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DSpider · 11-29-2011, 07:46 AM

1. Adobe Photoshop / GIMP
2. Adobe Illustrator / Inkscape

I would go with option number two. Vector graphics. You never know what will the standard e-reader resolution be 5 years from now. Just look at the iPod touch. The first 3 models (2007-2010) had a 480x320 screen. If you created a 320x320 CD cover and thought to yourself "oh, it's fine for that display", and then in 2010-2011 got the 4th "gen" with its 960x640 display... Guess what? Your cover looked blurry. And you had an entire frigging collection of blurry covers.

But not with SVGs. They scale really well when zoomed and they generally look much more uniform and sharp than rasterized content (or "pixel-based" as someone on this forum put it). Also, SVGs can take up less space when done properly and can even include rasterized content (eg. nature photos, author mugshots, etc).

If you're looking for service I'm sure you can find someone to design covers for you. For a fee. They'll usually do a much better job than simply using a template.

But if you're looking for templates, I'm sure you can find some too.

Methods? There are lots of tutorials and tips on how to create ads, brochures, posters, portfolios, presentations, logos, etc. Even if they may not seem relevant to creating book covers, they're actually very closely related. I'm sure that reading up on design in general can help, if you're serious about this.

11-29-2011, 07:46 AM	#4
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	1. Adobe Photoshop / GIMP 2. Adobe Illustrator / Inkscape I would go with option number two. Vector graphics. You never know what will the standard e-reader resolution be 5 years from now. Just look at the iPod touch. The first 3 models (2007-2010) had a 480x320 screen. If you created a 320x320 CD cover and thought to yourself "oh, it's fine for that display", and then in 2010-2011 got the 4th "gen" with its 960x640 display... Guess what? Your cover looked blurry. And you had an entire frigging collection of blurry covers. But not with SVGs. They scale really well when zoomed and they generally look much more uniform and sharp than rasterized content (or "pixel-based" as someone on this forum put it). Also, SVGs can take up less space when done properly and can even include rasterized content (eg. nature photos, author mugshots, etc). If you're looking for service I'm sure you can find someone to design covers for you. For a fee. They'll usually do a much better job than simply using a template. But if you're looking for templates, I'm sure you can find some too. Methods? There are lots of tutorials and tips on how to create ads, brochures, posters, portfolios, presentations, logos, etc. Even if they may not seem relevant to creating book covers, they're actually very closely related. I'm sure that reading up on design in general can help, if you're serious about this. Last edited by DSpider; 11-29-2011 at 09:24 AM.