PE: About Creating CD/DVD Labels

INTRODUCTION

Some approaches to labeling a DVD disc include

• writing directly on disc with permanent ink marker

• creating a paper label (with adhesive backing) and applying the label to disc

• creating a LightScribe label using LightScribe technology and a burner that supports LightScribe burning it to a special LightScribe CD/DVD disc

• creating a print on label and printing it to a special coated CD/DVD using a printer that supports CD/DVD labeling 

Creating the label in Elements...

For the Premiere Elements user, it is the Elements Organizer* that comes with Premiere Elements that has the Create Menu/"CD/DVD Label" option, and use of that option requires the Photoshop Elements Editor workspace. In the Photoshop Elements Editor workspace the feature has only Sizes/Print locally/4.75 x 4.75 inches, Themes/Basic, and Layouts/One Photo, Three Photos, or Two Photos. See Figure 1 in which the Two Photos layout was used.

Figure 1. Photoshop Elements Editor CD/DVD Label Creation Workspace With Work Completed And Label Ready For Decision On How To Apply Label To Disc.

The actual disc labeling is done outside of Elements, and the save format of the label created in Elements will depend on the requirements of the technology being used to apply the label to the disc. In this regard, saving the Photoshop Elements Editor workspace created label was done there using the JPEG format via File Menu/Save for Web**. This same JPEG was the source medium in each of the methods described below.

ISSUE

It was decided to share some of the challenges encountered and results obtained in applying the  Photoshop Elements Editor workspace CD/DVD Label Creation to a CD or DVD disc.

METHODS***

Creating LightScribe label using LightScribe technology and a burner that supports LightScribe burning it to a special LightScribe CD/DVD disc

In about 2013, HP (Hewlett-Packard) discontinued LightScribe which it created. Read more about the technology and its status HERE and HERE. 

How I got this technology to work for me.
I have two burners that support LightScribe - the LG BH12LS35 and the HP DVD Writer 1270t.
The software that I use for this task comes from the Nero Cover Designer**** Essentials application that came with the HP DVD Writer 1270t. This software would no longer recognize the LG and HP burners as LightScribe. The solution for this issue was to update the LightScribe System Software HERE (See Section there titled Free Software/The LightScribe System Software/Updating Older Versions/Version 1.18.27.10).

See Figure 2 for the Nero Cover Designer "Best" Preview prior to starting the LightScribe process in the HP DVD Writer 1270t. The LightScribe disc used was LightScribe HP CD-R 52X. A scan of the finished LightScribe disc is not shown since the scan was poor due to glares generated by the scan light hitting the inner circle of the disc during the scan process; consequently, Figure 2 shows the Nero Cover Designer "Best" Preview instead of a scanned image of the finished LightScribe disc.

Figure 2. Nero Cover Designer "Best" LightScribe Disc Preview Prior To Starting The LightScribe Process In The HP DVD Writer 1270t.

Creating a print on label and printing it to a special coated CD/DVD using a printer that supports CD/DVD labeling

How I got this technology to work for me.
I have two printers which feature printing CD/DVD label on CD/DVD disc. They are a recently purchased Epson Expression Premium XP-6000 with its "Print CD" application and an older HP Photosmart D7560 with its "HP Photosmart Essential 3.5" application.

For this task, I used the Epson printer with its "Print CD" application. The print on DVD disc was from Verbatim "Printable DVD-R". The Epson's supported formats for the label to be used are Bitmap files (*.BMP), JPEG files (*JPEG), TIFF files (*.TIF), Windows Metafiles (*wmf, .emf), PNG (*.PNG). It notes that, "For TIFF files, only files saved with LZW compression are supported."

Figure 3 is a scan of the DVD print on label result.

Figure 3. DVD Disc With Label Printed On With Epson Expression Premium XP-6000 And Its "Print CD" Application. (Scan Of The Finished Labeled Disc Was Used To Demonstrate The Result In This Figure.)

Creating a paper label (with adhesive backing) and applying the label to disc

How I go this technology to work for me.
Again, the Photoshop Elements Editor workspace created CD/DVD label was the label design source in a workflow which included:

• Nero Cover Designer 2018 software, version 19.1.1011 (free download from Nero obtained from HERE). 

• Printer, the Epson Expression Premium XP-6000 with a paper source of Fellowe's Neato CD Label 2 UP (Letter) templates. 

• Pealing printed paper label from Neato sheet and pasting the printed paper label on CD or DVD using the tool in the Fellowes Neato CD/DVD Labeling System kit.

Figure 4 shows the printed paper label before it was pealed from the Neato sheet and pasted onto the CD or DVD disc.

Figure 4. Neato Sheet With Labels Printed Using (TOP) Epson Expression Premium XP-6000 Printer And (Bottom) HP Photosmart D7560 Printer. View Is Just Before Pealing Label From Sheet And Pasting It To CD Or DVD.

COMMENTARY*****

There are many more variables to be explored within a method and from method to method before pointing to one method or another as best. My initial impression is that the better way to go is with creating a print on label and printing it to a special coated CD/DVD using a printer that supports CD/DVD labeling. Paper paste on labels appear to excel in visual quality, but have the down side of potential damage to the disc player. The LightScribe tonal effects can have their moments for the right time and place. In this work, the LightScribe preview (set for Best) looked better than LightScribe image on the CD disc.

And, there is the concern about DVD and its related matters becoming obsolete moving forward. But, for now, I continue to use CD/DVD discs and label them to look the best possible.

