When creating the first CD for my digi-pack, I firstly had to get a transparent image of a disc to ensure that I would be able to get the disc shape I needed to be able to place my images and text on top of it. To do this I decided to go onto Google Images and find a transparent image of a disc – once I had found an image I wanted to use, I then right clicked on it and selected ‘Save Image As’.

This pop up box appeared and I was then able to choose a location to save this image in. Once I had found somewhere to save this image, I then named it ‘CD Template’ and clicked ‘Save’.

After I had got this image, I then needed to open it in Photoshop to enable me to begin creating my CD and to do this I just went onto Photoshop and clicked ‘File’ and then ‘open’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to find the location in which I had saved the image I wanted to use. Once I had found the location this image was saved in, I then selected it and clicked ‘Open’.

Once I had opened this transparent image in Photoshop, you are then able to see how it looked on the document as I have shown it in the image on the left.

I then wanted to begin designing my CD and the first thing I wanted to do was actually use the rough black background image I used when creating my album poster, so because I had already previously used this specific image, it meant that I already had it saved in my documents and to open it all I had to do was click ‘File’ and then ‘Open’.

This pop up box appeared and I was then able to find the location in which the image I wanted to use was saved in. Once I had found the location of the image I wanted, I then selected it and clicked ‘Open’.

When I had eventually got the image I wanted onto this document, I then needed to resize the image to ensure that it would fit on my CD document, so to do this I just had to click ‘Edit’, ‘Transform’ and then ‘Scale’.

After I had changed the size of the image, I then wanted to change the colour of the image to make it a little bit darker and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Image’, ‘Adjustments’ and then ‘Brightness/Contrast’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to change the settings for the brightness and contrast of the image. Once I had changed the settings to what I wanted them to be, I then clicked ‘OK’.

After I had done that, I then wanted to add a circle shape in the centre of the disc to make the image look more like a disc from an album and I was able to do this by clicking on the ‘Ellipse Tool’ and then creating the circle in the position I wanted it to be in on the document. Once I had created this circle, you are then able to see how my disc was turning out as I have presented it in an image on the left.

Once the background of the disc was looking the way I wanted it, I then wanted to add some text to the disc. The first thing I decided to create was the artists name and I was able to do this by selecting the ‘Text Tool’ and then choosing the font called ‘Palace Script MT’. Once I had selected this, I then wrote out the text I wanted and placed it into the position I wanted it to be in.

After that, I then wanted to add some effects to the text to make it stand out more and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Layer’, ‘Layer Style’ and then ‘Blending Options’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to choose the effects I wanted to add to this text. The effects I decided to use were called ‘Bevel and Emboss’, Stroke’, ‘Inner Shadow’ and ‘Drop Shadow’. Once I had selected all of the effects that I wanted to use, I then clicked ‘OK’.

After that, I then wanted to add some text which would have the album name on and again I was able to do this by clicking on the ‘Text Tool’ and then I selected the font called ‘Fairydust8’. Once I had done this, I then wrote out the text I wanted and put it into the position I wanted it to be in.

I then wanted to add some effects to this text to make it stand out more and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Layer’, ‘Layer Style’ and then ‘Blending Options’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to choose the effects I wanted. The effects I decided to use were called ‘Bevel and Emboss’, ‘Contour’, ‘Stroke’, ‘Inner Shadow’ and ‘Drop Shadow’. Once I had selected all of the effects I wanted, I then clicked ‘OK’.

After that, I then wanted to add both the artists and record labels website address onto the CD and again I was able to do this by selecting the ‘Text Tool’. Once I had done this, I then selected the font called ‘Aparajita’, wrote out the text I wanted and then placed it into the position I wanted it to be in.

I then wanted to add some effects to the text to again make it stand out some more and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Layer’, ‘Layer Style’ and then ‘Blending Options’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to choose the effects I wanted. The effects I decided to use were called ‘Stroke’, ‘Inner Shadow’ and ‘Drop Shadow’. Once I had chosen all of the effects I wanted, I then clicked ‘OK’.

In the image I have presented on the left, you are able to see how my disc began to look once I had added all of this text.

