While at your local record store, browsing for CDs, you notice how slick and professionally manufactured your favorite artist’s CDs look. This may be kind of disheartening if your band’s last attempt at a demo was burned on your home computer and labeled with a black felt tip marker. Why not step it up and have your next recording manufactured professionally? There are numerous duplication and replication labs out there that are very affordable. The process is very simple, requiring only a couple of things from you. What do you need to start your CD duplication project?

1. CD Artwork

You will need to create the artwork for your CD face and the artwork for any inserts. An insert is the artwork that is displayed in the jewel case, which includes the “booklet” that comes with many CDs. To create these files, you will need an image editing/creation program. I recommend using Adobe Illustrator, or Adobe Photoshop. But there are many different programs available for you to use that will work just as good.

When creating your artwork, please take in mind that most print houses (CD duplication facilities included) print everything in CMYK format. CMYK refers to the different inks used to print your artwork.

C= Cyan

M= Magenta

Y= Yellow

K= Key (Black)

Fun fact: The reason that black ink is represented by a K and not a B is to prevent it from being confused with Blue.

Fully explaining CMYK printing is an article in itself, and most of you will not need to understand it in any more detail. Just remember that when you open a new file in your graphics creation program, you need to set the file format to CMYK. Also, for high quality printing, your artwork will need to be at least 300 DPI. DPI stands for dots per inch, and is a measure of printing resolution, in particular the number of individual dots of ink a printer or toner can produce within a one-inch space. If your artwork is any less than 300 DPI, the final print will most likely be blurry. Refer to your CD duplication house’s documentation for any further information, as specifications vary from company to company.

2. Audio Files

All audio is converted to .CDA format when pressed (replicated) or burned (duplicated) on to a compact disc. If you have had your music recorded professionally, they will provide you with a “master”. A master is the original copy of your recording on a disc (or tape), used to create CDs and records. CD quality audio files are usually presented to your CD duplication house in the form of uncompressed 44.1 kHz, 16-bit stereo .WAV files. You will need to check with the company that is manufacturing your CDs, because like your artwork, specifications vary from company to company.

These two items prepared correctly, will net you a fine looking (and sounding) batch of CDs. Keep in mind, video buffs, that most of these duplication companies also duplicate DVDs. I hope that all of you, musicians and filmmakers, realize now that it doesn’t take that much to bridge the gap from amateur to professional quality media. Bring your next project to the next level!