FAQ

Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?
-Erik Lehnsherr

PLEASE NOTE: This page is very much a work in progress, we’ve barely checked the grammar and spelling of these ones. We will continue to update it as time permits and as we notice the frequency of certain questions increasing.

Album Packaging

Do you press CDs too? Vinyl records?
CDs, yes. Records, no. For vinyl pressing we highly recommend our colleagues at Samo Media.

Do sell blanks of packaging?
Yes, we sell blanks and we offer them both assembled and, at the request of many screen-printers, unassembled. You can find more info on our pricing page.

Do you make Jewel cases?
We strongly discourage anything related to Jewel cases, though some people still insist their CD jacket be the same dimensions as them! Wouldn’t want to ruin the feng shui of their Ikea shelves….

Do you make Digipaks?
Most people use this term to incorrectly refer to jackets made of paper in general. To be clear, a Digipak is specifically the kind of jacket that has a gatefold with a plastic try to hold the CD. We don’t touch those plastic trays. Instead, we make jackets entirely of paper that are held together with glue/double-sided tape and use pockets to hold the disc.

What is the difference between the coated and uncoated sides of the stock?
Our house stock for album packaging is a C1S paperboard, which stands for ‘Coated-One-Side’. This means that there is a different finish on either side of the stock. One is a smooth coated semi-gloss, the other is a felt textured uncoated that some people refer to as ‘matte’. Printed images look very different on either side, both pleasing in their own way. The coated side is definitely not ‘super glossy’ but does have a sheen to it. Colours, especially black, reproduce with much more richness and ‘pop’ than the other side. Printing on the uncoated side is usually duller and gives more of a ‘natural’ look. The texture of this side also adds a tactile feel to the jacket.

BOOKS

Do you do small runs? Will you make 10 books for me?
People have wildly different definitions of the term ‘small-run’. Broadly speaking, the books we print are either runs of at least 300 copies or have budgets of at least $1000; most have more of both. Because of the printing processes we use, our ancient yet robust bindery machines, and the sheer amount of handwork we utilize we can’t really compete for rock bottom prices with the on-demand internet portals with digital presses or the massive bookprinters that run three shifts a day on 8 tower presses with inline binding. But if you want to have _________