Tearing my hair out..creating a dvd cover from scratch?

[garjobo]

Could some kind soul please advise - before i tear all my hair out!!

Keeping it simple, waffle to the minimum - suffice to say i have checked youtube amongst others for advice but would be a big help if..someone in plain english..in steps...could take me through what must be a very very simple thing to do.

I dont understand layers btw.

All i want to do is create a dvd cover.

(A) Put in dimentions of dvd cover. FILE>NEW..etc It asks me then; RESOLUTION PIXAL/CM ( what does this mean???? obviously i want the best output possible..but i have a range of photos taken from various cameras for my dvd cover to include...i dont know what resolution they are all sitting at? What do i do? Max it out...to the highest..or the lowest?

And what the..is the choice of RASTER/ VECTOR background?? I just want a plain background to then place into a range of different sized photos.

(B) I can cut out a photo etc...but how do i place some photos onto the blank dvd cover? Everytime i click on an image..it covers the previous? and i cant seem to resize to whittle it down..to work with it...can find my original dvd cover? Is this layer? If so...do i put the blank dvd cover on layer 0?? or layer 1? Then what? I bring in a photo onto ...layer 0 or 1?

(C) Finally, Rulers...despite opting for dimentions in cm or indeed millimeter for my dvd cover...i just want to mark out exactly the front and back and side of it. How do I drag / get a rular to mark this out.

THANKS..for any replies...i live in hope!!

[photodrawken]

Yes, you're trying to do something which requires knowledge of the product you're using. To answer the questions you asked would involve regurgitating the Help files. So, use the product's Help; and practice what you've read. Another way to put it is to RTFM!

The three most important techniques to become comfortable with are:
1. Making selections.
2. Using layers.
3. Using masks.

All are explained very well in the Help.

[hartpaul]

Garjobo, Bit more information please. What version of Paintshop Pro are you using. That will allow someone with same version to take you through some of the steps or direct you to information / tutorial that will help.
Brief outline of what you have been able to do with your program will also help others so that they don't have to describe in fine detail .
Are you intending to print the cover out on your home printer or commercially (in which case you might need to find out from the printer what dimensions, image type, bleed etc is required).

Re Layers, I did a tutorial at local Camera Club on layers basically to get the concept across without too much detail. In that I pointed out that we have layers all around us, from the layers of clothing we dress in during winter, layers of rock, layers of paint, cards and my favorite a rainbow layer sponge with cream fillings.

[garjobo]

Although i welcome the replies - they only cause more of my already loose hair to fall!!

My version of this wonderful programm is Paintshop pro x4.

Im certain a lot of the 'answers' to my ...simple...surely too goodness!!!...problem lie within the Help files. However...its ok to read / or watch on tutorials one thing...quite another to put into practice.

End of the day..im not asking miracles here. A simple answer as too the purpose/benefits of choosing the (confusingly titled )Resolution pixal/cm when first creating a new blank page. It seems to give you around 72 - as a example..allowing you to slide that slider up to a million or something or else down to 0. SO - whats the best option...leave at 72?

And what is a Raster/Vector?

I will look through for tips on creating a new layer. Whether it will then systematically tell me too; (a) Create New Layer ( base layer..with your correct measurements for your dvd cover ) (b) Bring in a photo...onto layer 2? - now...'somehow' bring this photo into the layer 1 ( base layer ) , resize,cut to desire, and place. And bobs your uncle.

But somehow I doubt it. Hence was hoping for a simple step by click guide from some kind soul out there.

[df]

Could some kind soul please advise - before i tear all my hair out!!

Keeping it simple, waffle to the minimum - suffice to say i have checked youtube amongst others for advice but would be a big help if..someone in plain english..in steps...could take me through what must be a very very simple thing to do.

I dont understand layers btw.

All i want to do is create a dvd cover.

(A) Put in dimentions of dvd cover. FILE>NEW..etc It asks me then; RESOLUTION PIXAL/CM ( what does this mean???? obviously i want the best output possible..but i have a range of photos taken from various cameras for my dvd cover to include...i dont know what resolution they are all sitting at? What do i do? Max it out...to the highest..or the lowest?

And what the..is the choice of RASTER/ VECTOR background?? I just want a plain background to then place into a range of different sized photos.

(B) I can cut out a photo etc...but how do i place some photos onto the blank dvd cover? Everytime i click on an image..it covers the previous? and i cant seem to resize to whittle it down..to work with it...can find my original dvd cover? Is this layer? If so...do i put the blank dvd cover on layer 0?? or layer 1? Then what? I bring in a photo onto ...layer 0 or 1?

(C) Finally, Rulers...despite opting for dimentions in cm or indeed millimeter for my dvd cover...i just want to mark out exactly the front and back and side of it. How do I drag / get a rular to mark this out.

THANKS..for any replies...i live in hope!!

