Templates

We strongly recommend that people do their layouts in Illustrator or InDesign due to their superior handling of fonts, vector graphics, spot colours, and linked graphics. We know most people are more familiar with Photoshop and in recognition of that we have provided a PSD template, but we really can’t stress enough how worthwhile it is to learn Illustrator or InDesign. We’ve also made an EPS version of the templates for those who use other programs such as QuarkXpress, as rare as they are.

Specifications and other Considerations:

  • All fonts should be converted to outlines. Photoshop users should include copies of the font files when they send the project to us or rasterize them themselves.
  • All raster graphics should be at least 300 dpi and either Grayscale, CMYK, or duotone. In other words, please make sure they’re not RGB!
  • We require 0.125″ bleed on the outside of the template and a 0.125″ text safety margin on the inside.
  • Make sure your art is on it’s own layer and not on any of the template layers.
  • We prefer linked graphics over embedded ones so that we can go in and tweak them easily if need be. Just remember to include them when you send the files. Ideally, you would put them in a folder called ‘Links’.
  • If your artwork is not Full Colour (CMYK), there should be some way of making separations. There are many ways of doing this, but the best one is using Spot Colour Swatches in Illustrator. Another classic method is saving each colour’s artwork in black on it’s own layer. Or if you’re really skilled in Photoshop you can use spot channels. For 1 colour artwork, it’s easiest to save it in grayscale and provide us the Pantone number you want to use. Again, this is another topic we’ll be covering in greater depth in the future.
PLEASE NOTE: We are in the thick of updating our templates. In the meantime if the template you are interested in is not listed please email us directly so we can send you the latest versions.

4 Panel Gatefold CD Jacket / Square / 1 Inner Pocket