Crescent Music Services of the Gulf South

Please allow enough time - 3-14 days is typical.

Compile all materials that you want to include in your design: photos, text, original artwork to be scanned, logos, etc.

Text for lyrics, credits, song titles, liner notes, etc. in an electronic format.
- See "Writing Liner Notes".
- Submit all text in a single file if possible. Please don't send pieces, changes, etc. in many different emails - this can lead to our us missing something. It also makes it difficult for us to see an overview.
- Don't worry about formatting (making it look pretty) your text - that's our job.
- DO insert comments such as "back page" or "put band photo near this" to guide us.
- DO mention items not included that you plan submit later so that we know to leave space (ex. "Thank you's - 2 to 3 short paragraphs - to come by Friday").
- Don't use spaces in place of tabs. Just use the Enter key twice to start a new paragraph.
- Don't use double spaces between sentences.
- Don't lay things in columns, especially by tabbing. Run your text straight down the page. If you want things in columns, let us know and we'll format that on our end. If you tab over for a new column, we literally have to cut and paste the text out of that because it doesn't flow the same in our program. Very time consuming and leads to things ending up in the wrong place.
- We prefer Microsoft Word, RTF, or TXT, or you can email your text.
- Non-digital (hand-written or paper printouts) text may incur additional input charges.
- Spell Check and Proofread BEFORE submitting file to us. See "Proofing Checklist"
Photos, Artwork, Logos
- When shooting your photos or drawing your art, please consider the following:
  - The shape of a CD insert is SQUARE, not a rectangle
  - You will need room for your title and band name and other important cover text
  - Allow for about a 1/4 inch to be CUT OFF around the outside of the image (it's called Bleed) if you want your photo to go to the edge of the paper
  - High contrast, colorful images work best for covers.
  - Consider the impact and message of the image. Does it communicate the message of your music or other content of your disc?
- Digital Images: If you provide your photos digitally, TIF is the best. If you provide an EPS, do NOT check the box "include half-tone screen" in the save dialog. Images should be either CMYK or greyscale at 300dpi or more at 100% of the size it will be used. If you must provide JPG, save as largest file size possible to avoid degradation, and avoid opening and resaving the file too many times because that decreases quality each time.
  - SCANNING: Clean your scanner glass with a soft cloth before placing each item. Read more about scanning.
  - Digital cameras should be set to the highest uncompressed format your camera has. Avoid cameras under 2.5 megapixles.
  - Don't send images in a Word file. We can not extract the images.
  - Pulling images from a website: DON'T.
- Hard Copies: If you provide your artwork non-digitally:
  - Don't supply inkjet-printed art unless that's all you have.
  - We prefer prints of photos rather than slides or negatives. Slides or negatives will incur additional charges. Or you can take your slide to a local photo house (or even the local drug store) for digital conversion.
  - You can provide a photo in color even if it will be reproduced in greyscale (black and white). We can convert it.
  - We can accept artwork up to 11x17. Oversized art will incur additional charges for scanning.
  - The bigger (up to 11x17) and cleaner the artwork (such as a logo), the better it will scan.
- Don't have artwork?
  - We can search for photos and artwork if you don't have anything. We have access to royalty free photos and artwork that might suit your purpose. We will spend up to 1 hour in this search for no additional charge. We can also point you to these sites to search yourself at no charge.
  - We can create custom digital art in photoshop (up to 1 hour for no additional charge). Check out Diana's digital artwork.
- Photo manipulation (cloning, cleanup, filters, montages, collages, splicing, etc.) is our specialty and we include up to 15 minutes per project on this. Excessive cleanup (such as scratched negatives or dirty scanner beds) will incur additional charges. We'll let you know if your request to airbrush your face will take longer than what is included in the quoted price.
Sketch and/or mock up of the layout to the best of your ability. This will give us a clearer idea as to how you would like your insert, traycard, and disc to look. These can be simple drawings on folded paper (or even a napkin).
Commercial Examples: If there are any other CDs or DVDs you like the look of, show us. You can just give us the name and we'll look it up on Amazon. Or you can send/give us the real thing to examine (we'll give it back!). We can emulate any style. Or if there is a certain color or font you want, show us to match as closely as we can.

File Submission: We accept files in the following ways:

CDR
DVDR
FTP (File Upload)
Email (files should be zipped or stuffed) up to 5 MB
USB Thumb Drive

We will be doing your layouts in Adobe InDesign (for paper elements) and Adobe Illustrator (for disc art). We use Photoshop for photographic elements and special effects. We work on the PC, but can read most Mac files.

We cannot use Mac Fonts, but usually have a PC equivalent. Tell us the name or show us the font and we'll try to match it (we have about 12,000).

You can provide your files partially created in these applications, if you wish for us to finish and do the prepress. If you plan to go this route, please refer to our designer guide in order to avoid file issues once we take over.
- We cannot accept file formats such created in programs like Quark, E-Z CD and Neato labeller. We can, however, accept a PDF or EPS exported from many of these programs. Please speak with us before doing anything with these programs.

Proofs: We will provide you with PDFs of your layouts for proofing online. Modifications can be made until final approval with no extra charge (up to 4 drafts).

Typical Design Process:

First Meeting: Discuss concept, schedule, review your materials, look at colors and fonts.
- WE REQUEST THAT YOU PROVIDE US WITH ALL OR AT LEAST MOST OF THE MATERIALS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS. If you are still gathering a lot of stuff, it is usually better to wait until you have most of it.
- You are welcome to schedule a preliminary design consultation before your official "first meeting" to review your project and determine what pieces you need to gather.
Drafts/Proofing: We layout, search photos, format your text, etc.
Approval: Final artwork must be approved IN WRITING by providing a written OK in an email.
- Once you approve the final artwork we will submit the files to the printer for production. IF YOU GET BACK TO US BEFORE NOON, WE CAN GO TO PRESS THAT DAY. ANY APPROVALS AFTER 2 WILL START THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY.

Once the press is rolling you WILL incur additional charges if you need to make changes. How much more depends on where production must be stopped and how much work was done by the printer up to that point.
At this point we can tell you when to expect your discs. (See Project Overview and Production Schedule)