I hope you're using a caliper, rather than a ruler, to measure those CD cases.

hm, unfortunately no caliper just a ruler and a careful eye.

Ask the place where you'll print it (or check their website), they usually have templates for download that fits their working process.

Other places do, this place doesn't really specialize in CD cases so they don't seem to have that kind of thing. Also this CD case is non-standard.

Also this CD case is non-standard.

In that case, you've sort of answered your own question about getting it to fit into a standard rack. A survey of my collection for cardboard sleeve cases shows they are all just a light bristol board stock that match the height of a standard plastic case, and are otherwise square (with gluing tabs, of course).

Have you looked at setting it up with a thicker spine to accommodate the brochure with a sleeve for the CD (open at either the spine or the fore edge)? Back in the good old days, Adobe used to ship out software in some really elegant all-cardboard constructions....

One alternative, if you can spare some $, is to buy a CD with a cardboard sleeve and then take it apart -- you'll get better measurements that way, if you're using a ruler. The first pressings of Cat Power's "You Are Free" had a cardboard sleeve like the one you want to make. It might be easier to find Sleater Kinney's "The Woods," though. Aimee Mann's "Bachelor No. 2" has just a half-pocket for the booklet, but you can use the measurements of the other half.

Cheaper alternative: Sleeve City will send you a sample of their cardboard sleeves for just a penny. They also state that their pocket measures 5 in. x 4-7/8 in.

I'll try to post more later -- right now I have to go to work. :-)

Thanks guys, this is good advice. I'd love to know how Cat Power and Sleater Kinney do it, maybe a trip down to the CD store... (although it would hurt to buy a CD I didn't really want to own, I've tried with Cat Power really I have)

The printer is proposing a 230GSM board, to my mind that seems comparable to the bristol board. What I'd love would be a set of standard sizes for CDs that retailers can cope with. hm...

thanks again guys

Hey, Nicholas, I looked at my copy of Forms, Folds and Sizes to see if there were any CD templates, but no such luck.

But check this out... I just found some templates online:

http://www.discwizards.com/cd-dvd-artwork-templates.htm

http://www.duplication.ca/printspecs/1000.htm

http://www.kyric.com/templates2/templates.html

http://www.thecdduplicator.com/cd-sleeve-templates.html

So forget about Chan Marshall... Typing "CD sleeve templates" into Google does the trick. :-)

Seriously, maybe one of these templates will be helpful. Good luck!

Thanks Ricardo! So apparently we're not going with the inner sleeve cause it would be too fiddly, I guess that solves my problem, but this is great stuff thanks a lot. I did search for CD templates but I couldn't find one that had the double sleeve only basic wallets or digipaks etc. Cheers.