DVD Cover Template

Make a custom cover for a home movie, wedding video, school performance, band demo or backup disc. These templates print at actual size: a standard DVD case insert with front, spine and back panels, round disc labels, and CD jewel case booklet and tray card templates, each with trim and safe-area guides. Design in any app using the Word template or the measurements below, or print the guides and draw by hand.

DVD and CD cover sizes

Measure your case before printing: sizes vary slightly between manufacturers.

Understanding bleed, trim and safe area

• Trim line — the solid outline, where you cut.
• Bleed — if your design has colour to the edge, extend the background about 3 mm (⅛ in) past the trim line so no white slivers appear after cutting.
• Safe area — the dashed inner line, about 3 mm inside the trim; keep text and important images inside it.
• Spine — the narrow strip between front and back; keep spine text short and centred, reading top to bottom (the common convention in North America and the UK).

Printing the DVD insert

1. The insert is wider than US Letter, so the template is set up on US Legal paper (8.5 × 14 in) in landscape; A4 landscape is too short for the full 273 mm width, but A3 or Tabloid also work.
2. Print at 100% / “Actual size”, not “Fit to page”.
3. Use matte or glossy photo paper or thin card (up to about 200 gsm) — thicker card will not slide into the clear sleeve.
4. Cut along the trim lines with a paper trimmer or craft knife and ruler.
5. Slide the insert under the clear sleeve of the case, front panel on the right when the case opens like a book.

Designing your cover

• Front — title in large, readable type; one strong image; a subtitle or date.
• Spine — title and year, so the disc is easy to find on a shelf.
• Back — a short description, a few still images, a scene or track list, running time and credits.
• Disc — title, date and a simple graphic; avoid heavy ink near the hub.

Use images at 300 dpi at print size — a full-bleed front panel needs about 1,530 × 2,160 pixels. Photos from phones usually have enough resolution; screenshots from video may look soft.

Disc labels

For printable discs (with a white printable surface), some inkjet printers print directly onto the disc using a tray. Otherwise use adhesive disc labels, applying them with a centring tool so the disc stays balanced. Paper labels that are off-centre or peeling can cause playback problems in some drives, so for archival discs many people prefer to write on the disc with a disc-safe marker and keep the design on the case insert.

Worked example: a wedding video

A couple sets the front panel to a favourite portrait with their names and date inside the safe area, and a white “Our Wedding · 14.06.2027” spine. The back lists the chapters — ceremony, speeches, first dance — over a soft photo, with the videographer’s name at the bottom. They print on legal-size matte photo paper at actual size, trim, and slide it into a standard 14 mm DVD case, then print a matching disc label.

Copyright

Make covers for your own videos, recordings and backups. Reproducing commercial film or album artwork for distribution may infringe copyright and trademarks.

Formats

Print-ready PDF templates at actual size (DVD insert on US Legal landscape; disc labels and CD templates on US Letter), an editable Word DVD insert, and a disc archive log in Excel.