20. HOW DO I DESIGN MY OWN COVER FOR MY 4-IN-1 MOVIE?

A downloadable template is available to create your own customized DVD cover.  You can use this template for a 5-in-1, 4-in-1, 3-in-1 and 2-in-1 DVD.  We are going to use Microsoft Word.  The following instructions are for Microsoft Word version 97, 2000, XP or 2003.
 

Go to steps for using Microsoft Word 2007.

We want to create something like this:

If you are using letter paper size, download Letter Paper Size Template.  If you are using A4 paper size, download A4 Paper Size Template.  Now also download the 4 or 5 covers that you want to use, from Movie DVD Covers.

Double click on the template and Microsoft Word will open.  The template consist out of 3 rectangles: the left rectangle is the back part of the cover, the middle rectangle is the side of the cover, and the right rectangle is the front of the cover.

The first thing you’d have to do is to crop (trim) the images that you want to use for the front of the cover (right hand side of the image).  We’re going to do this in the template document that you’ve downloaded, just on a second page.

1.

With the template document open press CTRL+END, this will take the cursor to the end of the document (don’t worry if the cursor appears at the top of the page).  Now press CTRL+ENTER to insert a second page in the document.  You’ll be doing all of your image cropping on the second page.

2.

With the cursor flashing on the second page click on INSERT from the menu bar, select PICTURE and then click on FROM FILE  this will open the Insert Picture dialog box.

3.

From the Look In dropdown list box, select the folder where your covers are saved.  Click on the cover filename that you want to use for the first image, and click INSERT.  The image will be placed on the second page of the document.

The next thing you need to do is to change the text wrapping of the image, so that you can move the image freely around and crop (trim) it to the correct part of the cover that you want to use for your DVD cover.

4.

Click once on the image that you have inserted, to select it.  When you click on the image, the Picture toolbar will appear on your screen, if it doesn’t click on VIEW from the menu bar, select TOOLBARS and then click on PICTURE.

5.

Firstly, change the Text Wrapping of the picture, click on the TEXT WRAPPING button (Marked as “1”) on the picture toolbar and click on IN FRONT OF TEXT, now you can move the picture around freely on the document.

6.

Now you can crop the image by clicking on the CROP button (Marked as “2”).  An icon that looks like the crop button gets added to the mouse pointer.  Move your mouse to any of the cropping handles at each corner and on each side of the image.  Click and drag to crop the image.  This way you can trim away all the parts of the image that you don’t want.

►

Place your mouse pointer at the left crop mark (Marked as “3”).

►

Click and drag to the right to cut the image off.  You should only have the front part of the cover visible.

When you’re done cropping the image, click on the crop button again to change the mouse pointer back to normal.

7.

Now click and drag the image to the location on the cover template (your 1^st page) where you want it. Resize it by dragging the squares at the edges of the image with your mouse pointer, so that it fits in perfectly.  Now press CTRL+END again to go to your 2^nd page, or just click on your 2^nd page.  Do the same with all the other images that you want to use for your cover.

►

Place your mouse pointer on either of the corner squares (Marked as “4”).

►

Click and drag to the centre of the image, so as to make it smaller or drag outwards to make it bigger.  Try to use only the corner squares, using the side squares will distort the image.

8.

Next, you can change the text, where it shows “Type your text here”.  The text is placed on the document using a Textbox.  This allows you to type any kind of text anywhere on the cover image.  The centre rectangle is the side of the DVD cover, that’s why the text direction is changed.  Simply click inside the Textbox where it says “Type your text here”, delete the text using your delete or backspace keys, and type your own e.g. 5-IN-1 or ACTION, etc.

You can also resize the textbox using the squares at the sides and the corners.  You can also change the font, size and color of the text, by clicking on FORMAT from the menu bar, and selecting FONT. 

The same can be done with the text in the left rectangle, which will be the back of the DVD cover.

9.

Once you’re done with your custom cover, you can save it.  It’s important to use FILE and then choose SAVE AS.  The “Save As” command allows you to give your document a new name, instead of using just “Save” where you will save over your existing template.

10.

Click on FILE and then choose PRINT PREVIEW to have a look at your custom DVD cover, and to check if everything fits on your page.  Click on FILE and then select PRINT to print your custom DVD cover.

HOW DO I DESIGN MY OWN COVER FOR MY 4-IN-1 MOVIE
USING MICROSOFT WORD 2007

A downloadable template is available to create your own customized DVD cover.  You can use this template for a 5-in-1, 4-in-1, 3-in-1 and 2-in-1 DVD.  In this section we are going to use Microsoft Word 2007.  The following instructions are for Microsoft Word 2007.

We want to create something like this:

If you are using letter paper size, download Letter Paper Size Template.  If you are using A4 paper size, download A4 Paper Size Template.  Now also download the 4 or 5 covers that you want to use, from Movie DVD Covers.

Double click on the template and Microsoft Word 2007 will open.  The template consist out of 3 rectangles: the left rectangle is the back part of the cover, the middle rectangle is the side of the cover, and the right rectangle is the front of the cover.

The first thing you’d have to do is to crop (trim) the images that you want to use for the front of the cover (right hand side of the image).  We’re going to do this in the template document that you’ve downloaded, just on a second page.

1.

With the template document open, press CTRL+END, this will take the cursor to the end of the document (don’t worry if the cursor appears at the top of the page).  Now press CTRL+ENTER to insert a second page in the document.  You’ll be doing all your image cropping on the second page.

2.

With the cursor flashing on the second page click on INSERT tab (Marked as “1”), and then click on PICTURE (Marked as “2”) this will open the Insert Picture dialog box.

3.

From the Look In dropdown list box, select the folder where your covers are saved.  Click on the cover filename that you want to use for the first image, and click INSERT.  The image will be placed on the second page of the document.

The next thing you need to do is to change the text wrapping of the image, so that you can move the image freely around and crop (trim) it to the correct part of the cover that you want to use for your DVD cover.

4.

Once the image is placed on the page, it will automatically be selected, or you can just click once on the image to select it.  When you click on the image, the FORMAT tab at the top of the window will automatically be active, if it isn’t, click on the FORMAT tab at the top right of the window.

5.

Firstly, change the “Text Wrapping” of the picture, click on the TEXT WRAPPING button (Marked as “3”) on the picture toolbar and click on IN FRONT OF TEXT, now you can move the picture around freely on the document.

6.

Now you can crop the image by clicking on the CROP button (Marked as “4”).  An icon that looks like the crop button gets added to the mouse pointer.  Move your mouse to any of the cropping handles at each corner and on each side of the image.  Click and drag to crop the image.  This way you can trim away all the parts of the image that you don’t want.

►

Place your mouse pointer at the left crop mark (Marked as “5”).

►

Click and drag to the right to cut the image off.  You should only have the front part of the cover visible.

When you’re done cropping the image, click on the crop button again to change the mouse pointer back to normal.

7.

Now click and drag the image to the location on the cover template (your 1^st page) where you want it. Resize it by dragging the circles or squares at the edges of the image with your mouse pointer, so that it fits in perfectly.  Now press CTRL+END again to go to your 2^nd page, or just click on your 2^nd page.  Do the same with all the other images that you want to use for your cover.

►

Place your mouse pointer on either of the corner circles (Marked as “6”).

►

Click and drag to the centre of the image, so as to make it smaller or drag outwards to make it bigger.  Try to use only the corner circles, using the side squares will distort the image.

8.

Next, you can change the text, where it shows “Type your text here”.  The text is placed on the document using a Textbox.  This allows you to type any kind of text anywhere on the cover image.  The centre rectangle is the side of the DVD cover, that’s why the text direction is changed.  Simply click inside the Textbox where it says “Type your text here”, delete the text using your delete or backspace keys, and type your own e.g. 5-IN-1 or ACTION, etc.

You can also resize the textbox using the squares at the sides and the circles at the corners.  You can also change the font, size and color of the text, by clicking on the HOME tab at the top left of the window, and choosing a different font, size or color. 

The same can be done with the text and the images in the left rectangle, which is the back of the DVD cover.

9.

Once you’re done with your custom cover, you can save it.  It’s important to use OFFICE BUTTON and choose SAVE AS.  The “Save As” command allows you to give your document a new name, instead of using just “Save” where you will save over your existing template.

10.

Use the OFFICE BUTTON (top left corner of the window) select PRINT and choose PRINT PREVIEW to have a look at your custom DVD cover, and to check if everything fits on your page.  Use the OFFICE BUTTON and click PRINT to print your custom DVD cover.

More Resources For
DVD Design Cover: