Okay - the artwork I could get my hands on was, mostly, crap - but I was able to get a decent scan of the first flick, and wanted art for a gang case (standard size, but will hold up to 6 discs) - and this is what I came up with.

Suggestions for improvement are appreciated.

Danno, the Paint Shop Amateur v8.0

The idea is good. However the artwork you have used for the cover is low quality. I know that this movie/s will contain little to no artwork out there for you to use. This is common with older movies.

Usually people will create something more generic or symbolic for the cover, like spartanstew did with his steven king cover here (http://www.dvdcoversfuzion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531).

I have some comments you may want to take into consideration to make the cover "the bomb"
1. Color correction. the majority of your images need some tweeking done on the colors. the blacks look grey and some of the flesh tones look washed out.
2.The above somewhat ties into #2. I can still see black / grey behind the titles, both on the spine and on the reverse cover. The color correction would take care of most of these issues. However, The best way to fix this problem is to delete the potions that remain. If your using Photoshop or a like app use a magic wand tool to select the color that you want to delete. You can also use any of the lasso tools to select areas that you need to remove. I know it sounds like a lot of work but the end result is that you will have CLEAN images in your cover.
3.On the spine, You need not list all the prophecy titles. Just drop in some text and name it the Prophecy Collection or something like that. It will free up some space and get rid of that cramped look. Use the reverse cover to explain what the case contains.
4.Seeming as Chrisopher Walken is the main imagery for each of the titles on your cover go ahead and use one really good image of him and agin tile it "The Prophecy Collection/Trilogy/etc.
You all ready have most of the work done on the reverse so just fine tune that and it will be done. Hope that some of this helps you out.

Usually people will create something more generic or symbolic for the cover, like spartanstew did
If I can find something that represents the whole thing (easy enough with the Indiana Jones case), I try to - but these three were such different flicks that nothing seemed to suit. As with the Predator/Predator 2 case, I felt a need for something from each. I'm currently looking for a good pic of the face mask from 'Silence of the Lambs' for my Manhunter/Silence/Hannibal gang pack - but I may end up having to go with another triptych, or maybe the full-face from 'Hannibal' for that one.

I have some comments you may want to take into consideration to make the cover "the bomb"
1. Color correction. the majority of your images need some tweeking done on the colors. the blacks look grey and some of the flesh tones look washed out.
Wonderful! I'm using Paint Shop Pro v8, and have no idea of what I'm doing in color correction. Maybe it's the old eyes, but no matter what I do, I either see no change or a reduction in quality. Is there a quick, simple walkthrough on color correction you could point me toward?

2. ... The best way to fix this problem is to delete the potions that remain. If your using Photoshop or a like app use a magic wand tool to select the color that you want to delete. You can also use any of the lasso tools to select areas that you need to remove. I know it sounds like a lot of work but the end result is that you will have CLEAN images in your cover.
Like I said - I'm a Paint Shop Pro Amateur - that magic wand selection tool drives me nuts. I tend to select with a rectangle, then remove from selection with the various shapes, chunk at a time. You're right, I'm lazy - but I should probably bite that bullet.

3.On the spine, You need not list all the prophecy titles. Just drop in some text and name it the Prophecy Collection or something like that. It will free up some space and get rid of that cramped look. Use the reverse cover to explain what the case contains.
Hmmm... if you were a lush, working on his second half-century, with over 1,000 titles to keep track of, you may understand why I like to put all of the titles on the spine when I can. I've got Dynamic Memory - it needs frequent refreshing. I do see what you say about that cramped look, though. You probably wouldn't like my Marx Bros spines for the same reason - but knowing which movie is in which case is awfully convenient for me.

OTOH, with something as basic as Prophecy, II, III - you've got a point. I'll have to keep an eye on that habit.

4.Seeming as Chrisopher Walken is the main imagery for each of the titles on your cover go ahead and use one really good image of him and agin tile it "The Prophecy Collection/Trilogy/etc.
You have an excellent point - could you point me toward an image of him in that role that'd not look like a poor screencap at that resolution? I tried that, with the full-face from P3 - and it just looked awful. As SilentWarrior pointed out, finding decent artwork for these was a challenge. (I've got original art on #1, but #2&3 had 'bought used from Blockbuster' covers.)

