I made a Cd as a present for some friends of ours.
As I put the Cd in the case, I realized it looked too plain. It needed a case insert.
I played around with making my own case insert using the Open Office word processor but it was tedious and I couldn't get it it quite right.
So I decided to look on the internet for a linux based Cd/DVD case insert maker.
It only took a few seconds for me to find this online label maker;
Online Cd/DVD Maker Mirror
http://www.aczoom.com/tools/cdinsert/
Note: The above link now points to the main web page from which you can access the online label maker. I used to provide a direct link to the online maker but the author keeps changing the address.
It was more then I had hoped for. It not only would make my case inserts for Cd's but also does DVD cases, Cd/DVD labels and envelopes.
All I had to do was enter the song list info, upload a picture and the website generated a file that I could print or save. Excellent!!
But it's an online service (Free) and I wanted a program that allowed me to do the same thing from my computer locally.
Not to worry. I started reading his page and saw a link for the source code which is found here;
Source Code
http://www.aczoom.com/tools/cdinsert/#download
All I had to do was download the cdlabelgen-4.0.0 tar.gz file, extract it and do a make install from the terminal. It was done installing as fast I pressed the Enter button. Notice that I didn't say I used make because that command wasn't needed nor was configure.
Okay! I had the Cd label generator files installed but this only allows me to make labels and inserts from the terminal. Since I'm not one to enjoy typing tons of commands to do a task I needed a GUI for this software.
That's where gtkcdlabel comes in. It provides a graphical user interface that is easy to use and makes labels and inserts in seconds. It also has a preview button that allows you to see what the insert or label looks like before you print it.
And this GUI package comes in the form of a deb file in addition to rpm and source files.
I downloaded the deb file, clicked on it and installed it.
You can get the gtkcdlabel package from here; (Note! They also have the cdlabelgen-4.0.0 packages available for download)
Download Page
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14155
Once installed, you will find it under your Applications - Office category in your menu if you are using Ubuntu.
The only problem I came across so far had to do with the color option selector.
I would choose a color for the text but it would preview as a different color.
I had used the default black text color when I created the insert for my Cd case and had no issues but it may take some playing around to get the correct color. And I'm not sure if the preview is displaying the wrong color but will print the correct color or if it's a glitch with the software.
Other then that this software gets a 4 thumbs up for saving my present from blandness and turning it into a professional looking Cd case.
And with the option to use the online website to make your inserts and covers, that will allow users of those other OS's to create their own inserts and labels without having to spend $$$ on another piece of software.
Enjoy!
TaZMAn
Sunday, October 12, 2008
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5 comments:
Wow, for a free online program that's not bad. I was looking for something slightly more professional looking, and I came across this great article on how to make CD and DVD labels .
I think you will all benefit from this article.
For the benefit of my readers, I should delete the above comment as spam but I won't. I knew the spam would eventually start.
A label printer that costs almost $1,000 is not anyone's idea of a great label maker. Not to mention the overpriced disks that he sells!
If you install the label software in my article rather then use the online version you can get very professional results with it.
But Tom wouldn't know that because he only wants to market his overpriced stuff.
Next spam I get will be removed and I will turn on comment moderation though I prefer not to.
So Tom from the over priced label maker, you can go spam elsewhere because it won't be happening here!
To my readers, I want to provide you with the best articles dealing with Linux, Freeware and my thoughts without any ads or spam.
I apologize to all of you for this guy coming into our realm trying to sell his stuff. If you want to make printable disks, you can do a very good job with a sub $120 inkjet printer that is made to accept disks.
BTW.... I was going to use the word crap instead of stuff but that might get me in trouble. LOL!
The next spammer won't get the polite treatment.
TaZMAn
I am having a difficult time getting text aligned. I want my song list to look something like this:
01 Title Artist Time
02 Title Artist Time
etc.
Even though I aligned the text in GTKcdlabel, it comes out like this:
01 Title Artist Time
02 Title Artist Time
03 Title Artist Time
etc.
Any ideas why? Thanks
Sorry, but the comment processor removed spaces. Anyway the out put is not aligned. It has varying amounts of space between the title , artist, and time from line to line.
Not sure why it is happening.
I do see he made some bug fixes recently. You can find the newest version here;
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtkcdlabel/
May want to contact the developer or try his support forum although it looks deserted for many years.
Sorry I can't help anymore then that.
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