Once you've created your home movie or audio recording, and you've burned it to disc, you'll need a cover that looks slick and professional. Nero CoverDesigner has the tools you need to design covers, cards and cases for your media and your business - all for free.

Nero CoverDesigner is a desktop publishing application that ships with dozens of handy templates. Because it's a Nero product, its primary purpose is the creation of sleeves for your CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs - the ones you may have already burned in another Nero application.

The Nero CoverDesigner product ships with templates for most common dimensions of cases and covers, including hard plastic jewel cases and Blu-Ray boxes. Use objects and fonts from the library in your design, or choose a pre-set template to speed up the design process.

The software has its own drawing tools, but unlike more general applications, some of them are geared specifically towards media design. There's even a track list builder that makes it much easier to output a neatly formatted tracklist, without the nightmare of spacing everything by eye.

When you're done, cross reference your design against the overlaid grid to make sure everything is lined up as it should be. As you print, select the correct type of paper to ensure the final output is free from smudges and streaks.

For a free application, Nero CoverDesigner offers plenty of versatility beyond its basic premise. The application isn't just for media cases; it comes with additional layouts for on-disc labels, business cards and sleeve note inserts. Granted, it's not a professional design tool, but it doesn't necessarily need to be. When you want to quickly create a sleeve for something, the templates are invaluable in themselves, but it's the extras that make Nero CoverDesigner well worth downloading.