What user experience are you shooting for when someone picks up your title? Do you want them to feel as if they are opening a book, and not "just" a CD? How do you accomplish that? Well, read on! We can help!

4pp traypak 2disc glued 40pp booklet

When you design your CD or DVD Book package, you'll have three major questions to ask yourself:

• ~How are the pages bound together and how will they attach to the package?
• ~How heavy should the covers be?
• ~How will the disc (or discs) attach?

4pp Traypak with glued in booklet

For smaller booklets, one cover of a saddle-stitch (stapled) booklet can be permanently glued to the inside front or back cover of the main package. This is a very cost effective solution. The booklet is sized up from the standard, pocketed size, to better fit the panel.

This gives the most "book like" experience:

4pp 2-disc traypak - 40pp booklet,
Perfect bound, glued into the spine

For longer books—up to 100 pages and beyond—perfect binding and spine glue is the way to go. Perfect bound books are square-backed, with the edge of each page glued to a backing to form the spine. The book cover is glued on and anchored under the front and back inside covers, with relief to allow easy opening.

To simplify construction and to provide a more authentic experience, the booklet panels are usually cut larger than conventional disc inserts.

dVD Traypak and Companion book in a slipcase

Companion booklets are cut the the exact size of the disc packaging, then are themselves inserted with the packaging into a slipcase. These are usually perfect bound, which allows spine printing.

Saddle stitch is the traditional way to create booklets for disc packaging. Basically, saddle stitch means "stapled". Typical page count for saddle stitch is 8 to 24 panels, but twice that is not uncommon.The page count for saddle stitch nearly usually includes the covers. If the cover needs to be a different stock, the inner pages can be run separately. Most of our booklets are full color throughout, including Pantones, although black-only is an option, too.

Perfect binding is the process of creating books by gluing a block of pages at the spine, which gives a square back. As any reader of Dickens on paperback can confirm, a perfect bound book can have any number of pages. The typical higher-end page count for CD and DVD projects, though, is 100 to 150 pages.

4pp traypack Hard Back Style, Corner detail

Book covers in the hardbound style of construction contain a core of heavy cardboard, wrapped by printed, coated stock. On the inside covers, the tails of the outer wrap are covered by another (usually coated) sheet. This method of construction gives the hard bound CD or DVD book its distinctive "hinge," where the heavier cover meets the spine.

There are basically four ways to hold your disc: trays, pockets, sleeves, and hubs:

Disc trays are the most popular way to hold one or two discs into a DVD or CD book. They allow a view of the entire disc surface, and since the trays are normally clear, you can see the art underneath. You have the option of aligning your disc art with the panel beneath. Trays can be used with any method of construction.

A variation on the plastic tray is the "oh-so-eco" paper tray. Paper trays are made from recycled paper and have a cork hub. It's a very earthy look.

Pockets are a popular way to hold the discs in many types of CD and DVD packaging, since the standard jacket construction style inherently gives you both sides of a pocket. Pockets in a book package are generally up-facing or out-facing. The out-facing pocket style is also very popular in Mini LP disc packaging.

Sleeves are a variation on the pocket, being made from thinner stock, and either attached to an inside cover or made to swing freely like a book page. Multi-disc sets can be made this way, with two discs per page. You can make the sleeves from coated or uncoated stock. You can print them as you would your other book pages or you can have them a single color, like a vintage '78 box set.

Foam hubs are a great and thrifty way to mount your disc, showing it off in its full glory. Hubs can stick on any surface and are available in black or white as standard items. They're lightweight, so shipping is cheaper, too!

Your DVD or CD book can have any finishes we offer. For more detail on matte lamination, embossing, foil stamp, and other great disc packaging finishes and disc packaging effects.

Slipcases can be as simple as slip-sleeves (open at both ends), usually allowing you to slide the package in from the side. If you want your slipcase to open from one side, with a spine, we can do that, too.

Side-load box-style slipcases can be further improved by having printing on the inside surfaces. You can go with lining, in which flaps of the outer stock are folded in and glued, or you can opt to do 2-sided printing to the stock.

If you need the ultimate in protection and presentation, you can have your slipcase made in the hard bound style, made with heavy board, wrapped with fully-printed stock of your choice, including all the finishes and special effects you could ever want.