Rolling Stone 1,000th issue to have 3D cover

Lenticular imaging, or 3-D to you, will be used to produce the most expensive magazine cover in history, anywhere -- the 1,000th issue of Rolling Stone magazine; the anniversary issue is due to hit the newsstands in Canada and the United States on May 5.

It is reported that Wenner Media, the publisher, will be spending 10 times what a normal full-colour cover costs, but as Wil Dana, the managing editor said: "We wanted a 'wow' factor. It looks amazing."

The special cover is a montage similar to the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album and there are images of hundreds of pop culture luminaries since the late 1960s. The magazine has been working on the idea for more than a year.

National Graphics printed 2 million cover images -- as well as 2 million for the back cover ad from Target Corp.--and then sent them to Inserts USA to be glued to the cover.

The lenticular image is actually a lens pasted onto another image. In the 1990s, National Graphics developed a lens thin enough to run through a standard printing press. The process has been patented and the company has other related patents pending.