Sample work · Design & Print
Album cover and cassette J-card: square cover, thumbnail test and print-ready PDF
An album cover for a fictional black metal band in a raw charcoal and ink style: 3000 x 3000 px for digital release, plus the cassette J-card as a print PDF with bleed, crop and fold marks. Dimensions, color profile, legibility of the text even as a small preview image, and the safety zones at the fold edges are measured.
Sample work (demo), not a client job. Built as a trial task with invented example data; the check figures below come from the automatic test run and are not polished.
What was built
- Square cover for digital and streaming, 3000 x 3000 px, sRGB, 300 dpi, plus 1400 x 1400 version
- Band name and album title typeset by hand: spelling verified, legible even as a 300 px preview image
- J-card as PDF: 101.6 x 101.6 mm, front, spine and flap with track list, 3 mm bleed
- Crop marks, fold marks and a reference plan with fold lines and safety zones (will not be printed)
Download jcard-101-6x101-6mm-beschnitt.pdf Download cover-1400x1400.png
The motif is created using an AI image model in a raw charcoal style; a hand sketch by the client serves as a template for structure and style. Hand-drawn original without AI, pressing, printing and shipping of cassettes as well as music production are not included. RGB is delivered; the printer determines the color profile and dimensions of their template (J-card dimensions according to standard case, 101.6 mm), the sample cover is upscaled for 3000 px. No trademark search regarding band name and title.
How it was checked
Automatic test run on 2026-11-02, taken from the log (test data invented, figures measured):
- Cover 3000x3000 px RGB, profile sRGB built-in, 300 dpi, 1400x1400 version
- Image source gemini
- OCR cover 1400 'VELKOR'/'ASH LITURGY' read, thumbnail 300 px 'VELKOR' read, font contrast 14.6:1
- J-card PDF trim 101.6x101.6 mm, bleed [3.0, 3.0, 3.0, 3.0] mm, image to bleed true
Limits
What this sample does not cover, so nobody expects more:
- Image area from the project chain's image model (1024 px native) and upscaled to 3000 px with grain - for printing over 10 x 10 cm (CD/vinyl 30 x 30 cm) upscaling or a higher ...
- no hand-drawn original illustration and no photo: the motif is generated via AI image model, text is typeset independently (Copperplate Gothic/Arial); clients with an AI ban cannot be served ...
- RGB/sRGB delivered, no CMYK with printer profile and no PDF/X certificate; color accuracy (deep black, total ink coverage) is determined by the printer via proofing
- J-card according to standard cassette case dimensions (101.6 x 101.6 mm, spine 12.7); duplicators vary (flap 12.7 or 25.4 mm, bleed 3-5 mm) - the printer's template is decisive ...
- no pressing, duplication, printing or shipping of cassettes, no mastering/music production, no CD/vinyl sleeves other than the square cover, no video/canvas; font logo from system font, no ...
- Trademark law: no research whether band name, title or motif collide with existing releases
Something like this for your business?
Describe briefly what you need. You get a fixed price before I start; nothing happens without your yes.