I designed these and ordered them as 5x7 folded cards from MPix.
I think next time I'm going to order them on pearl paper for some more shimmer, but they look cool still!

I had to trim them down to 4.75in squares to put in the CD cases, but that's OK.
The look really good in the CD cases!





Here's a closeup of the inside right:



The outside has my logo & website
The back has my website & slogan (cherished family portraits with a casual Southern California style)

The inside left has a paragraph telling people to open an Mpix account & make AT LEAST ONE backup copy of these images.

The inside right shows how different print sizes are cropped (to scale from 4x6 up to 16x24) and it lists the sizes Mpix offers that will NOT HAVE ANY cropping (4x6, 6x9, 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30)

I think they're going to be well-received. They look a lot like an insert that comes with a music CD (like a little book).

The trimming is the only bummer part of it.
I wish Mpix or WHCC would do 4.75in square folded cards

When I do more, I may be lazy & go with this same picture, but I may also go with more of a full-frame pic where the cropping will be much more obvious. Doing the 3-D perspective thing on those layers was somewhat time consuming.

Carey -- these are very cool. Are you sending these out with high-res files? Are you encouraging your clients to order from mpix directly? Just curious...

always have, always will.

They are really nice Carey. I have to redesign my marketing stuff and this is on my list of things to do. I've been using the 5x7 cards as incerts in 5x7 cases. Are you using jewel cases or DVD covers?

Taria

jewel cases.
standard jewel cases need 4.75in squares, so I trim down the cards to that size.

Is this a template that you'd be willing to share with the OSP community or sell?

-tmiller
Tim Miller Photography
http://tmillerphoto.com

ditto about the template!!! especially the content about the various print sizes! AWESOME explanation! I hate having that discussion with people so being able to SHOW them something would be fantastic!!!

bumpety bump

These are awesome! I too would love the template if you're willing to share it.

great idea. i'm going to be providing a shoot&burn coverage here soon, so your timing is awesome.

thanks!

I'll work on a template with a more "generic" image some time after I get back from NYC in a few weeks....
I don't think I can get it done before I leave on the 14th, tho.

One word: brilliant.

thank-you-thank-you-thank-you Carey!

This is great!

Ksenia

Thank you!!

Carey, these are great!

OMG This is brilliant. I'm always trying to get people to understand how great mpix is. Their site is not very slick though and can be a bit buggy, so I'm not sure how often they order from there. People are so stuck on shutterfly.

I buy clamshells for my CD's and have a ton before I run out to start doing CD inserts, but this is a great idea!!!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for sharing this great idea! I took your concept and put together my own... I've been wanting to do something for a long time but seeing yours gave me the visual inspiration I needed to complete my thought process! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Mpix is working on the next version of their website ...
supposedly, it will be out very soon
You know what they'l be adding soon after their new site is out??
WHITE BOX shipping with NO MPIX branding on it!!
AND the new site interface will be much better than the current site.
I ust heard a client say "shutterlfy just keeps getting better and better.."
ugh.
and their prints just keep looking like crap crap crap
(in my opinion at least)
I've got high hopes for the new mpix site!!!

Wow these are great! Did you ever post the template for these? I'd love to do something like this for my clients!

This is awesome...

I missed this the first time around. Very nice Carey, thank you.

So did I. Beautiful & creative idea Carey! I love Mpix! They are super fast & customer service rocks so I am VERY excited about the Mpix white boxes you say are coming soon without the Mpix logo on them!! yay!

Hi guys!
I haven't forgotten about this... I just had a full-force PC failure, and I'm just getting back to a working machine w/my old data.
I'll try to get this ready in the next day or two... but it may have to wait till next week. I'll do my best tho!

HERE YOU GO.
I won't keep that up for downloading for very long, so get it asap.

Browse to that link up there, download the zip file, open it in PS, and it's pretty self-explanatory.
There are two groups: inside stuff and outside stuff. Turn on the visibility for each group.
Change the colors, change the fonts, whatever.
When you like how it looks, save it as two jpgs: an outside jpg and an inside jpg.
Order it as 5x7 folded cards from Mpix.
When the cards arrive, trim them down to 4.75in squares.

If I had more time, I'd figure out those file sharing places that are supposedly free & let you distribute files & stuff like that. I just don't have time for that right now, so I'll keep that folder up for a while for people to get the file.

Enjoy!
If you like it, cool!
If you don't like it, you got what you paid for.
If you reallllly like it and want to pay back somehow, buy a ticket to BBQSmackdown and help out NILMDTS you don't have to do that, tho! When I find cool stuff for free, I want a way to pay back the giver somehow. If you get a ticket to BBQSmackdown but can't come, just let me know. I won't order a lunch for you, and even more $ will go back to NILMDTS.

*BBQSmackdown*

FYI: I have full model release from the girl in the pics, and got her & her family's permission to use the image, so no worries if you want to keep that pic in there. Also, I got permission from Mpix to distribute their logo as well, so no worries there, either.
If you want to use your OWN pic for the demo images, choose a pic and resize it to these pixel counts, then drag them into the PS file:

4x6: 300 pixels wide
5x7: 350 pixels wide
8x10: 500 pixels wide
11x14: 700 pixels wide
16x24: 1200 pixels wide

that gives you "to scale" demo images.

To darken the crop area, I used the marquee tool set to the aspect ratio of the print size, dragged out the size of the print on that size's layer, select -->inverse, Cntrl-U, and darkened the selection. That darkens the area that will be cropped for that print size.

thanks for sharing this!

you are awesome, thanks!!

Thanks so much Carey!

thank you so much!

quick question! What do you crop your images to before saving them on the CD?

Wow Carey! Awesome! And generous!