Learning how to design album artwork can seem a bit intimidating at first glance. After all, there are dozens of CD cover album, movie cover album and photo album software programs on the market today. How do you choose which program to work with – and then how do you use that program to design an album cover?
Read on to learn about some of the more popular album cover graphic design programs available today:
How to Design Album Artwork Tip
Album Art Downloader by SourceForge: This program allows users to find and update their album art for their music collections. The software offers some great inspiration when it comes to designing album covers. Best of all, it is free of charge.
Photoshop by Adobe: This software is basically the industry standard as far as digital photo editing goes. Although the price tag is a bit hefty, the features you get are difficult to match. The program retails for $699.
CoverScout by Equinox: Specifically built for iTunes users, this program will automatically find album art for your music collection. CoverScout is a great little program that allows you to quickly find various album art images. You can get some great album artwork designs with this software!
Step by Step Guidelines: How to Design Album Artwork
- First and foremost, devise a concept for your album cover. Start by taking the genre of the music into consideration. For example, if you are designing artwork for a hard rock or metal album, you might want to consider a darker ambience. Additionally, think about the album name when brainstorming album design ideas. For example, if the songs on the album have a particular theme, the album design should reflect this theme.
- Take a look at some professionally designed album covers and pick a few outstanding covers. To make this task easier, you can use the tools listed above to pull album art. Do not try to replicate the art though; just use the examples for reference purposes.
- After you develop your album concept and decide upon a theme, sketch out some ideas on a square piece of paper. Remember that this sketch is only a rough draft; so feel free to experiment with different designs when learning how to design album artwork. You should create a few different album cover art concepts at this point.
- Go through your rough drafts and pick one or two designs that resonate with you. Now, measure and cut a piece of paper into a 4.974 by 4.974 inch shape – the exact size of most commercial album covers. You can add or subtract these measurements a bit, but do try to keep the measurements in that general area. Sketch your design onto this piece of paper.
- Use a scanner to import your sketch to Adobe Photoshop. Next, open a new document with a measurement of 4.974 x 4.974 inches. Now, press Ctrl A to select all and then Ctrl C. At this point, your image should be copied on the clipboard.
- Paste your sketch within the new blank doc and make a new layer over this document. Then, use the Paint tool (and its associated brushes) within the program to perfect your sketch. It is always a good practice to outline the image first, and then color it in.
- Lastly, save your documents as JPEGs by selecting “File” and “Save As”.
While it may indeed seem intimidating at first to create an album cover and fully understand how to design album artwork, you can readily learn these graphic design skills without any difficulty.
– Artwork Abode
