Goleta DeskTop Publishing User Group
Meeting Information

May 3 -- Publishing a Music CD
by Susan Rudnicki

There's a lot more involved to publishing a CD than just recording the music.

Here's what one home hobbyist learned.

First, there's the music itself: the volume levels need to be adjusted so the pieces sound consistent, the really loud notes have to be toned down without destroying the effect, and the tonal quality has to be adjusted so it sounds good on a variety of systems.

Then there's the really big job -- the classic issues of paper-based publishing:

• Graphic design: Make it attractive, make it legible. Susan already had a line drawing she wanted for the cover, but it was too plain. She adapted a pattern from Aridi Graphics to make the cover more interesting, but had to choose a pattern and colors that did not obscure the text.
• Layout: The tray card has text in three orientations and the dimensions are critical. You could use WordPad, scissors, and tape, but there are some more attractive alternatives.
• Editing: There's only a limited amount of space in the tray card and booklet, but all the important info needs to fit.
• UPC Symbol: The barcode -- where to get it and how to set it up.
• Color choices: How to insure that the 50,000 copies print with the color you had in mind when designing the package.
• Fonts: The all-time classic problem of making sure what you sent the printer is what shows up on the finished goods.
• Communication with the production house: A most important step to handle the unexpected.

Susan will describe how she handled these issues and the considerations that led to the specific answers. So come to the meeting with your questions and she will do her best to answer them.

Please send email to gdtpug@troutcom.com with suggestions for topics you are interested in seeing covered. Or even better, volunteer to give a presentation!

The Goleta DeskTop Publishing Users Group is a SIG (Special Interest Group) of the Santa Barbara PC Users Group. We are not platform specific: some members have PCs, some have Macs, some have both. Linux and other systems are sprinkled in as well for good measure. We focus on the issues of publishing in all forms, be it on paper, web, CD-ROM, or some other medium.