You all ready have most of the work done on the reverse so just fine tune that and it will be done. Hope that some of this helps you out.
Good suggestions - thanks! Again, a pointer toward something that'll help me understand Color Correction would be helpful - even a "usually just do this" instruction list would give me more than I've got.

Gimme another hack at this, and I'll see how much I can improve it.

All Right by your full understanding and taking the time to reply so precisely to comments made I will go as in depth as I can on the subjects that relate to my advice.

Color Correction: There are many ways in which to go about doing this. Unfortunately, I work with Photosop. Never fear most of these applications have the same or a least similar funtions. Before any of this is attempted make sure your monitor is set to represent a wide array of colors correctly. No need in completeing this task if your whites are more of a blue or green hue. Try and get it as perfect as you can. Now for the actual correction on the cover, as I said there are many ways to do this. In PS there are adjustments to levels, brightness/contrast, saturation, curves and so on. Usually there will be an auto version. This is the easiest and quickest method to color correct. The only problem is that it is the computer doing the task and they sometimes jack crap up. For instance it is seeing 200 variations of black while you only see 2. The computer will adjust the color to make these 200 more noticeable. this will add much uneeded grey to the images. the same goes for every other color you can think of. These color correction functions are tied to the image tab in PS. Does anyone use Paintshop? If so help out and specify the exact toolage to accomplish this task. You can also hit up the helpdesk for the info. When you do figure it out do this to each image as you import them into your project. This will insure continuity in the image quality.

Magic Wand: I recommended this because it is the quickest method to select what you want. But by your troubles I remember back when I first started using it. It was rather frustrating. Some things to take into consideration when using this tool. There should be a tolerance setting. This will expand or contract the amount of color variation selected. Utilize the alt and shift keys. In PS this allows you to remove or add to the selection. This is helpful for areas that are cut off by another color, like the hole in "O". If this is still giving you more hassle than it is worth, there should be some sort of polygon selection tool. This is a very simple tool that allows you to select complex shapes not just a rectangle.

Spine Titles: I hear ya! I am pushing 700+ myself. What about simply dropping in "The Prophecy" and then like ducks in a row I II III?

Christopher Walken Image: Yikes. You may want to try "Tools of the Trade" There is a thread in there that has a bunch of links to sites that offer hirez images. If there is nothing worth while found you can always take a screen capture from you computer. It is not a super great resolution but it will give you many images to pick from. One thing of note is that I am not speaking of the "prt sc" function. I am refering to actually capturing a screen shot from you media player. The quality from it is better than the funtion/prt sc. Another recommendation on this, if it is done, is to adjust the image size before bringing it into your project. For some reason the outcome is better when done as a seperate image.

All Right by your full understanding and taking the time to reply so precisely to comments made I will go as in depth as I can on the subjects that relate to my advice.
Many thanks - I was hoping to get a link to something, this is well beyond what I'd expected.

Color Correction: There are many ways in which to go about doing this. Unfortunately, I work with Photosop. Never fear most of these applications have the same or a least similar funtions.
The toolset seems to be remarkably similar between the applications - so this is all making sense.

Before any of this is attempted make sure your monitor is set to represent a wide array of colors correctly. No need in completeing this task if your whites are more of a blue or green hue. Try and get it as perfect as you can.
Challenge #1 - I'm working with an olde Compaq V50 - 14" CRT, and while I have a fairly good video (S3) card with adjustments, I'll need to track down some tools to help with this - my eyes ain't what they used to be, and they were never that good.

Now for the actual correction on the cover, as I said there are many ways to do this. In PS there are adjustments to levels, brightness/contrast, saturation, curves and so on. Usually there will be an auto version. This is the easiest and quickest method to color correct. The only problem is that it is the computer doing the task and they sometimes jack crap up.
ROTFL - PaintShop has the same tool, and is just as likely to skew the pooch. It runs Color Balance (settable to illumination temp (2500K - 9300K), usually left at 6500K), and strength of effect - (1 - 100 range), usually set to 30, with the 'Remove Color Cast' box checked - and, other than at the extreme ranges of temperature, I don't see much effect. It then runs Contrast Enhancement (where things can either get really improved or really botched), Clarify (again, I'm not sure exactly what this does, but it does tend to sharpen things a tad), and then Saturation Enhancement - another tool that doesn't have a lot of visual effect, and I'm not sure exactly what it does, but it does seem to improve the appearance in the compressed view I have on the screen. It then runs Edge Preserving Smooth (think despeckle) and Clarify.

