Printing Covers (Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.NET, Paint)

[Blumpkin]

I've noticed a funky thing that happens every now and again when I'm printing covers. Sometimes the "N" and "d" in Nintendo logos print black, even though they are red in the screen image. Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

It'll turn the Nintendo oval into Nintendo. It's a pretty minor thing, and doesn't bug me too much, but it's perplexing at the least.

[wiggy]

The fuck?!

Are the covers on the site in RGB?  If so, that might be the issue.  These files should really be in CMYK since that's what they're going to be printed with.  RGB is not print-friendly, and wasn't ever intended to be.  Try changing the file to CMYK before printing.

[Ektophase]

Nice guide but I noticed you said to use iso alcohol, you may not have a problem with n64 plastic but I'd advise people to use something less harsh to clean the goo gone grease off like soap and water on a cloth instead because alcohol can cause noticeable damage to many plastics. 

Rubbing aclohol is NOT petroleum based and it has just about zero ability to break down plastics.  Rubbing alcohol is about the safest solvent you can use on plastics.

If I remember correctly I used some iso 90 on a super advantage joystick back in the day with a cotton ball to get some sticker gunk off then I gave the whole top a rub down and ended up with yellow streaks all over.
Also I was getting some gunk off a piece of my car dash a few years back and ended up with some hazy streaks luckily I only did a small section; to me it looked similar to genesis black plastic.

Personally I would use goo gone and or soap first before I try alcohol.
I have used alcohol on lots of things without any problems though 

[Zalman]

Edit: Never mind, it worked on my other computer.

[Richm88]

i am using microsoft paint, i printed off my first cover ( metro zero mission) to go in a ds case and the proportions were perfect, i print up super mario advance 4 with the exact same settings and it comes off a tad too big in height for the ds case and the back side of the cover (which is on the left side of the paper) does not all fit onto the one piece of paper.
If anyone could help that would be great as i dont want to waste all my photo paper
ok, i did a bit of back tracking through this post and i have to leave it set to a4 as i am in the uk,
the problem i have now is my uk cases are slightly larger dimensionally to the usa cases, can i adjust them somehow to fit perfectly into my uk case?

[FritzWhite]

i am using microsoft paint, i printed off my first cover ( metro zero mission) to go in a ds case and the proportions were perfect, i print up super mario advance 4 with the exact same settings and it comes off a tad too big in height for the ds case and the back side of the cover (which is on the left side of the paper) does not all fit onto the one piece of paper.
If anyone could help that would be great as i dont want to waste all my photo paper
ok, i did a bit of back tracking through this post and i have to leave it set to a4 as i am in the uk,
the problem i have now is my uk cases are slightly larger dimensionally to the usa cases, can i adjust them somehow to fit perfectly into my uk case?

I use MS paint to print out my covers. For DS, I go to page setup and set the paper type to legal with 1.6 margins. That fits my DS cases. Can't tell you if UK DS cases are different from US.

[Richm88]

i am using microsoft paint, i printed off my first cover ( metro zero mission) to go in a ds case and the proportions were perfect, i print up super mario advance 4 with the exact same settings and it comes off a tad too big in height for the ds case and the back side of the cover (which is on the left side of the paper) does not all fit onto the one piece of paper.
If anyone could help that would be great as i dont want to waste all my photo paper
ok, i did a bit of back tracking through this post and i have to leave it set to a4 as i am in the uk,
the problem i have now is my uk cases are slightly larger dimensionally to the usa cases, can i adjust them somehow to fit perfectly into my uk case?

I use MS paint to print out my covers. For DS, I go to page setup and set the paper type to legal with 1.6 margins. That fits my DS cases. Can't tell you if UK DS cases are different from US.

the us cases on the spines are marginally thinner and the front and back are marginally smaller in length, im not fussed too much it dont have to be perfect but would of been nice to get it perfect

[Seandub]

I've been having issues printing PS3 covers specifically. When i set the scaling to 100% its huge. I have also tried setting it to 32% and it is still too large. So I have to play around and guess an appropriate percentage. Can anyone here who has printed PS3 covers off the site explain what they do? I've printed dozens of covers with no issue. This problem only occurs with PS3/Bluray covers.

[Dr.Agon]

here is what I do for perfect sized covers

1. find a game which already has a cover, for example a game you bought new
2. take the cover out and measure it. remember or write down the dimensions
3. in Photoshop there is an option to change the image size, change it to the dimensions you just took
4. print it. it should be the same size as the 'official' ones

for UGC/8-disk DVD cases its slightly different, you just measure the sleeve instead

[amarthar]

Or:

3. in Photoshop go to File->Print and there you'll have an option to set the print size without changing anything in the image itself.

[Maben]

Or:

3. in Photoshop go to File->Print and there you'll have an option to set the print size without changing anything in the image itself.

This would work for those printing at home.  For someone like me who prints at FedEx Office, you really want to give them as little room for error as possible.  They are not the brightest employees...

[gerardopeinado]

I have some problems with two custom covers, they are Super Mario 64 and Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards, when I try to print them they just come oversized, then I compare the measures in pixels and inches on various programs and all have the same numbers, this two covers and the covers that printed out well, any suggestion on how to fix this problem?

[Arseen]

I have some problems with two custom covers, they are Super Mario 64 and Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards, when I try to print them they just come oversized, then I compare the measures in pixels and inches on various programs and all have the same numbers, this two covers and the covers that printed out well, any suggestion on how to fix this problem?

Sometimes the dimensions are screwed when the DPI fails.

Try printing at 32% scaling.

[gerardopeinado]

I have some problems with two custom covers, they are Super Mario 64 and Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards, when I try to print them they just come oversized, then I compare the measures in pixels and inches on various programs and all have the same numbers, this two covers and the covers that printed out well, any suggestion on how to fix this problem?

Sometimes the dimensions are screwed when the DPI fails.

Try printing at 32% scaling.

I already tried that, in Paint on Windows 8, I went to "page settings" then I put the right paper size and set it the orientation at landscape then I scaled the image to 32% and when I went to see the previous view the image, it sees very small in comparison with the paper, any other idea?

[Arseen]

Post links to the covers and I shall take a look.