* To be run automatically and swiftly from a shell script and automatically generate a frontcard and a traycard for a cd---usually data archive cd's. The traycard (which goes behind the CD itself) is U-shaped and the ends of the CD case bear the label of what the CD is.
* To have a minimum of dependencies---cdlabelgen only requires perl.
cdlabelgen was designed to simplify the process of generating labels
for CD's. It originated as a program to allow auto generation of
frontcards and traycards for CD's burned via an automated mechanism
(specifically for archiving data), but has now become popular for
labelling CD compilations of mp3's, and copies of CDs. Note that
cdlabelgen does not actually print anything---it just spits out
postscript, which you can then do with as you please.
The latest version of cdlabelgen as well as this document can be
found at http://www.red-bean.com/~bwf/software/cdlabelgen/. Please
make certain that you are using the latest version before submitting
any bug reports or patches.
Thanks to some really hairy postscript from GNUPlot, cdlabelgen now
supports arbitrary ISOLatin font characters. This means that you can
print out characters like ФЬЕфье (ASCII \230, \248, \229, \198, \216
and \197)
cdlabelgen comes with several eps images for you to use on your
labels. These images can be found in /usr/share/cdlabelgen or
/usr/local/share/cdlabelgen, depending on your installation. Included
are a Recycling icon, an mp3 icon, the Compact Disc icon (with and
without 'Digital' on it), Tux the penguin, and the new Debian 'swirl'
logo. If you have any freely redistributable eps files that you would
like to see distributed with cdlabelgen, send them to me at
<fitz@red-bean.com>, and I may be able to include them in
the next distribution of cdlabelgen (size, copyright, and subject
matter permitting).
Note that cdlabelgen now prints a 'tongue' as part of the
traycard. This folds around and is viewable from the front in jewel
boxes that are entirely clear (CD holder piece is not opaque). If you
do not have a clear CD holder in your jewel box, you may find it
easier to just cut the 'tongue' off---it's a bit easier to fold without
it.
cdlabelgen requires Perl Version 5.003 or greater. Ghostscript is not
required, but is recommended so that you can test out your labels
without wasting paper.
SWITCHES
-c category
Set the category (title) for the CD
-s subcategory
Set the subcategory (subtitle) for the CD
-i items
'items' should be a '%' separated list of items to print on the
traycard of the CD. Note that if the items list is more than 192 (256
with the -b flag) items long, cdlabelgen will truncate
it. cdlabelgen automatically flows the items into 2, 3, or 4 columns
and scales the fontsize accordingly. Excessively wide items will be
scaled down (into illegibility sometimes---I plan on working on that in
a future release) to fit horizontally. You can insert blank lines by
inserting 2 percent signs in a row into the items list.
-f filename
Get item names from file named filename. Each item should be on its
own line separated by carriage returns. Note that if the items list is
more than 192 (256 with the -b flag) items long, cdlabelgen will
truncate it. cdlabelgen automatically flows the items into 2, 3, or 4
columns and scales the fontsize accordingly. Excessively wide items
will be scaled down (into illegibility sometimes---I plan on working on
that in a future release) to fit horizontally. You can insert blank
lines by placing blank lines between items in this file
-d date
Set the date to be used as 'date' if not set or not overridden with
the -D flag, today's date will be used (default is today's
date). Use this option if you don't like cdlabelgen's default format of
YYCC-MM-YY, for example.
-D
Do not print any date (overrides -d as well)
-e cover_epsfile
Filename of eps file to print on cover. Note that cdlabelgen requires
that the eps file contain a proper '%%BoundingBox LLx LLy URx URy'
declaration according to the PostScript Document Structuring
Conventions. cdlabelgen uses this line to determine the dimensions of
the eps graphic so that it can position it appropriately on the
cover. Note that cdlabelgen first looks for this file in your working
directory. If it doesn't find it there, it will look in the list of
directories where the default eps files are stored (see
@where_is_the_template). This makes it easy to use the images shipped
with cdlabgelgen without typing miles of pathnames.
