Making a CD

When you have finished making a presentation, check it through carefully with the Project... Preview option. If you are satisfied with the way the card looks and the card will fit onto the type of CD you wish to use, you can make (or 'burn') a CD-R with it on. The exact procedure for this depends on your CD writer and CD writing software. CDR Presenter has an 'Export finished project' option that may be of help and the notes below provide some guidelines.

Export finsished project

The files that make up a project are kept together in a folder on your PC's hard disk and are ready for use at any time. Unlike some other multimedia programs, there's no separate step needed to 'generate', 'build' or 'compile' a presentation prior to making a CD of it and you can happily make a CD of a partly-finished presentation if appropriate.

The File option in the Designer program has an Export finished project button which is intended to help you get started making a finished CD. When you click this, the display shows the drive and folder where the project's files are located as well as the total number and size of the files. The folder location is really all you need to know; just use your CD writing software to burn a disc with the files in that folder.

Two further buttons are also displayed which may be of help...

Go to folder

This option opens the folder with your project's files in it in a normal Windows desktop display. You can ask to have the Designer program close itself automatically after the folder is displayed so you are just left with your normal Windows desktop display and the folder showing your project's files. Many CD writing programs support drag-and-drop to say which files should go on the CD so you may now simply be able to open your CD writing program and drag the files from the folder across to your CD software.

Copy files to...

This option copies the files for your presentation to a drive and folder you choose. This might be to a folder where you put files for writing onto a CD, another PC on an office network where there is a CD writer or perhaps a ZIP or high-capacity floppy to let you test the presentation or take it to another machine.

Some PCs are configured so that you can burn files onto a CD-R just by copying them to a CD-R or CD-RW drive. If your system is like this, this button could be used to write a CD in a single step.

Using your CD writing software

The exact procedure for your CD writing software will vary. As a general guide, we suggest that you:

Open your CD writing software
Select options to create a new CD-ROM. If you are asked to select a CD type, it should be a CD-ROM or data CD and the format should be normally be 'standard CD-ROM', 'ISO 9660' or similar. If you have included documents or files in file links with long filenames, you must select 'Joliet File System' or equivalent for the CD format.
Insert a blank CD-R into your CD recorder
Find and open the folder with your card's files in it. The Designer program can do this for you if appropriate. Click on the folder, choose 'Select all' and then drag the files across onto the CD. If your CD Writer software doesn't support drag-and-drop, the files may need to be added one-by-one. You must put the files onto the root (top level) of the CD - that is, you want to put the contents of the folder onto the CD, not the folder itself. (In normal use, there will be no folders on the finished CD.)
Close the Designer program, folder window and any other applications prior to writing the CD. This isn't always necessary but is recommended by some CD writing programs.
If desired, select a volume name for your CD, such as MYCARD, CATALOGUE or your firm's name
Choose the option to write or 'burn' the CD. If asked, opt to 'close the disc' after writing the files unless you specifically want to come back and write other files or sessions to the CD in future.
Insert the newly finished CD in your PC or another PC and check that your card autostarts and runs.

Other media and formats

The files that make up a presentation can be written onto, and used from, any type of disc with sufficient capacity - they are not limited to business card CD-Rs or indeed CDs at all. You can, for example, copy a presentation onto a ZIP disk or high-capacity floppy (presentations are too big to fit onto a normal 1.44Mb floppy). You can also send the files to another user or perhaps put them on a web page. If you wish to do this, you may be best to use an archiving program, such as WinZIP, to put all the files together in a single convenient file.

Presentations can be written to CDs with other programs or media, such as audio discs in 'mixed mode' or 'CD Extra' format. You can also put one or more presentations onto a CD linked together by another program or presentation. To do this, put the files for each card into their own folder and then include a program that, at the appropriate time, links to the EPPLAY.EXE program in each separate folder.

Presentations will autostart if placed in the root directory of an appropriate disk. If in a folder or on a PC's hard disk, you can run the presentation by choosing Start... Run... Browse and selecting the EPPLAY.EXE program in the presentations's folder. You can make a desktop shortcut or Start menu item to run a presentation the normal way by selecting EPPLAY.EXE as the item to open.