Several weeks ago, we discussed how to quickly burn an audio CD without creating a full layout by using the Export > Burn Audio to CD command. While this is fine for quickly building a CD, it does not provide the flexibility and control necessary for a more professional product. For that, we’ll take a look at creating a CD Layout and how to insert audio and edit CD-TEXT metadata.
A CD Layout consists of audio files, CD Track marker ranges, or a combination of both, inserted into a list. Each item, as well as the project itself, can contain metadata including title, genre, composer, message, ISRC, MCN, etc. A layout file may be saved and opened again at a later date to burn additional copies or to make changes. The typical workflow will be to open the media you intend to write to CD, create a CD Layout, make any changes to the arrangement or metadata, and burn to physical media.
You can create a new CD Layout via a few methods:
- File > New > CD Layout
- The New CD Layout option from the New File button in the Files panel
https://blog.adobe.com/media_ba28901904d1cdf3285a61f2d4609d15141f72a3.gif - Select one or more audio files in the Files panel, right-click, and choose Insert into CD Layout > New CD Layout (or an open CD Layout)
- Select one or more CD Track markers from the Markers panel (see screenshot below,) right-click, and choose Insert into CD Layout > New CD Layout (or an open CD Layout)
CD LAYOUT PANEL
CD Layouts are an alternate view of the Editor panel that allow you to drag-and-drop audio files and CD Track markers, re-arrange their order, adjust their pre-track pause duration, and view and edit CD-TEXT metadata. You can drag files directly from the Files panel or the Media Browser panel, or drag CD Track markers directly from the Markers panel. By default, the Markers panel only displays markers for the active file. You can quickly view markers for ALL open files by selecting the “Show markers of all files” toggle button located near the top-right of the Markers panel:
