Design/Mastering instructions and templates

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DESIGN TEMPLATES

If you are using your own graphic designer for an approved innova project, you will need to use these templates, logos and legalese.

DESIGNER INSTRUCTIONS

We love InDesign files (we use Creative Cloud for Mac and need production files in modifiable layers). We prefer to receive files via Hightail.com, Wetransfer, or Dropbox or on CDR so we can do any final changes and spine conformation. Please make three files (Disc, Digipak (Wallet), Booklet-in imposed page order) and supply folders for Scans/Links (CMYK, 300 dpi) and Mac Fonts. Also send a laser proof, folded in print order if there is any doubt. Please do not just send pdf's; we need to have access to the original files for any last minute changes. If your layout is in Photoshop or Illustrator do not make outlines unless you have already submitted pdfs for approval and there are no further changes to be made at our end.

We can do Digipaks and Wallet formats most easily (jewel cases are bad for the environment). You can get some ideas for the varieties of available formats here.

Please send a full res RGB jpg of the cover art as a 3000pixel square (you may need to rejigger the elements to make it fit a square format).

Please send a pdf of the TRACK LISTING PAGE aka BACK COVER OF DIGIPAK OR WALLET

Please send an unformatted file (txt or htm) of all the words (liner notes, track listing, etc). Search engine spiders love to eat them.

We will need you to supply the iTunes Digital Booklet version of your packaging too.

  • [Please use 6 or 7 pt. Futura Book or similar]

innova® is the label of the American Composers Forum.
© [YOUR NAME/PUBLISHER HERE], 2021. All Rights Reserved.
www.innova.mu   www.YOURWEBSITE.COM

[Always include track number, track title, track timings (verified by the way they appear in iTunes from a burned CDR), total album duration]

  • innova and ACF logos
  • Bar code: make a picture box with a white background. [Ask and we shall send you an EPS or PNG to place in it]
  • Spines: Artist, Title in Milwaukee font (we can take care of the spines, just leave a blank background)
    Catalog number: innova (Futura Book) 0XX
    This catalog number appears over a Pantone 1525 CV (an orange CMYK) background (not a spot color) box with rounded/lozenge ends, one end bleeding off the edge.
  • Please match the track timings with the way they appear on a burned copy of the final master in iTunes (the PQ sheet durations + gap silences)

DISC

Artist, Title,
P. © ARTIST'S NAME, 2021 [ask for the circle P symbol]
All Rights Reserved.
innova 0XX
[7 pt. Futura] 

Please make sure you use the right Copycats template. Block colors work better than fine gradations. CMYK is an option but doesn't always print as smoothly as it would on paper; generally use up to three Pantone Coated colors only (including white flood if requested), and specify them clearly on the file. Remember this is a screen printing process that throws dots of ink onto plastic: textures may appear and gradients are not super smooth. No need to include the stacking ring; you can print right up to the center if you have a white flood backer.

BOOKLET

Use whatever size you need to make it look great; each additional 4pp spread adds cost though. Include credits, recording dates, Producer, Engineer, and photo/designer credits, other funder thanks. Add:

Director of Recordings: Chris Campbell
Manager of Recordings: Tim Igel

Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation.

Please send pdf's of proofs for comment before submitting your art work. We do reserve final veto over design decisions (generally if they are too boring or cliched). As a general rule, err on the wild rather than conservative side (we want these things to jump off the shelves). We will send you links to online proofs before we go to print. You may ask for a hard-copy proof (for an extra $100) if you prefer (usually only for legibility or precise matching issues).

Select your Design template here.

CD MASTERING INFO

If your mastering engineer can burn the ISRC codes into the production master these are the codes. Even better if they can write the BWAV format that allows the text to appear immediately in various players:

US29K21xxx01 where xxx = the innova catalog number and the final two digits are the tracks

For delivering the audio, please send links to a DDP fileset, 192Hz MP3 files, or two unplayed CDR masters in the mail. We love files that are sent by Hightail, Wetransfer, or even Dropbox (as a downloadable .zip not as a shared folder).

Please let us know if you have 24bit resolution files available for us to offer to iTunes for their own mastering process (or feel free to supply us with Apple Digital Masters (formerly Mastered for iTunes) files if you are qualified; we will need the name and address of your studio, and the name, email and phone of the mastering engineer to verify against the list of iTunes certified providers). Here are the complete instructions.

We need to have these files named according to these specs:

The file name must include the sample rate (44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, or 192 kHz at 24 bit). Please do not upsample from a lower resolution file. If it is already ADM/MFiT then please add that too along with the contact info above.

An example of a typical filename might be: "02-Feeling Groovy-88.2-24-MFiT.wav"

If you are providing audio files for us to master, please send as close to raw mixes as possible (with room tone before and after, no fades, no attempts at noise reduction). That will make our mastering engineer's job much easier.

Questions: Tim Igel
[email protected]

You can download the innova and ACF logos below.