Custom Cover Art Thread

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

Why do you need printing software at all? Just open it in photoshop. If the cover is made correctly (and most are), you just print it there without scaling and it comes out fine.

I've never, ever used "printing software."

Not everyone one uses Photoshop and Windows depending on which version you have likes to play around with the dimensions.

[runnersdialzero]

Originally Posted by Hubunkey

Thank you soooo much that was what I needed. they print perfectly now. I just gotta find me some larger glossy paper to print them on

I use semi-gloss, but that's just my personal preference.

[rybev]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

Why do you need printing software at all? Just open it in photoshop. If the cover is made correctly (and most are), you just print it there without scaling and it comes out fine.

I've never, ever used "printing software."

Erm, because I don't have photoshop!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Behold! Here is an overlong explanation and build-up to a rather simple and mediocre custom cover effort on my part! Prepare to be bored!

This is for a PS3 game.


So, you could say that I am something of a Mortal Kombat fan, as seen from this picture that I took after getting the collector's edition (with bookends) of the PS3 version of the new MK game that came out last year....





Now, speaking as both a gamer and a fan of physical media, I am not really a big fan of downloadable add-on content for games that I have bought that needs to be stored on the system's hard drive. This is more so for the longevity of my collection (because as the above picture indicates, I do hang onto most of my games and systems long term). While I can currently re-download all of my content if my PS3 dies and I have to replace it, some day once the PS3 is "retired" it will be likely that such content will no longer be supported, and my system crashes and dies and I have to hunt down a replacement, while I can use my discs on it, DLC will pretty much be unable to be recovered (short of any "unofficial" work arounds that people may eventually come up with).

But for Mortal Kombat, they released 4 additional characters as DLC as well as some alternate costumes for characters already in the game. I did download it all because while I hate DLC, I am an MK fan.


However, as has similarly occurred with some other current gen games, earlier this year they released "Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition" for both PS3 and Xbox 360, which is the same game, but with all of the DLC already on the disc. I didn't want to buy it right away because it was (and for the most part still is) going for $50 to $60 on average. I figured I would wait until it got into the $20-$30 range before buying it, since it is otherwise the exact same game that I already have.

But I took a vacation day off of work this past Friday. My sister, who is much younger than me (she is, as of now, literally half my age), is in high school and is currently off for summer break. So, I picked her up and we bummed around for a while (and she also has a PS3). We ended up stopping in at this store that sells used movies and video games called Disc Replay, and we both kind of hit the jack-pot. They had a used copy (in excellent condition) of Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition for $32... slightly more than I wanted to pay for it, but close enough. And she is a fan of that Naruto show, and there was a used copy of a limited edition steelcase version of some Naruto game that came out for the PS3 a few years ago (and she was looking to get a Naruto game for the PS3) for $30, which was actually a good deal for her because I looked it up later that evening, and for the most part even used copies are going for a lot more than that on Amazon and ebay (though one or two were in the same price range).


So, anyway, here is my semi-dilemma. Rarely do I trade-in/sell off games from my collection. But I am considering selling off the regular edition of Mortal Kombat for PS3 since I will likely never use it since I have the komplete edition now (me selling it off isn't set in stone yet). Now, I was never the biggest fan of the cover art chosen for the initial version of the game, but it is IMO FAR better than the art used for the Komplete Edition. Here are both covers to compare:



There's a few things I don't care for. I really don't like how they crammed the cover art from the regular version of the game to the bottom of the Komplete Edition's cover. And having all of the DLC characters pictured above the title just looks odd.... not to mention that 3 of them are rather obscure characters in the overall ranks of MK, and Freddy Krueger isn't even an actual MK character. Between Freddy's picture there and the little notation about Kratos from God of War up in the corner, we have 2 non-MK characters being billed on the cover (I have no problem with them being in the game, itself, but I just don't care for them being on the cover).

On top of all of that, I'm really just not the biggest fan of seeing the "Komplete Edition" notation on the case. I fully understand why it needs to be there, but to me the game is just called "Mortal Kombat," and this is just the game with all of the content that should have been there in the first place. And I understand from a marketing standpoint why they put the DLC characters on the cover, but visually I just don't care for it.


I actually considered just putting the Komplete Edition disc in the regular version's case, but if I do decide to trade in the old disc somewhere, I can't trade in the regular edition in the Komplete Edition's case.

So, I figured, it was time to do some customizing.


A few thoughts went into my approach to this. For one, like I said earlier, while the cover of the first version of the game was in my opinion a lot better than the komplete edition, I was still never entirely thrilled with it. I don't care for how the MK logo is offcenter and pushed to the left to fit in Sub-Zero where he is on the cover (even though he is my favorite character). The whole thing just seemed like a rushed and not well executed concept. Plus, I would have preferred something a bit more minimal, like maybe just the MK logo and title on the cover.

