How to: LP Illustrator

DJs now choose from new vinyl albums, not just vintage records.

As Mark Twain once said when the press mistook his cousin's grave illness for his own, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Likewise, despite endless expectations that digital -- and downloadable -- music formats will displace the LP forever, vinyl records continue to reach the market, and even show signs of a resurgence. Ask any designer who creates artwork for musical recordings whether the LP provides a better canvas for her work than the minuscule confines of CD booklets, and the answer will be a resounding "yes." If you've gained the opportunity to explore this relatively lavish format in Adobe Illustrator, plan and execute your design with care.

Instructions

1. Measure your output. LP jackets range in size from 12.125" to 12.5" square. Find out exactly how large your album graphics will print so you can avoid designing something that gets cropped off at the edges.

2. Create a new Adobe Illustrator document at your finished size. Use CMYK color mode at 300 pixels per inch for printed output. Set your Document Raster Effects to 300 ppi as well, so any transparency effects you create will print with high fidelity. If your print shop offers an Illustrator-compatible template file, open a copy of it instead of creating your own document.

3. Open the "Window" menu, bring up the "Swatches" panel and select the colors you want to use so they're added to your Swatches panel for quick access. From the fly-out menu at the top right corner of the panel, choose "Open Swatch Library" to reach the "Color Books" option that gives you access to commonly used press-compliant color systems, including PANTONE spot and process colors.

4. Scan any artwork you've drawn on paper. Save your scan as a TIFF file and place it into your Illustrator file, either as a template -- if you plan to redraw it digitally -- or as artwork. Check with your printer to determine whether to link to bitmapped artwork, or embed it, and follow the rules the printer gives you.

5. Redraw any sketches you've brought in as scanned reference material. Use the Pen tool for smooth curves. To make your drawing easy to see against the background of template source material, set your pen to a bright red stroke color in the Color panel, and assign a stroke weight of one point or smaller in the Stroke panel.

6. Select a typeface for the typographic portion of your album art. If you're using a highly decorative, deconstructed or graphical typeface for the album title, pair it up with an easier-to-read serif or sans serif typeface for lyrics, credits and track information.

7. Switch to the Type tool and set the text for your album art. Create a new layer in the Layers panel to hold your type. If your album will print in more than one version or language, create separate type layers for each.

8. Follow your printer's recommendations for how to set the type on the spine of your dust jacket. Study existing albums for ideas on type direction and placement. Even if your principal typography remains heavily stylized, keep your spine type easy to read for listener convenience in selecting your work off the shelf.

9. Prepare a review copy of your work in PDF format for distribution to band members and any other people who have a say in approving your work. Make sure you embed your fonts so your work will look the same to others as it does in Illustrator.

10. Send your approved final artwork out for reproduction. Follow your vendor's rules for how you package, document and prepare your final files. Even if you don't have final sign-off on press proofs, ask to be included on the distribution list so you can spot any discrepancies between the printer's proof and your final file.

Tips & Warnings

• You may find it easier to redraw artwork if you don't bring it into your Illustrator file as a template, because Illustrator dims your view of template graphics in a way that can make them difficult to trace by hand.

• Unless you use a process-color swatch library or convert all your spot colors to CMYK, your artwork quickly will become expensive, if not impossible, to print. Especially if you're using a color photograph in your design, you'll need to stick with process color.

• Make sure you abide by the printer's bleed specifications, because these may be different from the rules you're accustomed to following in more traditional print work.

• Check your color choices in a current printed swatch book to verify that what you see on your monitor reflects the colors you actually want to print.

References

• Snopes.com: Mark Twain on Coldest Winter
• Adobe Systems: Using Adobe Illustrator CS5

Resources

• The Adobe Illustrator CS5 Wow! Book; Sharon Steuer
• Real World Adobe Illustrator CS5; Mordy Golding
• Adobe Illustrator CS5 Bible; Ted Alspach