Reproduction costs are surprisingly affordable for most independent musicians. Anyone can burn CDs at home, but manufacturing facilities have the ability to make a certified digital compact disc (CD). They offer also a variety of packaging options as well. The question you must ask yourself is, "How seriously do I take myself?"

If you take yourself pretty seriously and would like others too as well, you probably want to get real CDs made with full color artwork in standard jewel cases. If you want to get fancy, consider their digipack options. It is always best to get your CDs poly-wrapped with a UPC barcode if you want serious attention, otherwise just buy a CD burner and photo printer.

Trust your gut when finding a manufacturing facility. If you "know a guy who knows a guy" or see a shady looking business card with just a cell phone number on it then be careful. Professional facilities have professional looking websites and almost always have some sort of established reputation in the industry. They can offer almost every disc and packaging option you can think of. If they can accommodate my disc and packaging requests then I'm sure they can accommodate yours.

Find a few different facilities that are on the same playing field. Talk to a representative about your needs and have them work out a quote for you. Compare how closely they can match your needs and expectations. Remember, they aim to please and they typically adhere to "The Customer Comes First" mindset. You should expect to get immediate and prompt attention. If you leave a message they should call you back within a few hours. If you cannot get that kind of service consider taking your business elsewhere.

You can save yourself a lot of money by designing and formatting your artwork to the manufacturer's specifications. They should have templates for you to download and use, according to what type of disc and packaging options you select. General rule of thumb is to design using color CMYK scheme, in 300 dpi, while keeping important text and objects away from the edges. You do not want anything to be cut off during the printing and cropping process.

After I designed all of my artwork, I enlisted the help of graphic designer T. Cory Brown. Although I am familiar with some design standards, he recommended some things I wouldn't have thought of before submitting my artwork. For example, I originally had applied many effects on the text for my liner notes, but because the font size was so small it made it too difficult to read. Ultimately an expert who uses layout software should view your artwork. The manufacturing facility will have experts there, but if a change needs to be made they will charge you.