Creating printed packaging at Megalodon is a very unique experience, unlike doing a printing run at any other replication firm. You have virtually unlimited choices that you can make to create something truly your own. You do not have to pick model #12XY-A and suffer the pains (and great expense) of trying to change something here or there. Say goodbye to cookie cutter packaging that looks like everyone else’s, and say hello to Megalodon—your source for custom CD and DVD packaging and manufacturing. Looking for something a little out of the ordinary? No problem. If you can describe it, we can build it!

Printed packaging is generally in full color, 4C CMYK Process—if you are using a standard paper stock, you will have a white background. You can also use Spot or Pantone colors (Pantone Matching System or PMS colors) if you want an exact color. For example, Coca Cola red is a special color and not a mix of CMYK, as it needs to be exactly the same color every time. Depending on the number of Pantone colors (and if the printer has to special order them), there may be extra charges for Pantone color printing. Keep in mind that standard matchprints are in CMYK as Pantones theoretically do not need color proofing.

If you are using fiberboard paper stock in your project, keep in mind that this stock is unbleached and is an organic, brownish color. Your colors are going to be a bit muted, as it’s printing on brownish paper instead of white. If you want your colors to remain true, it might be best to choose a different stock. Alternatively, for an added cost, we can add a white spot area underneath your art to help the colors to be closer to true—although there will still be a difference between ink placed on a spot white area on fiberboard to printing directly to white paper. Keep in mind that when using the spot white area, knockout areas will be brownish rather than white. You can have some fun using this to your advantage. Ask us if you’d like to see some photos of fiberboard projects—we have lots. Kraft paper is a good option for your booklet if you want a brownish background and edges.

Pockets can be used in jackets to hold the disc itself, or to hold a booklet or insert. We have a number of pocket styles available for you. A standard jacket pocket is closed on the outside edge and opens to the spine, a tube pocket is open on both ends, slit pockets are made by a cut in the panel, and diagonal literature pockets are created by an extra panel folding in.

Standard jacket pockets and tube pockets can both have thumbholes, and a lot of thumbhole styles are available. The most commonly used thumbhole styles are the standard thumbhole, deep thumbhole, half-moon thumbhole, wide thumbhole, hourglass thumbhole, or no thumbhole at all. We can also create wonderful custom thumbholes using vector images—as long as the vector image is not too complex for the knife to cut.

We have all kinds of options for booklets and inserts. Whether you’re looking for a saddle-stitched booklet (stapled, up to about 60 pages), a perfect bound book (glued, square-spine style, 24 page minimum), gatefold-style folder (usually 8 panels), accordion-style folder (from 6 to about 10 or 12 panels), or a roll-up folder (from 6 to about 10 or 12 panels)—we’ve got your booklet or insert covered.

If you are setting up your booklet in InDesign, please set up your page size to the exact size you want the page to be, with facing pages, and place the pages in the spreads in Reader's Order with the covers on the first and last pages separate. If you intend to submit individual pages, please send the inside and outside cover art as separate files and the rest of the pages in Reader's Order spreads (also including page numbers helps).

If your booklet is to be perfect bound (square backed), then the inside and outside cover art will usually be in a different file, since the covers will need a spine. Keep us in the loop when you're planning your art. We're happy to help!

Have a custom sticker you'd like on your packaging? We can do it! Just supply the art as you would any other component of your project. These don't have to be some "standard" shape - the shape is totally up to you.

We can make sticker sheet inserts as well, for your end users to apply where they want.

Megalodon is happy to provide you with a complimentary barcode. You will need to ask us to place it in the art for you, or request to have the barcode sent to you so that you can place it yourself. Be sure to look for it in the PDF softproof you get back (the first proof), and the hardcopy proofsets that follow.

Clients often ask us about the barcodes we provide, and if it would be better if they provided their own. The answer is – it’s probably not worth the expense to purchase your own. When we purchase barcodes from the United Bar Code Council, we buy them in a large lot and get about one thousand at a time. Our cost is something around $900. We can then distribute the barcodes to our clients, one per title. The barcode initially has our information (the replicator & purchaser) associated with it. The purpose of a barcode is to give a title a unique number—a number designated by the UBC that no one else will have. When you give your title to a distributor or retailer, say for example Amazon or Walmart, they are going to ask you to fill out forms and assign the correct information to this title. What they want and need is a unique UBC number to have in their database, which is what they get. You can purchase a barcode directly from the UBC and it will have your own information associated with it. You will probably still have to fill out the same form and input the information. Your cost to purchase a single barcode is around $800. If you have your own barcode, we can place it in the art for you, or you can do it yourself.

We are capable of printing inkjet addresses on offset printed packaging for mailers and other purposes. This is great if you want to include some sort of individualized information on your packaging—different from unit to unit. To do this directly on the offset would require a new plate to be generated for each change—inkjet is a much more economical way to perform this.

With Megalodon, you're not limited to plain old CMYK. Talk with a Project Coordinator about the great ink options you have available to you.