Brainstorm ideas for the design of your liner notes. The liner notes provide character to your album, and are a space for personal expression. Consider the visual appeal of your liner notes. Do you want to include art, images or photographs in the liner notes? If your music has lyrics, think about the best way to present the lyrics. If there are multiple contributing artists, it is generally considered polite to give thanks and acknowledgement to those involved.
Gather art assets and information that you will need for the liner notes. Try to find photographs, fliers and artwork from musical performances and band members. Make sure you have any necessary information for your acknowledgements such as full names, recording labels and studio information.
Open your selected word processing or publishing software.
Click on "File" in the program toolbar, then select "New." Many programs feature preset templates for making liner notes. If your program contains template options, you may be prompted to select a template. Microsoft offers a range of free liner note templates for use with their Microsoft Office suite that can be downloaded from the Microsoft Office website (see Resources.) Select a template from the list of available templates, or select "Blank Document" to start from scratch and create your own design.
Consider the print layout of your liner notes. If you are making multi-page booklet style liner notes, you'll need to arrange the booklet pages in numerical order. Generally booklet pages are printed with two pages to every sheet of paper. The pages must be arranged in oppositional pairs for the booklet to print in the proper order. This means if you are making a 10-page booklet, pages 1 and 10 would be printed on the same sheet. The next sheet would contain pages 2 and 9, followed by pages 3 and 8 on the third sheet. Most publishing programs will automatically handle booklet style printing in their preset templates or print options. If you are using a very simple program that does not contain these options, you'll need to take into account the printing layout as you design the notes.
Arrange all of the content for your notes in an organized and attractive manner. Try to ensure that song lyrics are presented in the same order as the songs appear on the album. Make sure that images and text are aligned for maximum readability. Take into account the limitations of your printer when designing the notes. Try to use simple backgrounds that will not consume a large amount of ink. When choosing photographs and images, make sure the resolution is high enough for the image to be describable when printed.
Proofread any text in the notes before printing. Ensure that the lyrics presented are correct, and that no words are misspelled. Scan for grammatical or mechanical errors throughout the entire document.
Print a single sample of your final draft before going into "mass production." Assemble the printed final draft and examine it for any flaws, printing issues or bad design decisions. Adjust the notes for any changes that may arise from your examination. Save your work when you are satisfied.
Print and assemble liner notes to accompany your albums.