Printing game covers

[Tupin]

I got some loose PS2 and GCN games, and some extra cases, but obviously no covers. Once I find the cover, what is the best kind of paper and printing method to make them look as best as they can? I'm guessing not inkjet?

[Polygon]

I print mine on an photo quality inkjet using glossy photo paper. I've printed a few Blu Ray covers and Genesis covers that way and I haven't had anyone yet that can tell they aren't original. Soon I'll be starting on my Nintendo and Atari games. You can always try your local Kinkos or Staples. They have some nice color laser printers there. However, you might have a problem as a lot of them consider what you're doing as breaking the law.

I'll take some good pictures tomorrow of some that I've done tomorrow.

[CRTGAMER]

I use just a regular inkjet and plain paper, an inexpensive option. The paper is inside the clear plastic of the DVD case so no need for glossy paper.

The darker PAL cover on the right is the printout.

[Polygon]

The reason I don't like the plain inkjet paper is that it's too thin and all the ink causes it to wrinkle. Also, because it soaks it up like a sponge the edges of things aren't defined as the ink saturates the paper. It's not like photo paper is that expensive. I tried it at first and could totally tell every time I pulled it out. I couldn't stand it.

[Polygon]

Here are some high resolution examples of covers I've done. First up are some Blu Rays. The Jurassic Park trilogy doesn't come in cases. It comes in a trifold card board insert. The Matrix comes in an ugly card board case. I like my collections to be uniform. I think they look perfect and nobody can tell the difference between these and the rest of the Blu Ray and DVD covers.



Here are the games I've done so far. Right now I've only done the Genesis games I had that came in those damn card bard boxes. The Immortal came in some odd sized case that was taller than all the genesis cases. I think they all came out perfect as well. All of them except Sonic & Knuckles. I need to redo it and get it to the right size and adjust the color.



I took out the cover for The Immortal and set it side by side with the original. The original is on the left and the re-print is on the right. You can see that the paper I use is a little thicker. I also decided to saturate the colors a little.



Below is a link to the paper that I use. It's the right size to work for Genesis, SMS, DVD, DVD Slim, CD Jewel, Blu Ray, and the Universal Game Cases. It will not work for the DS cases people are using for all the GB games. I had to get special paper for that. When you print you just have to make sure to go into your settings in your printer to tell it what paper you're using and to adjust the quality. It makes a huge difference.

Here's that paper. Not a bad price if you ask me.

http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Glossy-I...d=AZ07RYT362KJ

[xelement5x]

I think The Cover Project had a forum post about this as well, but I use a semi-glossy paper from xpedex that's 8.5 x 14 (legal size), and then always make sure to print from Photoshop with crop corners.

If you're going to do a lot of covers, I highly recommend a cork-backed metal ruler to line up the crop marks, and a comfortable x-acto knife with several blades. Also make sure you've got something underneath to protect the surface you're cutting on, I use an old cereal box that's been broken down.