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Topic: Slim Jewel Case Advice? (Read 8098 times) previous topic - next topic
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Slim Jewel Case Advice?

This is not technically an audio question, but it arrises from my intention to record all of my vinyl LPs and burn them to audio CDs.

I thought I might save some space by using the slim jewel cases.  I plan on photographing the album covers with a digital camera and printing this on the front jewel case insert.  I've heard that a "J-card" can be used to include typing on the slim jewel case spine.  But looking at slim jewel cases, I don't see how this could really work.  There is a long vertical ridge on the inside of the clear cover that an insert would have to cross to reach the spine.  I also have not seen these J-card inserts at either Office Depot or Office Max.  These Neato inserts look like they include the spine, but it isn't mentioned on the website.

http://www.neato.com/dynamic/CD-DVD-Case-I...ts/default.aspx

Are any of you actually making nice inserts that include the spine?  Does it work well or should I just use regular size jewel cases and create a back insert with song titles as well?

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #1 –
For more space savings and more convenience, I use two pocket plastic sleeves. The paperwork in the front, the CD in the back.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: X-ray Doc on
Are any of you actually making nice inserts that include the spine?  Does it work well or should I just use regular size jewel cases and create a back insert with song titles as well?

I no longer use CDs day-to-day (all my music is now on a server and the CDs are in off-site storage), but back when I did, there was something very neat about having all CDs in standard size jewel cases stacked on shelves. (I even used to transfer digipak-housed CDs into jewel cases for this reason). My advice is to use standard cases. Apart from anything else, the font size on a slim case's spine is so small that I for one had difficulty reading it during a casual scan of the shelved CDs.

One other comment. You say you plan to photograph the LP covers with a digital camera for the inserts. Unless you have the right facilities, this is going to result in disappointment. You'll need to set up some kind of jig that holds the LP cover and camera in exactly the right relative positions in order to avoid perspective distortions, and the lighting will need to be just right to avoid reflections and variable illumination. Using a standard camera flash will not work. It's much easier to use an A3 scanner.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #3 –
The slim-line cases that CD singles come in do allow the front insert to wrap around to the spine exactly as you describe. I haven't looked, but perhaps there is somewhere you can buy these rather than the usual style of case.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #4 –
I'd love to scan the albums, but a Microtek scanner that fits 12" x 17" is $1000.  I already own a decent digital camera and tripod.  I was thinking about purchasing this light tent and lights for about $100.

http://www.smithvictor.com/products/detail...+LIGHT+TENT+KIT

I'd have the tent opening facing up and lay albums flat on the floor.  Then I'd have the tripod straddle the tent and hang my camera from the bottom of the center post.  The tripod has a level to help me get the camera parallel to the floor.  I'm sure this will be less elegant than scanning, but I'm not sure that I want to invest in the larger scanner.

Another option would be to use my current scanner twice and "stitch" the images together using Photoshop CS. But alas, I only own Photoshop 7.0 which doesn't include this feature.  Also, I don't know how well it would work since my scanner has a thin bezel surrounding the glass.  I think there would be a very slight tilt on each half image that might make the finished product unsquare.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #5 –
I use slim cases a fair bit myself. I've printed enough covers to justify designing my own template. Here it is.

Modifying it and printing it is self explanatory.

1) Cover up the black bits with the artwork. You can cover the white bit too if you like, but I prefer not to.
2) Print it on whatever paper you like. I use 100gsm photocopy paper. I'd advise against using super glossy paper though as it tends to stick to the plastic. The resolution of the template is 300 pixels/inch BTW.
3) Cut it out and remove the light grey bits.

Inserting it into the case is a little less obvious.

4) Fold the spine and white part over so it obscures the front. The crease will accommodate that ridge in the plastic and help keep the spine in place. (pic)
5) Fold the spine, putting a nice crease in it. Bend it back to 90 degrees. (pic)
6) Insert it into the case. (pic)
7) Slide the paper toward the spine until the spine is snugly in place. Secure it with a single piece of adhesive tape on the right side of the front. 2-3 cm in the middle is enough. (pic)

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #6 –
JDogg, thanks for the excellent tutorial.  That is exactly what I needed to see to understand how you can work with slim jewel cases.  I definitely want a spine label, even if it is tiny printing.

I also agree with cliveb that the best solution would be to just use full sized jewel cases.  But I just don't know if I can find convenient room for storage.  I already own almost 1000 CDs.  I keep them in a nice metal drawer system that is probably half full.  My intention is to ultimately copy approximately 1400 LPs.  That would completely fill the rest of my drawers.  I'm also not sure yet if I want to take the extra step of creating, cutting and folding a back insert for the full sized cases.  I have done this probably close to a hundred times already, and it is more tedious than making the front cover.  Of course without the back insert, I'm not sure where I would list the song titles.

1.  Have you ever tried printing on both sides of the front cover so that you could list the songs?
2.  It may not be worth the extra expense, but have you ever tried the Neato Slim Jewel case covers?
3.  Finally, I may also burn to printable CDs, just to make them look a little more polished.  Does anyone have a suggestion for what to print on the CD itself?  I was just thinking about more album art images, but maybe I should do a song listing there. 