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*Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements each comes with an Elements Organizer. When both are on the same computer, they share the same Elements Organizer.
**Use of Save or Save As" gave choice of PSE (Photo Project Format) or PDF, PDP (Acrobat PDF). Use of "Export Creations"did offer format choices of JPEG, TIFF, or PDF for a save to hard drive location of choice.
***I am not affiliated in anyway with the products mentioned in this work. The information here is provided for informational (not promotional) purposes only. I am citing what worked or did not work for me.
****There is a free standalone Nero Cover Designer download from the Nero web site, but I cannot get that to work for LightScribe. See HERE under Free Nero Tools/Nero Cover Designer.
*****Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit was used.


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PE: Motion Titles Custom Category

INTRODUCTION

Motion Titles were introduced to Premiere Elements in version 14, and the feature has been continued to the present version 2019. The Adobe document on Motion Titles can be found HERE. 
This document has an Applies to: Premiere Elements and a Last Published: July 28, 2017. The feature is typically found in 14 to 2019 version's Expert or Quick workspace in the toolbar's Text & Titles (version 14) or the toolbar's T icon which is described "ADD/Add titles or text to your clip" (versions later than 14). The Adobe Motion Title categories are Contemporary, Decorative, Formal, Fun, Geometric, Typography, and Custom. Editing and saving of the edited Motion Title is done in a Motion Titles - Adjustments palette which includes a Save this Title option.

The Custom category includes display of the saved edited Motion Title which was selected and edited under Contemporary, Decorative, Formal, Fun, Geometric, or Typography category. Besides display of the edited/saved Motion Title under Custom, a copy of it is automatically placed in the hard drive   program files. For Windows, refer to Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Premiere Elements/version name/Rich Title Template/Custom.

OBSERVATIONS

It was decided that the following Motion Titles Custom category observations might be of interest to the Premiere Elements user....

Deletion of Edited/Saved Motion Title

A. The easiest way to delete an edited/saved Motion Title from the Custom area display seemed to be via selection of that edited/saved Motion Title in Custom followed by hitting Delete on the computer keyboard. Refer to Figure 1.

Figure 1. Suggested Deletion Of Edited/Saved Motion Title From Custom Display In Opened Project. (Premiere Elements 15 Was Used In This Figure.)

B. Also, the edited/saved Motion Title in the opened project's Custom Display can be removed at the program files level (for Windows 7 or 10 64 bit, refer to path Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Premiere Elements/version name/Rich Title Template/Custom).
Note: Version Name - for Premiere Elements 14, Adobe uses 14; for Premiere Elements 15, Adobe uses 15; but for for Premiere Elements 2018, Adobe uses 16, and for Premiere Elements 2019, Adobe uses 17.

Transfer of Edited/Saved Motion Title From Different Premiere Elements Version To Another In The Same Windows 7 Or 10 64 bit Computer

The edited/saved Motion Title from Premiere Elements 15 could be made to appear in the Premiere Elements 2018 Motion Titles Custom display in the opened project and be used in the 2018 opened project. But, the edited/saved Motion Title created in Premiere Elements 2018 had problems displaying in Premiere Elements 15 Motion Titles Custom display in a 15's opened project and could not be used in 15. These observations seemed to be consistent with the history related to Premiere Elements versions backward compatibility issue in certain situations.

Details on how this was done on the same computer..... At the hard drive project files level, the edited/saved Motion Title folder in the Custom folder of a version was copied and pasted into the Custom Folder of the other version. Again refer to the path
For Windows 7 or 10 64 bit, Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Premiere Elements/version name/Rich Title Template/Custom

Transfer of Edited/Saved Motion Title From Premiere Elements 2018 On Windows 7 64 bit Computer 1 To Premiere Elements 2018 On Windows 10 64 bit Computer 2.

At the hard drive project files level of computer 1, the edited/saved Motion Title folder in the Custom folder of version 2018 (aka 16) was copied and pasted/transferred to a Lexar 2 GB USB flash drive. Next the USB flash drive was inserted into a USB port on computer 2. From there the edited/saved Motion Title folder was copied and pasted to the Custom folder in the hard drive program files on computer 2. Again, refer to path
For Windows 7 computer 1 or 10 64 bit computer 2, Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Premiere Elements/version name/Rich Title Template/Custom

Result was the the edited/saved Motion Title from computer 1 appearing in the Custom display in the opened 2018 project in computer 2, and it could be used in the opened project there.

In the initial study, the edited/saved Motion Title from computer 1 to 2 presented in computer 2 opened project Custom display with two thumbnails, instead of one, for the same transferred edited/saved Motion Title. This problem seemed to be corrected by

• Deleting the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file found in the path Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Premiere Elements/16.0

• Using a newer USB Flash Drive

• Making sure that the USB Flash Drive had same drive letter in computer 1 and 2

COMMENTARY

These observations should be applicable to Premiere Elements 14/14.1, 15, 2018, and 2019 on Windows 7 Professional SP 1 64 bit and Windows 10 Home 64 bit. Of note, the old generalized troubleshooting of deleting the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file seemed to correct a problem with the color editing of a Motion Title in the Motion Titles - Adjustment palette in Premiere Elements 15.

Reminder - in order to see all the folders in the path 

For Windows 7 computer 1 or 10 64 bit computer 2, Users/Owner/AppData/Roaming/Premiere Elements/version name/Rich Title Template/Custom

make sure computer's Folder Options dialog/View is set for " Show hidden files, folders, or drives"

As usual, work continues in progress for updates as well as for proofreading for accuracy.


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