One cover that I liked a lot for this game was the steelbook edition that was available when it first game out:



I would have gotten this version instead of the one with the bookends, but they used the exact same DVD-sized steelcase for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, and I didn't want it to be taller than my other PS3 game cases (a few of which are steelbooks).


So, I decided to make a custom cover for the Komplete Edition. I worked on it last night. The steelbook actually served as a very loose inspiration for the direction that I took with it. Basically, like with most steelbooks, the idea here is that there would have been some kind of slipcover or cardboard attachment/overlay with all of the info and specs on it that would have been there for technical, legal, and informative reasons, but upon opening it, you remove it for the simple, straight forward cover art...


MY CUSTOM COVER


I decided to put the MK dragon symbol on the front cover and not the title, itself. I debated as to whether or not to put the PS3 logo bar across the top since often time game steelbooks tend to leave any reference to the system off of it and just make it about the game, but I was having a hard time finding a higher resolution version of the dragon logo and I didn't want to blow this one up too much more than I already had (it was decently high-res, but I didn't want to push it). Also, I just felt that JUST the dragon logo with a black background would have been almost too minimal. So, I put the PS3 bar across the top, but didn't include any reference to the PS3 exclusive content with Kratos being in it.

The back is just an image of Sub-Zero. I wanted a simple, single image on the back and no text. He's my favorite overall MK character and one of the most iconic in the series.

The spine is pretty straight forward. I still wanted that to match up with the rest of my PS3 games on the shelf, so this still has the typical PS3 logo, region code, and catalog number. I basically just tried to recreate the spine of the regular edition of the game almost exactly, however the little catalog number at the bottom is the number from the Komplete Edition version. And while it was still relatively simple in the grand scheme of cover-making, more effort actually went into it than it seems.

I found a decent (but quality-wise not ideal) scan of the regular cover's spine online, so I used that as a guide to sort of rebuild it using other image elements and found the same font for the "BLUS" text at the bottom and the catalog number.

So, while simple, overall I am happy with it.

Thoughts and critiques are welcome.

[Scorpion Soldier]

Was working on a slipcover for The Amazing Spider-Man, of course it isn't out yet but the newly released poster seemed perfect for a cover.(With some fixes though, for instance Gwen not looking directly at Spider-Man.) After that i decided to make a slipcover for Spider-Man 2 as well in a similar style, so i can add my DVD's with special features to the set. I know the movies aren't connected, but i though the blue style fit with the artwork for SM2 as well.

[K i r a]

Originally Posted by Scorpion Soldier

Was working on a slipcover for The Amazing Spider-Man, of course it isn't out yet but the newly released poster seemed perfect for a cover.(With some fixes though, for instance Gwen not looking directly at Spider-Man.) After that i decided to make a slipcover for Spider-Man 2 as well in a similar style, so i can add my DVD's with special features to the set. I know the movies aren't connected, but i though the blue style fit with the artwork for SM2 as well.

[Show spoiler]

Great work!!!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Ok, so I printed up my custom MK cover that I posted earlier, and overall I am happy with it, but I decided to go back and play with the concept a bit more.... I think more or less for fun and to try to advance my skills with photoshop and cover making (which I admit are quite limited compared to many others here). Whether or not I actually print up a different cover in place of the one I am using now is TBD.

But, I could use some advice and critique on the direction that I am going in.


This started would with me trying to put an icey background behind Sub-Zero. Originally I only intended the icey background to be part of the back cover, with the spine being left as-is and with me possibly going for a firey motif for the front. But it evolved into something else entirely.

Since that steelbook case that kind of inspired the basic concept had an overall fire theme (with a hint of Scorpion with the spear on the back), I ended up going in the complete opposite direction and started going with an ice theme for the entire cover. I downloaded some images of icey/frosty designs, and found one that I liked a lot. I'm kind of stuck on where to go with this, and it is very much a WIP. But here are a few possible directions that I am going in.....


My initial idea (which I still like a lot and think I will be going with when all is said and done) was to have the firey looking dragon logo sort of melthing it's way through the ice....



Note that for the icey motif, I even changed the red lines that are normally under the PS3 logos on the front and spine of the cases to blue.

I like the look of the logo here. But I need to do more to make it look like it's "melting" through. Right now all that I did was use the eraser tool with a partial transparency to erase part of the ice image and put the dragon logo behind it to achieve a very basic, skethy form of this effect. I do like the look of the dragon-logo having the firey looking red and yellow coloring here. However, I do find the title on the spine being of the same color to kind of "clash" with the overall image. I think when all is said and done, if I go in the firey-dragon direction, I will only want that to have the red and yellow coloring.