-S cover_eps_scaleratio
The ratio by which you want to scale the epsfile that appears on the
cover. If you omit this flag, cdlabelgen assumes a scaleratio of
1. This flag allows you to squeeze larger graphics into the cover or
expand smaller graphics to fill the cover. Scaleratio must be a number
(int or float).
-E tray_epsfile
Filename of eps file to print on traycard. Note that cdlabelgen
requires that the eps file contain a proper '%%BoundingBox LLx LLy URx
URy' declaration according to the PostScript Document Structuring
Conventions. cdlabelgen uses this line to determine the dimensions of
the eps graphic so that it can position it appropriately on the
cover. Note that cdlabelgen first looks for this file in your working
directory. If it doesn't find it there, it will look in the list of
directories where the default eps files are stored (see
@where_is_the_template). This makes it easy to use the images shipped
with cdlabgelgen without typing miles of pathnames.
-T tray_eps_scaleratio
The ratio by which you want to scale the epsfile that appears on the
traycard. If you omit this flag, cdlabelgen assumes a scaleratio of
1. This flag allows you to squeeze larger graphics into the traycard or
expand smaller graphics to fill the traycard. Scaleratio must be a number
(int or float).
-o outputfile
If the -o flag is used, cdlabelgen prints to outputfile instead of STDOUT.
C-t template
Specify explicitly which template to use. This is useful if you need
to debug a template, use a different template, or if you have created
your own template to use in lieu of the one provided with
cdlabelgen. Remember to send in patches to me at
<fitz@red-bean.com> if you hack any interesting fixes or
features into the template.
-b
Suppresses printing of the Plaque on the traycard, thus allowing you
to fit even more items on the traycard. Use if you have more than
approximately 192 items. This will allow you to print up to 256 items.
-h
print out the usage message
-w
Enables word wrapping of the items that print on the traycard. Note
that this is *not* extensively tested and may be buggy! Make sure that
you preview your label before printing it if you use this flag. This
was a frequently requested feature, so I hacked it into the perl side
of cdlabelgen as I don't have the time now to do it properly in
postscript---patches are welcome (hint, hint).
EXAMPLES
./cdlabelgen -c "My Filesystem" -s "/usr/local/foo" -e postscript/recycle.epsi > foo.ps
./cdlabelgen -c "title of cd" -s "subtitle" -i "Item 1%and Item 2%a third item here perhaps" -e postscript/recycle.epsi > bar.ps
- Karl Fogel, for general encouragement and that free software vibe
- Adam Di Carlo, for bug testing, help and making the .deb
- Greg Gallagher, for bug testing, coding, and tons of suggestions
- Goran Larsson, for feedback and date fixes
- Jens Claussen, for the patch to allow arbitrary ISO-Latin1 characters
- Bernard Quatermass, for contributing several excellent new features
ERRATA
Perhaps one of the most important features that I wanted in a
CD labelling program was the ability to print Title/Subtitle, and date
information on the endcaps of the CD jewel box to allow me to keep
archive disks in a standard CD rack and find a particular one without
yanking them all out and shuffling through them like a deck of cards.
cdlabelgen was inspired by the need for not only a simple cd labelling
program (there are many available), but by the need for a free
labelling program which could be integrated easily with scheduled CD
archiving routines. I did find a program called cdlabel
http://londo.ncl.ac.uk/~npac/cdlabel/, but that one is designed to work
with CDDB.
I searched the net for a suitable program, but found none, so taking
cues from programs that I found that perform similar tasks (like tape
labellers and DAT labellers), I embarked on this venture. Notable
inspiration came from the incredible audio-tape.ps by Jamie Zawinski
(which is indeed, as Jamie notes, completely out of control). Other
ideas were drawn from casslabel.c, and cdlabel.cc (noted above).
People have already pointed out to me that cdlabelgen could be
extended to perform other functions:
* Print out the actual label that goes on the disk (I suppose it is kinda funny that it is named cdlabelgen and doesn't really generate any label per se).
* Integrate with cdindex or cddb or something like that.
If you are interesting in doing or contributing to the above features
(or any other features for that matter!), please contact me at the
above address. Please report bugs and submit any patches to the above
address as well---all help is appreciated.
BUGS
* Excessively wide (> 30 chars) traycard items are shrunk into illegibility.
