Creating an LP/vinyl cover

[Riff_Evers 0]

Hi.

I need to set up the artwork for an LP/vinyl cover, I've made all the artwork in Affinity Photo. Now I just need to set it up properly.

My question is: Do I need Affinity Design or Publisher to do this task.

Thank you. :)

[firstdefence 2,794]

Welcome to the forum Riff

What do you mean by set it up properly? Do you mean with regards to printing or making it Print ready?

[Riff_Evers 0]

Thank you firstdefence!

Yes, but also which software is the most suited for setting up cover, poster etc.  

I'm a musician and a self-taught Gimp user, but converting to CMYK is just too much of a hassle in Gimp.

(sorry English is not my native language )

[firstdefence 2,794]

Musician, a talent I'd love to have...

It's pretty easy to convert to CMYK or create a document with the CMYK colour format in Photo, there's also a Soft Proof Filter to check out different colour profiles.

To change the colour format: Document > Convert Format/ICC Profile...

Affinity Designer is great for vector graphics (Scalable graphics) and the vector style can be a great look, but I think you can do most everything you want from Affinity Photo.

Would be nice to see the cover, just curious 

[Fixx 871]

Bleeds may be a problem when making press ready art in Photo only.

[D___ 0]

Hi,

I'm reactivating this topic to ask a question about opening pdf templates provided by pressing plants. I've also done all my stuff in Photo and i'll need to place the artwork elements on the template in picture 1.

When I open it in Photo, I only have the vinyl cover area with white bkgd  but not the rest of the pdf. In photoshop it was easy to choose media box, crop box etc. I dont see these options here and i get this cropped thing.

What am I doing wrong?

Thankx for your help!

best,

Daniel

[Old Bruce 1,541]

Try selecting the Move Tool 

[firstdefence 2,794]

This one imports with full details.
GD30OB.pdf

[D___ 0]

22 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

Try selecting the Move Tool 

thanks, i only get this if I select the move tool

[D___ 0]

On 7/4/2020 at 8:03 PM, firstdefence said:

This one imports with full details.
GD30OB.pdf

Thanks, and this is likely the same document because i'm almost sure these guys I got my templates from work with the big GZ pressing plant...

[firstdefence 2,794]

Sounds right: http://www.gzvinyl.com/Support/Templates.aspx second template down on the left second choice on the dropdown.

 

[D___ 0]

Hello, thanks for your replies!

Unfortunately I need to use the ones from this 100vinyl.com firm as the others only start at 250 copies which is too much...

https://www.100vinyl.com/gabarits  ->12" (30cm)

https://www.100vinyl.com/cache/documents/content/1230cm-16.zip

I could open the file in photoshop, so there is definitely something happening with affinity photo here (I also tried with designer and publisher even though they're less made for what I want to do).

Well in worse case scenario i'll export my afphoto artwork as .psd and copy the layers on the correctly opened pdf template in photoshop CS that i have on my office computer. And hope everything is compatible

.

[D___ 0]

On 7/4/2020 at 7:02 PM, Old Bruce said:

Try selecting the Move Tool 

 

15 hours ago, D___ said:

thanks, i only get this if I select the move tool

@Old Bruce or could it be a display of contextual tool menu that is not activated in studio that hides the selection tool options you have?

[markw 255]

In Affinity Photo’s Menubar go to; Document > Unclip Canvas, and it should display the whole document correctly for you. Why it opens "Clipped" I have no idea!

I am curious about Old Bruce's screenshot too?
Just opening the file from the ZIP link D_ provided in AP, and with Move tool selected, I get no 'Page Box' or 'Artboard' entry’s in the Context Menu, nor would I expect to with this PDF as is.

[D___ 0]

@markw that sounds great, thank you! i'll try this evening

[D___ 0]

absolutely wonderful, thank you very much!

[D___ 0]

On 7/6/2020 at 1:04 PM, markw said:

In Affinity Photo’s Menubar go to; Document > Unclip Canvas, and it should display the whole document correctly for you. Why it opens "Clipped" I have no idea!

I am curious about Old Bruce's screenshot too?
Just opening the file from the ZIP link D_ provided in AP, and with Move tool selected, I get no 'Page Box' or 'Artboard' entry’s in the Context Menu, nor would I expect to with this PDF as is.

Good evening,

me again,

I there a way to do the same in Designer? I need to lay curved text on the record labels for the copyrights sentences.

- Photo: ok to detach canvas etc but no way to write in circles. Still possible to do the thing at the right size in designer and copy the layer but there won't be vectorization of the font at export -> pixellized writing that is already small...

- Designer: same clipped thing but no document menu/detach canvas and I'm afraid it is considered an artboard I can't change...

Hope somebody knows, in worst case i'll go for the pixel text option

Thanks!

Daniel

 

[markw 255]

I see what you mean trying to open it in Designer…
So, open the label PDF in Affinity Photo and do the Unclip Canvas trick again, the same as you did with the sleeve last time, to reveal the whole template.
Now, in AP go to; File > Edit in Designer. This will load the whole document into Designer looking as you now see it in AP.
Once it’s in Designer you can then use the Text Path features of it’s Text tool there.
If you subsequently want to get it back into AP when you’re done with the Text tool in Designer, go to; File > Edit in Photo.