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Download & Open the Template

If you're working through this tutorial because you've got a printer in mind, you'll want to double-check and see if they have a specific template they want to use rather than this one.

For the rest of us, we'll be grabbing the template from Discmakers that is available in .zip format here: http://duplication.discmakers.com/download/template-discsurface.zip

Once you've got it downloaded, unzip it and open the baby up in Photoshop.

And just for reference, the sort of look we're aiming for is something like this

Choose Your Template

When you open the Discmaker's file, you'll get a bunch of text instructions asking you to choose which template you want to use.

For most of us, the answer is simple: pick the Full Color on White template if you're printing from home, or want the least expensive color printing option.

The silver effect is a special effect that is applied by the professional printer - you will not want to use this template if you're printing from home.

Black is just that - the disc is all one color; black ink. This is the absolute least expensive option whether printing from home or professionally.

For this tutorial, we'll be using the Full Color on White template. Go ahead and click the "eye" icon beside its layer and turn off the text layer (the first layer in the palette) by clicking the eye beside it.

Create a Background - Part 1

If you take a peek at the layers palette again, you'll see a layer that is named "Your Art Here". Go ahead and click once on this layer to select it, but don't worry about it after that for a bit.

Now, all of the CD art that we create will go behind the CD template; this lets us see what it will look like - more or less - once we print it out.

It's time to start the background. Set your foreground color to something darker - I'll be using #00718d. Set your background color to a lighter/brighter shade of that color. My background color is #00bbea.

Create a new layer (Layer, New Layer) and fill it with the background color. Then, click "Filter", choose "Render", and pick "Clouds".

Create a Background - Part 2

The clouds are cool and all, but definitely not the look we're going for.

Go back to "Filter", but this time choose the "Liquefy" option. This will bring up a new window. Leave the tools alone, and just go over to the right where the setting for "Brush Size" is located. Click this option and move the brush size up all the way to 600.

Now, go only left to right on your image. Click once at the far left and drag straight across to the right. Begin at the top and work your way to the bottom. You'll see the left edge get all transparent - don't worry, just keep going.

Once you've liquefied from left to right down the whole length of your image, go back to the top and pull just a little bit of the edge back to the left, to cover up the transparent edge.

When you're done, click "OK" and Photoshop will load the changes into your image. This can take a couple of minutes.

The Banner

Now that our background is ready, we can start on the banner that we'll use to display the name of our CD.

Use your rectangle SHAPE tool (not the marquee!) to draw a rectangle across the bottom of your CD. Then, right-click its layer and choose "Rasterize Layer".

Next, go to your layer styles. This is the little "f" icon in the bottom left corner of the layers palette on older versions of Photoshop, or an "fx" button in CS3. If you can't find that icon, you can also click "Layer" and choose "Layer Styles".

From the options, choose "Stroke". Set the color of the stroke to a medium gray, and the width to 10 pixels.

Then, click "Gradient Overlay". You'll need to choose the gradient that has your colors in it. Set its style to "Refelected" and move the angle to 180 degrees. Then, change the scale to 90%.

Ripple The Banner

Our next step in making the banner look professional is to "ripple" it just a bit, making it look almost 3D.

We're going to do this the easy way. Use your rectangle marquee tool to select the right third of your banner. Then, click "Layer", choose "New", and click "Layer via Cut".

Now, make sure your move tool is selected. Then, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cut section of the banner 2 pixels to the left (click the left arrow key twice) and 2 pixels down (click the down arrow key twice).

Finally, you'll need to adjust the scale of the gradient overlay on this section of the banner. To do that, just click the Layer Styles icon and select "Gradient Overlay". Slide the scale bar all the way to the right.

Add Text

This is our last step - add your text and/or logos to the banner.

Make sure that you use a very clean, sans-serif font like Verdana or Arial for the most important information on the banner. The actual title can be in a fancy font - even script - if the content of your disc calls for it.

When you're ready to save your cover, remove the "template" layer by clicking the eye icon beside it. Doing this ensures that when you print - either yourself or through a printer - the colors will fully "bleed" over all the edges of the cover, leaving no white areas behind.