Printing Game Covers

[DukeLuckyLuke]

First of all, no... this is not about making bootlegs/backups/pirates.

What I'm trying to do is make legit-looking box art for homebrew Dreamcast titles. I figured i would buy some DC/PS1 boxes for cheap and then design/print the covers. Thing is, what to use for printing to make it look legit. photo paper and a photo printer. I just don't know...

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[monkeysuit]

Funny, I was just about to make a thread about this. I've been trying to figure out the best way to print off custom covers for Wii Sports and Links Crossbow Training.

[Cryomancer]

I've found that normal printer paper looks pretty good as long as you've got enough ink. Most cases are going to be slipped behind a glossy peice of plastic anyway, so it should still look pretty shiny.

I've printed a case for Sonic and Knuckles, and am currently attempting to shop together some nice looking cases for the pack-in mario kart DS, prime hunters demo, action replay DS, and R4. Mario kart was easy enough...the others not quite so much. I need to get around to making a nice one for Chaotix as well...stupid cardboard.

[DukeLuckyLuke]

Hmmm... I did try regular ink jet w/ regular paper, and i didn't find the result satisfying myself. Maybe i'll try glossy paper with color laser printer... or like i said, I might try photo paper/printer.

Any other ideas?

[WiseSalesman]

Is this the sort of thing one could print at Kinko's and the like, or would you have copyright difficulties?

[Dangerboy]

Well, let me help you out in the most important aspect: the actual image quality before you hit print.

You'll want to make sure of the following things, which are made easier if you're using a photo editing program like Photoshop.

1. Make sure the image is at least 300dpi (dots per inch).
This allows for the crisp image, anythign lower, especially web-size (72dpi) will make it look crappy / blurry / grainy. Sadly once an image has been JPEG'ed (90% of all internet images) you'll get a 'lossy' image, and it won't look good.

2. Make sure it's CYMK!
Almost all input devices scan in RGB (red green blue), and all net graphics are done the same way. However, printers print using CYMK inks (Cyan Yellow Magenta Black). This 4 color pattern is based off of layer composition (mixing colors on top of each other to make others). If you try and print something while it's still in RGB format, the colors will look odd, since the printer is trying to mimic a monitor's output color scheme. CYMK also allows for true blacks, not mixed from RGB.

In Photoshop, ths option is under Image--->Mode--->CYMK or RGB

Web-sites like coverproject.com left their images in RGB, which can cause issues.

3. The monitor lies (as does cake)
Monitors don't display colors the same way the printer does, and unless you have a light calibration tool ($200 >_<) what you see on the monitor is not what may print out. Do test prints and use Photoshops Curves / Levels menus to tweak the coloring just right. There are online tutorials (it's really quite easy) to show you the way.

4. Match the paper
This one's more just for the heck of it, but when printing, make sure your printer setting is the same as your paper. This determines how much ink / toner the printer is going to force into the paper. If you have a thick paper and leave the setting on plain, it will look a bit light / bland. If you have the opposite, the paper would be so full of ink it would become lumpy.

Stick with a laser printer if you can.

Off to work,
Ja!

[MachineGex]

I printed "Link's Crossbow" and "Wii Sports" off of www.cdcovers.cc
They have fan made covers that are really nice. They look great in normal DVD cases. Here is the link to Link's Crossbow:
http://www.cdcovers.cc/view/324736/front/link's-crossbow-training-ntsc-custom

[Lord Helmet]

I use photo paper. Ends up looking pretty good.

[Ze_ro]

What's the best software for doing stuff like CD jewel case inserts? I'd love to make some inserts for the CD32 games I have that never had them to begin with. I see Dangerboy is apparently using Photoshop, but is it difficult to get things to print out in the right size with a generic program like that. Is Nero's cover making program worth using?

--Zero

[Dangerboy]

Ze_ro: Not sure if you're missing a word in there or not, but photoshop can resize it to anything you want, down to pixels. Not sure about freeware or other art programs. I would assume corel draw and the like would allow it as well.

I would assume that an actual CD program like nero, etc, would simply use the pre-cut insert sheets like Memorex makes. The hard part isn't the size in that case, since it's already cut; the problem comes with printer alignment.

[Gentlegamer]

The guys over at www.thecoverproject.net could probably give you some good tips for this.

[nate1749]

The guys over at www.thecoverproject.net could probably give you some good tips for this.

Was just about to post that link, definitely the best cover site out there for video games. They have a slew of DC games (custom cover ones that will fit dvd cases - I'd hope they'd have some homebrew titles) along with plenty of other systems. They always need help creating more or if you have cases I always encourage people to scan their box art (just select raw scan when you upload it and that will flag it so the photoshop guys will fix it).

As for paper, I've tried several variations, the best is just regular printer paper with a color laser (with genuine ink) from my experience. I've never tried anything glossy in a laser (I don't think that's supported), but I'd imagine if it exists that it would have to be more vibrant (as is regular glossy paper out of an ink jet).

Nate