Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp.

Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. has been a leading DVD and CD duplication company since its inception in 2001. With a focus on providing turn-key disc manufacturing, print and packaging solutions, the company is enhancing their in-house print and bindery capabilities in order to increase their eco-friendly packaging product offerings, as well as improve price and turn-times to their clientele.

Surrey, British Columbia (IPRWIRE) Mon. Dec. 29th, 2008 — Mike Arnold, General Manager of Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp., a leading DVD and CD duplication company in North America, announced yesterday that the company is enhancing their in-house print and bindery capabilities to improve their product offerings, price and production turn-times.

“A large proportion of the work we do includes the assembly of CDs and DVDs with packaging to produce retail-ready products, so it makes perfect sense for us to bring as much of our printing and bindery in-house as possible.” explains Arnold. “This is a very important step for us to enhance our product lines as well as to better manage the price and turn-times that our clients require.”

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You would be amazed how often I get a phone call like this: “We’re almost finished mixing our songs and we have a release party booked for next weekend. How fast can we get our CDs made?” Unfortunately this scenario happens all too often.

Don’t book your CD release party until you’ve got your CDs in-hand and you’ve given them your stamp of approval, because having a party without CDs is a disaster. Right?

If you’re organized and well-prepared, the CD manufacturing process can be surprisingly quick but you have to be ready for potential delays such as graphic design issues or even data flaws in your content master. We certainly can’t fault artists for being excited about unveiling their shiny new CD, but many times that excitement causes the artist to overlook important planning details.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your release party is supposed to be the first time that anyone sees or hears your CD. Why do major record labels and movie studios promote their new releases in advance of actually releasing them? Imagine a big blockbuster production silently appearing in stores or theaters without the benefit of advertising, artist interviews, rave reviews, public appearances and press junkets. If the release isn’t hyped in advance by promotion, who is going to know about it? Who is going to care? Who will be lining up to buy it? The same thinking applies to your CD release party.

Your CD is only new once so take advantage of this great opportunity to promote yourself and your music - the purpose of which is to drive loads of people towards your release party. The time you spend waiting for your CDs to be manufactured is the perfect time to create a detailed plan about what you’re going to do when your discs arrive.

• Once you’ve got your CDs in-hand pick a release date that gives you plenty of time for promotion and doesn’t compete with other major events in your town.

• Write out a schedule for your promotional plans. Set targets, goals and completions dates.

• “WIIFM”: What’s In It For Me? This is the philosophy to keep in mind when you’re trying to attract new fans (ie: customers). Remember, your CD release party is for the fans… not the band… so provide lots of reasons why people should be excited about attending.

• Targeting Fans: There is no point spending time and money to promote yourself to people who won’t like your music. Find out where your type of crowd is (on the street, on the internet, in print publications) and then saturate those areas with interesting promotions.

• Targeting Media – Research local media outlets and figure out who the right people are to talk to for reviews, interviews and even personal appearances. Call them and ask permission to send them your press-kit for consideration. Be friendly and polite, and follow-up with them. 

• Artist/Sponsor Alliances: There are local businesses who will want to take advantage of having all your fans together in one place at one time so see if they are willing to offset some of your promotional costs (like posters and hand-bills) or if they will offer some prizes or give-aways in exchange for advertising or on-site access.

Remember - the vibe at a sold-out show is 10-times more exciting than having every second chair empty, so create excitement and anticipation for your CD release party. Don’t blow it with poor planning… and don’t risk having your CDs show up a week after your party.

One of the leading causes for order delays and extra charges throughout the CD and DVD industry is artwork that isn’t supplied correctly. This issue can be split into two separate areas -  the first of which being the actual design components of the artwork and then, secondly, the physical dimensions of the design (ie: length x width). Contrary to the popular saying, ‘size’ it would appear, actually matters, and a graphic design template will help you on your way to successfully submitting your artwork.

One of the most common misconceptions about designing for CD or DVD manufacturing or duplication, is that there is an industry ‘standard’ whereby all suppliers of discs and related packaging use the same sizing guidelines and have the same requirements. This couldn’t be further from the truth as it is very common to find variations between different vendors. Therefore, choosing which vendor you are going to use should take priority over finalizing your artwork. Once you’ve decided on the company who will manufacture your discs, download the applicable graphic design template for your needs and then finish off your design.

A good template should show you a number of visual references:

1. Crop marks: These are fine black lines generally located at the corners of the template and they will actually print, so don’t move them, removed them or change their colour values. The crop marks are used to line-up the cutting blade that will trim the print down to its finished size.
2. Keylines: These are used as guidelines to provide you with a visual reference of where the page will be cut, folded, perforated, etc. Keylines are for visual reference only and will not actually print but they are much easier to use as reference points than the crop marks.
   
3. Bleed: If your design is supposed to touch the edge of the finished product (as represented by the keylines and crop marks) you must extend, or ‘bleed’, your design 1/8” past that finished edge. Your graphic design template may provide you with a separate keyline to give you a visual reference of how far to bleed the design. Due to variances and tolerances in the cutting process, bleed ensures you won’t see white unprinted paper or board-stock running along the edge of your print.
   
4. Gutter: A common design mistake is to crowd the finished edges or folds with text and graphics - the result of which negatively affects the visual appeal and legibility of your design. If you look at a book or magazine you will notice that there is a significant border that frames any non-bleeding text and imagery from the edge of the page and folds. This border is called ‘gutter’. In the CD and DVD manufacturing industry an absolute minimum gutter of 1/8” is generally advised but you may want to experiment and increase it to 3/16” or 1/4″ or greater.

Using the correct graphic design template will help you to create a design that’s right, but before you finalize your design it’s always recommended to create a printed mock-up of your artwork. Print it and use the crop marks to trim it to size, then fold it or assemble it using tape or staples as required. This is the best way to determine if your design really works as intended. Is the text large enough to read? Have you used enough gutter? Did you create bleed in all the appropriate areas? Does the design look… ‘right’?

Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp., a leading CD and DVD duplication company since 2001, recently acquired a high-resolution inkjet printing system that will reduce prices for smaller orders and increase cover quality to photo-realistic.

Surrey, British Columbia (IPRWIRE) Fri. Dec. 5th, 2008 — The clients of Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. have spoken and they are eager to see higher quality on-disc printing on smaller quantity orders. Traditionally, the disc printing for short-run CD and DVD duplication has been achieved through the use of printed paper labels or thermal ribbon printing. Precision Disc has now added a high-resolution inkjet printing system that prints high-quality photo-realistic images but in a cost effective manner for even the smallest orders.

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