🎨 Cover Maker

How do I make an awesome front cover image?

AI is your cover designer. We suggest Ideogram — here's a proven prompt template and the tips that separate a pro-looking cover from an amateur one.

What resolution should my cover artwork be?

Aim for 300 DPI with a little to spare — about 1900 × 2850 px for a 6×9 front cover. Bigger is fine; too small will look soft in print.

What is the difference between trim, bleed, and safe area?

Trim is the final cut size, bleed is the extra margin that gets trimmed off, and the safe area is where text is guaranteed not to be cut.

What size should I generate my AI cover art?

In Ideogram, Midjourney or DALL·E, pick 2:3 for 6×9, 5.5×8.5 and 5.25×8, and 10:16 for 5×8 — then upscale, because a standard 1K generation isn't enough pixels for print at any trim.

Why does the cover maker need my final page count?

Because page count (plus paper type) determines your spine width. Wrong page count = wrong spine = a rejected or misaligned wrap.

Why did KDP reject my cover?

Almost always dimensions or resolution — usually a page count that doesn't match your interior, or artwork that's too low-res. Here's the checklist.

What kind of cover image should I upload?

Just your front-cover artwork — a single high-resolution image. The Cover Maker builds the spine and back around it.

Which printers and bindings can I make a cover for?

Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu, and B&N Press — in perfect bound, case laminate, and dust jacket. Not every printer offers every binding at every trim, so the menus only show what your chosen printer actually prints.

What is the Cover check?

A review panel that shrinks your cover to thumbnail size, drains the color out of it, and tells you what stops working — plus checks on typefaces, title size, spine text, blurb, and logo resolution.

How do I choose between white and cream paper?

Cream is standard for novels and easier on the eyes; white suits nonfiction, workbooks, and anything with images. It also slightly changes your spine width.

How do I match my cover's colors?

Colors follow your art automatically, or you can pick from a palette of your cover's dominant colors — for the background, spine, and back — plus set text colors by hand.

Should I select KDP or IngramSpark?

Pick the printer you're publishing with — they use slightly different spine and margin math. Lulu and B&N Press are supported too. Publishing on more than one? You can export a cover for each.

Can I create both KDP and IngramSpark covers?

Yes — export a wrap for each printer from the same book, at no extra cost. One cover license covers every variant.

Can I put a photo on the back cover?

Yes — add a back image, and if it makes the blurb hard to read, turn on the frost panel that blurs the photo behind the text.

Cover layers: title, tagline, and extra images

Add title, tagline, author, free text, and image layers on top of your artwork; drag or nudge them into place. Layers keep their position when you switch between paperback, hardcover, and dust jacket.

Does the tool support paperback, case laminate, and dust jackets?

Yes — all three. Paperback (perfect bound), hardcover case laminate, and hardcover with a dust jacket, for KDP or IngramSpark.

How do I format the back-cover blurb?

Use the blurb editor for bold, italic, underline, and per-paragraph alignment — center the tagline and justify the body in the same blurb. You can also type the HTML directly.

Why is my spine too narrow for text?

Thin books have thin spines. Below roughly 80–130 pages, printers don't allow spine text at all — it's a page-count reality, not a bug.

Should I include my own barcode?

If you have your own ISBN, yes — the tool generates the barcode. If you're using a free KDP ISBN, let KDP place its own instead.

Can I print the price on my barcode?

Yes — the ISBN & Barcode section can add the EAN-5 price add-on beside the barcode in US dollars, pounds, or euros. Optional, and easy to leave off.

Can I use a free KDP ISBN?

Yes, for Amazon. Just don't add a barcode yourself — KDP supplies both the ISBN and the barcode. Note a free KDP ISBN can't be used at other printers.

I don't have my ISBN yet — how do I leave room for the barcode?

Turn on "Reserve barcode area" so the blurb never reflows when you add the ISBN later, and "Blank white box" if KDP is assigning the barcode for you.

Why does the preview look blurry?

Usually the on-screen preview is just scaled down — but if the export is soft too, your front artwork is too low-resolution.

Can I change the page count after exporting?

Yes — change it and re-export anytime (re-exports are free). A changed page count changes the spine, so always re-export the cover after it moves.

Does the exported PDF include crop marks or guides?

No — and that's correct. KDP and IngramSpark want a clean, full-bleed cover at exact size, with no crop marks or guide lines.

Ebook cover vs. print cover — what gets trimmed?

The ebook cover is your front cover cropped to the taller 1:1.6 store shape, so a thin sliver comes off the left and right. Keep your title away from the side edges.

Why did my hardcover text move?

On a case laminate the printed sheet wraps a stiff board that is a little bigger than your pages, so the cover your reader sees is not the same rectangle as your page — we center your text on the cover instead.