I just had another thought.  Instead of trying to print on both sides of your template, which could be a nightmare getting both sides to line up exactly, perhaps it would be better to extend your template one cover length to the right.  Then the song titles could be printed in that space and the "second" cover simply folded over to the back side. 

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: X-ray Doc on
Have you ever tried printing on both sides of the front cover so that you could list the songs?
That idea had never occured to me. I usually design my covers so the "back" and "front" are combined into one. That usually means track listings/table of contents on the front.

Quote from: X-ray Doc on
have you ever tried the Neato Slim Jewel case covers?
Nope. I didn't even know you could get them. I'd imagine you'd still need a template of some sort (which may come in the form of special software). They're probably better in some way. Or maybe they only exist for people who can't design their own templates  .

Quote from: X-ray Doc on
Instead of trying to print on both sides of your template, which could be a nightmare getting both sides to line up exactly, perhaps it would be better to extend your template one cover length to the right.  Then the song titles could be printed in that space and the "second" cover simply folded over to the back side.
Sounds like a good idea. I have no intention of trying it myself, but I made an extended version of the template anyway. I don't know how well it'd work. It may be too long or require extra tape to secure. Nothing a little trial and error wouldn't fix. Note: don't forget to set your printer to landscape orientation (or rotate 90 degrees first).

BTW, printing on both sides wouldn't be that difficult. Just print the front in the upper right corner of the page, turn it over, and print the back on the upper left. I wouldn't do it though for quality reasons. Photocopy paper is too thin for reliable inkjet printing on both sides and photo paper usually has atrocious quality on the uncoated side.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: X-ray Doc on
I'd love to scan the albums, but a Microtek scanner that fits 12" x 17" is $1000.

Yes, A3 scanners are generally very pricey. I have an old parallel port one, a Plustek OpticPro A3I. It's slow but gets the job done. I paid about £250 (approx. $500) for it several years ago - if you could find one secondhand it would probably cost almost nothing.

Mustek make a cheap A3 scanner called the ScanExpress A3 USB - typical price here in the UK is about £70 (approx $140). But I don't know if it has a bezel around the glass: if it does, then it's a non-starter, as an LP cover is about 1/2" wider than A3.

Quote from: X-ray Doc on
Another option would be to use my current scanner twice and "stitch" the images together using Photoshop CS. But alas, I only own Photoshop 7.0 which doesn't include this feature.  Also, I don't know how well it would work since my scanner has a thin bezel surrounding the glass.  I think there would be a very slight tilt on each half image that might make the finished product unsquare.

Before I got the A3 scanner, I tried this approach with an A4 scanner which had such a bezel. It was impossible to get decent scans due to one side of the cover being lifted, which completely destroyed consistency of colour, contrast and sharpness.

Sounds to me you should persevere with your digital camera experiments, unless you can find an affordable A3 scanner without a bezel.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: X-ray Doc on
I'm also not sure yet if I want to take the extra step of creating, cutting and folding a back insert for the full sized cases.  I have done this probably close to a hundred times already, and it is more tedious than making the front cover.

I treat the creation of the inserts as an aspect of the hobby. It is fun deciding how to lay out the back cover and spines, and part of the creative process. I rarely just put plain text on the spine, but incorporate some sort of background derived from the LP cover. For example, I once took a scan of the "Zeppelin shadow over crop circles" picture (from the Led Zeppelin remasters set) and split it across the 10 spines of their studio albums so that when stacked together on the shelf they made up the whole picture.

But I agree that if you just want to quickly slap together some inserts, it can be tedious. But then again, so is the actual LP transfer process. It really doesn't make much sense to transfer an LP unless: (i) the album is unavailable on CD; or (ii) the commercial CD transfer is a cock-up; or (iii) you just plain enjoy the process.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #10 –
I have used the Neato inserts with great success with SureThing CD & DVD Labeler.

Slim Jewel Case Advice?

Reply #11 –
I've had success with combining several LP covers from 4 scanning passes. I used Paint Shop Pro 7 with plain pasting of a selection over another frament of the cover. In some cases you'll need to run a soft eraser brush over the stitching line to blend both fragments seamlessly (before flattening the floating selection). All scans will also need to be descreened, or else moiré patterns may appear on printout (different patterns on each stitched fragment). It is a piece of cake to stitch an album if the cover has separate artwork elements on a solid color background.

The process takes maybe an hour if you know your graphics program, and at least 1 GB of RAM if you're doing 600dpi.

A critical requirement is that you are able to switch off all automatic contrast/brightness adjustments during scanning. Else all 4 passes will come out with different colors. It is no big deal if the LP box does not lay absolutely flat on the scanner, and even less important if you scan a flexible sleeve instead of the box for multiple discs. Since you have to do 4 scans anyway, you can just discard the lifted sides. I am certain that the result will be better than from a camera.