(A) It's basically asking what the final output of what you're doing is going to be. Measure your DVD Cover dimensions (or use the ones provided if it's provided somewhere), then for "resolution" it's asking what dpi to set it at. For nearly all media that isn't too big 300 dpi is sufficient. So if you were to print a 1 inch by 1 inch square at 300 dpi you'd come out with a 300 pixel by 300 pixel image (roughly 120 pixels per cm according to Google). Going much over that won't do any good, going too much under that and you'll get too blocky, but if you're off by a bit it won't degrade it too far. 72 dpi would be a good resolution for text, but not images with any detail.

(B) I usually copy and paste. But first lets get to where you can see the other images, in the Edit workspace click Window and click Tabbed Documents. This should give you images with their own windows for the images that you have open. Then you go to the image you want, right click, copy, go to the final image file, right click and paste as a new layer. Then use the Pick tool to move it around and even resize the image by clicking and dragging the corners. If you don't see the Layers Palette on the program press F8 to get it to activate. On the layers pallet you can choose which layer to work with, which is over/on top of the other, etc... even reduce opacity of it.

(C) By unchecking Tabbed Documents like I described in (B) the window edge will be right up against the edge of the image giving you the rulers. If you do not see them click View> Rulers (or Ctrl+Alt+R) to make them appear. The rulers will be dictated by the base DPI you set in the preferences under File> Preferences> General Program Preferences> Units. Default is 200 dpi (for me everything is in inches).

[JStanley]

FYI:

And what is a Raster/Vector?

Please forgive me for using Wikipedia as a source ; but they actually describe it in layman terms the best AFAIK.

Raster Graphics are bit-mapped images, wherein each pixel is described for its color (and possibly even translucence, in the case of PNGs). This includes BMP (Bitmaps), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group compressed images), GIF (Graphic Interchange Format), PNG (Portable Network Graphics) and others.

Vector Graphics are mathematically described line drawings. This includes WPG (WordPerfect Graphics), WMF (Windows Meta-Files), EMF (Enhanced Meta-Files), CDR (CorelDRaw image files), and others.

[Cassel]

I know this might not be the complete answer to your question, but since your requests involves the knowledge of what layers are, how to manipulate the elements/images, to get to a final product, may i suggest that you visit the Scrapbook Campus where you can view a video on layers. It is actually an exercise that might help you visualize those and then help you with the rest of the process.

You can register to the Calendar Making Class here (and it is free):
http://scrapbookcampus.com/free-calendar-making-class/

and then, go for the Sandwich exercise (you can skip the rest of the class after).

[hartpaul]

Hi Garjobo,
I will do the procedure for two images one front and one back on a DVD cover. The same process works for other images.
I grabbed a Computer DVD and measured the dimensions and found the insert cover to be 10.7 inches x 7.2 inches.
At 300 dpi that equates to 10.7 x 300 (3210 pixels) by 7.2 x 300 (2160 pixels) . The spine area was 1/2 inch (150 pixels wide). Each face is then 1530 x 2160 and that is the largest dimension that an image can have for a side without spilling over onto the spine or the other side.

Using this I follow these steps:
1. File > New and in the dialog box I set the values shown:


2. File > Preferences > General Program Preferences > Units and set Rulers Display Units to Pixels ( at the same time you might also set the default resolution to 300 pixels / inch over on the right. )
3. View > Rulers . View > Guides.

4. Zoom in (scroll wheel) til you can read the dimensions showing 1530, 1540, 1550 etc. Place the cursor in the top left margin til it becomes a crosshair. Click and drag one vertical guide from the left to 1530 and the other to 1680 and between that defines your spine area.
First (left Guide)

Second (Right Guide)

5. Make your Materials and Layers palette visible F6 and F8. If you want a color other than white for the background color on your DVD cover select in your materials palette and use the flood fill tool to fill your cover with that color.

6. Window > make sure Tabbed Documents is unticked. Load two images (the steps for adding more images are the same). You can resize each image to suit the area it will cover on the DVD cover. I resized each landscape image to 1500 pixels.( Image > Resize ).

7. With the set up shown then select the first image by clicking its title bar and drag its layer thumbnail over onto your cover image. Repeat with the second and other images. (this does the same as right click on an image and copy and then right click on the cover and paste as new layer but is more efficient)

You will finish with the images in the centre of the cover each on its own separate layer.

You can now use the move tool to move each image around on the cover independently of the other image(s).

You can save this as a .psp image for later editing.
8. Layers > Merge all (Flatten) and then add any text to front and back and down the spine. Layers > Merge all (Flatten ) again . and then save your final image as a .jpg image at high quality (I use setting 3 -Click Options in Save dialog box)) . And it is then ready for printing.

[garjobo]

Well I can't really ask for any more better replies than that to my question. Thank you for your responces. Very useful. And Hartpaul thank you for taking the trouble to show me basically how to do this. I will print this off and work from that.

Thanks again for your help. I clearly need a lot more understanding of this programme but at least i can make a start on it.