Most times, if the automatic "run 'em all" script doesn't result in better appearance, I play with 'em individually - but just what I *should* be doing with these toys remains a murky mystery. If I can get my screen adjusted properly, and my eyes rejuvenated, I'll probably improve on these.

When you do figure it out do this to each image as you import them into your project. This will insure continuity in the image quality.

I'm not sure I want continuity - improvement seems a better goal.

Magic Wand: I recommended this because it is the quickest method to select what you want. But by your troubles I remember back when I first started using it. It was rather frustrating.

I've got the tolerance setting pretty much figured out - it's the other setting on this - select by RGB, Color, Hue, Brightness (occasionally very useful), or Opacity.

If you held a gun to my head, and offered me a million dollars to tell you the difference between RGB, Color, and Hue, and threatened to shoot me if I couldn't - you'd need to hide the body. Nor can I find anything in the documentation that explains the terms. I usually leave it set to RGB - when it works, it works most often on that.

There is a variety of shapes to the selection tool, but I mostly use rectangle because it's the easiest to control - corner to corner selection. Occasionally I'll go with oval, but if I set the magnification high enough, it works out easiest with rectangles.

Spine Titles: I hear ya! I am pushing 700+ myself. What about simply dropping in "The Prophecy" and then like ducks in a row I II II?
Yeah - you're right. Or 'the complete PROPHECY collection' should do the job. Font sizes instead of the lc/caps, of course.

Christopher Walken Image: Yikes. You may want to try "Tools of the Trade" There is a thread in there that has a bunch of links to sites that offer hirez images. If there is nothing worth while found you can always take a screen capture from you computer. It is not a super great resolution but it will give you many images to pick from.

Thanks for the pointer - sources for decent images to work with are always welcome. My media player will give me framecaps at about 500px high for resolution - great for the little pics on the back cover, but getting kinda ugly when blown up large enough for front-cover work.

Another recommendation on this, if it is done, is to adjust the image size before bringing it into your project. For some reason the outcome is better when done as a seperate image.

I'm not entirely sure how to adjust the size of just one layer in my working image, so I always adjust the size before I put it in anything. (There's probably a way - PSP will do almost anything - it's figuring out how to make it do what I want that's the challenge.

Many thanks, gravital - this was much more helpful than I expected. I should probably start asking questions in the proper forum - but this has been remarkably helpful.

High regards,

Danno
sore-eyed newbie, sorta.

Danno,
Glad to help out. Some of your comments make me believe you could be a comedian. Some real quick things that I picked up on in reading through.

Temperature: I believe this to simply be an alternate method of white balance. In video and camera use the range of temperatures signify what the white will look like. Sometimes slightly yellow, blue, green, red. It all depends on the originating light sorce. What does this mean to you? It is another method for tweaking the color balance.

In regards to Contrast Enhancement: You will only want to use this if there is a drastic change in the image color. When images are changed too much the contrast sometimes falls off. Use this to bring it back from the woes of grey and uncertainty.

Saturation: This one I picked up on a month after starting to scan and create covers. On one spectrum you have a greyscale image on the other a overcolored image. Those are the extreams. What you should be looking for is the sort of in between.

Edge Preservation: This one sounds like a matting function. When you cut and paste an image occasionally you will have some left over pixels that need to be removed around the border of the image. It either does that or adjusts the edges between the colors represented in the image. If the later is the case be wary. Often the compression of the file is the best method and using this tool will give it a posterized look.

So, What is the outcome of all this? What you should be attempting is to get the color as on point as possible. Make sure your blacks are indeed black, whites remain white, fleshtones, etc. Use what you know to be true and go with it.