The document details the steps taken to design the cover of a CD digipak. It involves scanning a drawing, removing its background in Photoshop, adjusting the image's exposure, and layering it over a circular selection of leaves from a photo. Additional elements like a song sheet filtered to look vintage are incorporated and adjusted to fit together cohesively. The final design features layered translucent images and text spiraling around a leaf-patterned CD shape.

2. 1. I scanned the drawing onto the computer so that I
could save it as a PNG image which can be accessed
by Adobe Photoshop. I needed to make sure the
image was of high quality to reduce the risk of
pixilation.
2. Next I opened the image on
Photoshop, cropping it to size so that
it followed digipak dimensions of 5.5”
x 5”. To check the size was accurate, I
also altered the canvas size.

3. 3. I began removing the background of
the image so that only the text was left.
This would allow me to layer it over an
image.
I used the magic wand tool to select the
white areas and then delete, altering
the tolerance levels to ensure I could be
as accurate as possible without
removing parts of the text I need.
Some areas were difficult to select due
to them being so small, therefore I used
the fill tool in black to remove any
remaining background.

4. 4. After removing all the background
and the circular guidelines, I was left
with the image to the left.
I decided the font needed further adjustment
because it was a grey colour as opposed to black.
Therefore I used the effects panel to adjust the
exposure of the image so that the text went darker,
and will be bolder on the layered image.

5. 5. After opening a new page, I
opened the image of a song sheet
which has already been edited on
Pic Monkey using the ‘Vintage’
filter. I used the select tool, but
changed it to a circular shape which
will act as the CD.
After selecting a circle on the music
sheet, I inverted the section using
the tool bar across the top of the
document, which will allow easy
and accurate removal of the
background.

6. 6. I then selected the rubber tool and
adjusted the size to quicken up the
process. After removing all the background
I was left with a perfect circular shape
thanks to the inverted tool.
7. Next I cropped the
image to resemble that of
a digipak. Using the
transformation tools I
rotated the image 45
degrees counter clockwise
so that the music notes
were on a slant. I felt this
looked a little more quirky
and indie.

7. 8. After tilting the image, I decided to alter the
opacity to make the layer translucent looking
which will allow the text to remain eye-catching
and readable, with the music notes being more
subtle.
To do this I double clicked on the layer which
opened the control panel (left). I moved the
opacity slider to achieve a level I was happy with
which was 62%.

8. 9. The next step was opening a new
tab and blank document where the
chosen image of plants could be
opened. I altered the canvas and image
size to match that of the digipak, then
using the cursor, I moved the image so
that the section of leaves was the best
looking out of the entire image. I tried
to get a variety of leaf shapes and
tones in the image to give depth and
interest the back of the CD cover case.

9. 10. I then selected the shape tool and chose
the circle, adjusting the style so that it had no
fill, yet a strong outline in black. I then
dragged the circular shape to fill the square,
which will act as the position of the CD.
I then duplicated the layer
to ensure I had a circle of
the same shape, and shrunk
it to act as the hole at the
centre of the CD. This image
now acts as the perfect
template when adding the
previous documents to it.

10. 11. I added a warm filter to the
photo to make it look more summery
and muted which will go better with
other elements of the digipak,
particularly the cover image which
will have various filters over it to
look more vintage and
vibrant. The level of orange I
added to the image was 56%,
and I felt this degree have a
natural looking finish yet
definitely added warmth to
the green.

11. 12. I opened the previous
document of the music song
sheet onto the leaf image using
a new layer. Then I positioned it
so that the circle was aligned
with the outline. I also tweaked
the opacity slightly so that the
leaves could still be seen
through the song sheet. Using
the select tool I also removed
the inner circle to allow the leaf
pattern to be visible, and the
image to resemble a digipak CD.

12. 13. Finally I selected the text which
had previously been edited and
layered it above the other images.
After using the cursor tool to
reposition the text so that it fit well
with the circular shape and spiralled
evenly, I was pleased with the final
result.
I trialled the original background
image to ensure I had made the
right decision with the leaves, and
after comparing the two, I
much preferred the leaf
design because it looks fun
and synergises with the rest
of the album, and the outdoor
locations used in the music
video.