This next image involves 2 forms of further experimentation. In part, I was trying to change the coloring of the title on the spine to a more icy blue look, and it looks fine in and of itself, but now it's almost lose amongst the icy-blue background. I still want the title to stand out and be noticeable, but to have more of an icy coloring to it.

Also, I experimented with a different take on the dragon, changing it to more icy colors with the intent of it looking like it is frozen in the ice rather than melting through. All I did here was put the color-changed dragon in place of the red/yellow one. I didn't do anything differently yet with the transparency of the part of the ice image in front of it.

I can easily mix and match whichever version of the title with whichever version of the dragon, but this just illustrates the alternate options of the two.....




I also have one more image here in which I did further experimenting with the title color on the spine (the dragon is the same as the above image)....



The coloring here seems to stand out a bit more, but still doesn't look quite right to me.


Any advice, thoughts, and direction on this are welcome.


Oh, and by the way, I am using an older version of Photoshop... Photoshop 7. It's what I have access to right now without having to spend a ton of cash for a newer version. I'm just mentioning this in case any advice would make suggestions regarding features of newer editions.

[Hubunkey]

Originally Posted by rybev

Ok, who's an expert with Undercoverxp?

I'm entering the measurements in mm for a cover, it all looks great and central before i print but once printed the alignment isn't right and i'm losing about 20mm of the width of the cover.

Can't seem to get it print exactly central on the paper.

the measurements of the cover are:

284mm width
x
183mm height

Anyone help?

Have you tried using legal size paper?

[DrrnHarr]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

But, I could use some advice and critique on the direction that I am going in.

Personally, I quite like the fire and ice imagery of the first cover.

On another note, the technical issue I am having uploading custom covers to EFX continues. I don't know if its some sort of firewall issue because I had absolutely no trouble uploading my 007 customs to customaniacs.

As an amusing aside I finally got around to organizing my Blu-rays this weekend at our new house. It was quite a task because they had not been packed alphabetically and my 3-D Blu's were mixed in with my regular blu-ray's (grrr...) but my wife thought it was funny as I put the movies in their rightful place on the shelf that "Gandhi" and "Get Him to the Greek" were next to each other

[DrrnHarr]

Here's something I have been working on:

[Tony5523]

A blade customer art would be cool. put all three movies in a three disc set and have a bad ass cover art.

[taei]

I know this movie hasn't come out yet, but I've been obsessed with it. The art is absolutely gorgeous. And I couldn't help but make covers for it. My first choice would definitely be the one with her only walking up that mountain towards BRAVE. I love how it is simple and dull colored it is, makes the main character stand out a lot. Not to mention the hidden Bear. I wish Pixar would use it.

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[DrrnHarr]

I've seen the trailers for "Brave" and all the trailers make it look like an animated comedy so it's unlikely Pixar would choose such a brooding (though admittedly beautiful) piece of art widely to promote it.

Several months ago I was churning out actor collections almost on a daily basis in an effort to avert running out of space for my collection. I was thinking of an Emily Blunt collection at the time, but never got around to it, then this week I came across this image for the cover. I still need to do some work on making the synoposis stand out more:

[Riddler The Slag]

Originally Posted by DrrnHarr

Stunning lady!

[Riddler The Slag]

I am hoping that someone is creative enough to do Seasons 1-10 of Friends for when the set comes out in November for those of us who hate the box.

Please. :-)

[DrrnHarr]

Originally Posted by Riddler The Slag

Stunning lady!

Yes, John Krasinski is one lucky guy.

[Wyndam]

Has anyone made, seen or might be willing to make some covers for some collections I would like to create to save some shelf space:

• Halloween Collection (Six disc case - I have the Canadian release of Parts 6/7/8 on one disc)
• Planet of the Apes Collection (Five disc set - the original series)
• Scream Collection (Four disc case)
• Terminator Collection (Five disc case - Salvation has two discs)

I would love for someone to tackle these for me if they don't exist!

I will most likely be buying my cases from here (unless anyone can provide me with a better site/deal), if that matters for the sizing of the custom cover.

If anyone is interested or has any info regarding previously made covers, send me a PM!

[Wyndam]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

I did a Terminator collection for a 6 disc viva elite. It's up at efx.

What's efx?

[Illest Villain]

I'm working on a scream collection cover but for viva elite cases

[Petra_Kalbrain]

I'm looking to try and start dabbling with my own custom cover art and steelbook inside artwork designs. Can anyone help me?

Specifically I need to know if there is a legal software option for this kind of work that doesn't require purchasing. As I only have 3 titles that I REALLY NEED to customize, paying $50+ would be a bit steep for customization purposes.

Thanks.