The next thing I wanted to do was actually add the compact disc logo to my document as this is a conventional feature that is generally seen on an album disc. So I decided to go onto Google Images and get an image of the compact disc logo – once I found one I wanted, I then right clicked on it and selected ‘Save Image As’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to find a location in which to save this image in. Once I had found somewhere to save this image, I then named it ‘CD logo’ and clicked ‘Save’.

Once I had saved the image, I then went back onto my disc document and I was able to put the image onto my document by clicking ‘File’ and then ‘Open’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to find the location in which I had saved this image in. Once I had found the location the image was saved in, I then selected it and clicked ‘Open’.

Once I had got this image onto my document, I then wanted to add some effects to it, to again make it stand out some more. I was able to do this by clicking ‘Layer’, ‘Layer Style’ and then ‘Blending Options’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to choose the effects I wanted to add to this image. The effects I decided to use were called ‘Bevel and Emboss’, ‘Contour’, ‘Stroke’, ‘Inner Shadow’ and ‘Drop Shadow’. Once I had selected all of the effects I wanted, I then clicked ‘OK’.

After I had added an image of the compact disc logo to my document, I then added the record label logo that my artist is signed which you are able to see in the image I have presented on the left.

Once I had done that, I then wanted to add the copyright information to the disc and I wanted it to appear around the edge of the disc. I was able to begin creating this by clicking on the ‘Ellipse Tool’, selecting the ‘Path Alignment’ button at the top of the screen (which would enable me to add text on the line) and then I drew the circle shape that I wanted around the outside of the disc which you are able to see in the image I have presented on the left.

Once I had drawn the line, I then wrote the copyright text that I wanted to appear on the disc which had been written around the edge of the disc and you are able to see this in the image I have presented on the left.

After I had got the text written on the document, I then wanted to rotate the text so it would begin lower down on the disc and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Edit’, ‘Transform’ and then ‘Rotate’.

Once I had rotated the text, I then wanted to add some effects to it and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Layer’, ‘Layer Style’ and then ‘Blending Options’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to choose the effects I wanted. The effects I decided to use were called ‘Stroke’ and ‘Drop Shadow’. Once I had selected all of the effects I wanted, I then clicked ‘OK’.

Once the copyright text was the way I wanted it to be, I then wanted to add a serial number to the disc and again I was able to do this by selecting the ‘Text Tool’ and then I choose the font called ‘Arial’. Once I had selected this, I then wrote the text I wanted and placed it in the position I wanted it to be in.

Once the text was where I wanted it to be, I then wanted to add some effects to it to make it stand out more and I was able to do this by clicking ‘Layer’, ‘Layer Style’ and then ‘Blending Options’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to choose the effects I wanted. The effects I decided to use were called ‘Stroke’, ‘Inner Shadow’ and ‘Drop Shadow’. Once I had selected all of the effects I wanted, I then clicked ‘OK’.

In the image I have presented on the left, you are able to see how my disk turned out once I had added all of these features.

When I had finished creating my first disk, I then needed to save the document as an image so I would be able to get rid of the black background that appears outside of the disk to make the disk look more like one that would be found in an album. To do this I had to click ‘File’ and then ‘Save As’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to save the document where ever I wanted on the computer. Once I had found somewhere to save the document, I then clicked on the drop down box next to where it says ‘Format’ and I selected ‘JPEG’ and this would ensure that the document would be saved as an image. Once I had made these changes, I then clicked ‘Save’.

I then actually needed to open this image to enable me to make these changes and I was able to do this by clicking ‘File’ and then ‘Open’.

This pop up box then appeared and I was able to find the location in which I had saved the image in. Once I had found the location of the image I wanted, I then selected it and clicked ‘Open’.

Once the image was open, I was then able to make changes to it and to get rid of the black background that appeared outside of the circle, all I had to do was select the ‘Magic Wand Tool’ and then I just had to select the black background that appeared outside of the disc shape and pressed ‘Delete’ on my keyboard which deleted this excess black background and made it transparent – meaning, when I want to put this image of the disk somewhere, I will have just the disk shape and nothing else that may have been attached when I was creating the disk.