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How to Make Album Covers

Good album covers are eye-catching.

Music album covers serve many purposes. They help identify a CD as belonging to a particular band, or even genre. They help attract new listeners by sporting eye-catching colors and designs. They help set the mood for the music. They are often the first impression we have of what an album will be like.

With this in mind, when an album does not have a cover, knowing how to make music album covers helps us to turn our music collection from a drab pile of CDs into something we can display on a shelf.

1. Load your favorite image editing software, such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro or Paint.Net.
2. Create a new image file set to 4.75 inches wide and 4.75 inches high; as these are the dimensions of a standard CD inlay.
3. The resolution of the image should be set to 300 dpi or more to ensure it prints in high quality.
4. Open the images you want to use to make your music album covers.
5. Use the selection tools to pick out parts of the images you want to use.
6. Click the “Edit” menu and select “copy”.
7. Select your album image file and click the “Edit” menu again, then click “Paste” to paste your copied selections onto your cover.
8. Rearrange the pasted items until they are where you want them.
9. Click the “Text” tool then click where you want your album title to go.
10. Enter the name of the album.
11. Change the font size and type to suit the style of your album cover.
12. Once you are happy with your cover, click the “File” menu and select “Print”.
13. Turn on your printer and feed paper into it if necessary.
14. Click “Okay”.
15. Your album cover will now print.

When designing a music album cover, remember the purpose of a cover is not only to catch the eye but also to give the person looking at it an idea of what is on the album. With this in mind, try to find images that are both eye-catching and in keeping with the themes of the album. Consider looking at similar albums from other artists for inspiration.

Please Note

Not all photographs and other images are royalty free, meaning they are available to use without payment. Be sure to check the copyright and licensing information on the images you want to use, to ensure you are entitled to make use of them. This includes both personal or commercial use and use with or without modification.

Photograph courtesy of Andreas Rueda, via Flickr

Further reading

• Shutter Stock Images: How to Design a CD Cover Using Photoshop