR or DVDR media with full colour inkjet disc print, and quantities of 300 or greater are top-quality replicated CD audio discs or DVD5 discs with your choice of either CMYK Offset print or up to 5 colour silkscreen print. All of the set-ups, film, pre-press, electronic proofs, assembly, barcode and shrinkwrap are inlcuded in the price!

If our July Special isn’t quite what you’re looking for we still have great pricing on other packaged products such as Digipak and a variety of other styles of eco-friendly CD Sleeves and CD Jackets which includes Short-run CD and DVD Eco-Packaging!

If you have any questions or comments about July’s Special or any of our products and services please  give us a shout!

Making a good first impression is always important, and it’s no different for your CD or DVD project. Long before your disc ever gets played it actually gets judged on the quality and design of the CD packaging or DVD packaging, so a professional image is very important.

If you need assistance with graphic design for your discs and CD packaging or DVD packaging, the professionals at Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. can help you.

Standard Design Services: In many instances, our clients already know what they want their disc and packaging graphics to look like, but they don’t have the ability of experience to create the design to commercial printing standards. Our answer is this: Send us your design idea, images, graphics, text and then we take it from there. Proofs are provided for your review so we can make sure you’re happy with the work that’s taking place.

Price List for “Standard Design Services [.PDF format]

Content Creation: Sometimes clients don’t have suitable imagery or copy for their discs and CD packaging or DVD packaging designs, but at Precision Disc we can help you with content creation and copy writing as well. Our standard rate is $60 per hour. Please contact us to discuss your specific needs.

Concept & Design Services: If you don’t know what you want your disc and CD packaging or DVD packaging graphics to look like, we can still help you. Our designers can consult with you and then the vision for the graphic design can be decided upon collaboratively with you. Our standard rate is $60 per hour.

Happy Graphic Design Clients:

It’s always nice to be complemented on a job well done. Here are a few recent comments from clients who came to us for graphic design assistance on their discs and CD packaging or DVD packaging:

“Wowee! You’re a damn genius! I love, love, love it!” – Troy K.

“Just a note to thank you very much for the great job you did on the discs and sleeves! I am more than pleased with all your work! Thanks again!” – Robert K.

“I really appreciate the great job you have done.” – Rick V.

“We are good to go – looks fantastic!” – Norine B.

“Everything looks good. It’s a go on all fronts…Great Job.” – Bill W.

Graphic Design Project Example:

Graphic Design Requirements: Concept and Design
CD Packaging: Standard CD Jewel Case
Disc Specs: Short-run CDR duplication with colour inkjet print
Paper Print Specs: 2 panel (4 page) insert + traycard, printed 4/4

For this project, the only design assets the client had were some low-resolution photographs of the band members, some biography text and thank-you notes and the request from the client was to have a simple yet eye-catching design. Looking for inspiration, our designer decided to pay homage to the band’s mascot (a blind dog named “Elmo” which is owned by one of the band-members) by incorporating dark sunglasses and paw-prints. The design was kept bright with an uncluttered look to parallel the upbeat style of music – classic black, white, red and grey colours to provide a cool and stylish look.

Client reaction to the design:”We think your artwork is FABULOUS. Better than we hoped for!”

Most people are familiar with the adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover” which warns us that what lies within may not be properly represented simply by what you see on the surface or facade. When you’re marketing your CD product quite the opposite holds true as the CD packaging needs to encourage and convince consumers of the value and worth of the disc inside.

Competition is fierce in today’s marketplace with a blizzard of marketing and advertising messages vying for our attention, along with retail shelves and e-store pages lined with products to wade through. Now more than ever it’s important to make an excellent first impression, because a few seconds worth of cursory review may be the only chance your product is going to get. With that being the case, your CD packaging decisions need to be properly thought through.

There are a large number of packaging styles to choose from which include off-the-shelf products as well as custom printed or custom manufactured items. You need to pick a CD packaging style that will be well suited for the type of distribution or environment your product will encounter. Is it a retail product that will be sitting on a shelf surrounded by competing products or perhaps it’s an item that will be purchased on-line and shipped by postal mail or courier? Is it a disc that will be primarily distributed from hand-to-hand through an organization or will it be included within other materials such as in a seminar kit?

The type of package requires careful consideration because you need to determine what level of safety and security the disc will require to survive its environment and what amount of graphics and visual appeal will be required to properly ‘dress up’ the package to entice the consumer to purchase it. A good way to gain some insight is to look at what type of CD packaging the leaders in your industry are using and to evaluate what types of societal trends are in play, such as a shift to environmentally-friendly products and manufacturing methods.

After you’ve picked the style of packaging you will need to consider graphic design (assuming it is applicable to your needs). With the affordability of powerful home computers and ready access to commercial grade graphic design software, an entire generation of do-it-yourself amateur designers has been born. More than any other factor, amateurish design provides the largest impediment for a product trying to make the all-important ‘good first impression’ in a highly competitive marketplace. Again, an excellent benchmark is to look at the most successful of your competitors and evaluate the style and professionalism of their graphic design. Ideally, your product needs to look as good – or better – than theirs.

The final stage of your decision making process will be whom to choose to produce your CD packaging materials. A popular packaging style and impressive graphics will quickly be negated if the quality of printing, assembly and finishing is sub-standard. Do your homework on any potential vendors, always get written quotations from at least three different companies and request samples of work that will be similar in scope to your own. Here’s one final piece of advice: Plan ahead and don’t rush, because there’s another popular old adage that says, “Haste makes waste.”