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Whackatagin · 01-23-2012, 08:58 AM

Hi Rand

I've done a few covers recently and the one thing that you need more than anything else is a keen eye and a very good imagination. That said, here's the process I use. (I'm not a pro by the way, I'm just a lot better at it than the people who ask me to do it )

What you need to start with:

A background picture/image, choice is only limited by imagination.
Some form of overlay editor. Sounds complicated, but the likes of good old PowerPoint will give you plenty of options.
Finally, you need some sort of image format editor, that's a fancy way to say a photo or picture manager. If you have PowerPoint, sniff around the start menu for Office and you will find MS Picture Manager, it's limited, but VERY effective for getting your cover the right shape, scale, crop etc.

So lets look at item one, a background image. One thing I would definitely not advise is "robbing" a picture from the web. Of course if you're only using your cover in calibre or your own device I suppose that's okay. Anyway, a good photo is an excellent place to start. Alternatively there are some really cool image design programs out there. I personally use Bryce 7 A LOT. Takes a bit of learning to get really creative, but there are lots of people using it and sharing their tips and tricks on YouTube. Bryce PLE is free from DAZ Studios.

Next you want to add some text. Let's stick with Powerpoint for now, but you can use just about anything that will let you draw on your picture. Photoshop is good, but expensive. Paintbox is rough and doesn't scale well later and the options are limited, but it works. So, what I normally do is...

Open a new file in PP and insert my picture. It will generally scale it to fit if it's to big. Don't worry if it's too big or the wrong shape, we'll get to that later. However, it is important that you only add text and graphics to the area that you will be using as your cover. A 3:4 ratio is normal for most ereader formats. (i.e. 600x800 pixels) AND, if you are going to upload your cover for thumbnail conversion, many sites, such as Kobo will crop it further to a more traditional paper book size of 5:7, so leave a little space down the sides when you add your text.

Notes for text. Keep it big and simple. Have a look on Amazon or B&N at published covers. Sometimes you'll get a fancy designed title, but everything else is plain and simple. Avoid fancy fonts like lucinda, comic sans etc There's a reason you don't see them a lot on cover, there @#$%.

Once you have your text laid out you need to scale it, i.e. get the font the right size. Don't be afraid to get big! Once it's on an ereader or a website your not going to be able to read that subtle little by-line, so ditch it or make it BIG. Once your happy with that, align it all. Vertically and horizontally. This is where the keen eye bit comes in. If you center your title in the middle it will generally look cheap and awful, drop it down to about a third from the bottom, or lift it up to nearer the top. Do likewise with your auhtor name, and add any by-line stuff in as appropriate. Use the box around your text as a guide and move it with the arrow keys on your keyboard. It's slow, but you can see it coming into alignment, and indeed passing the optimum point.

Everything looking good? Excellent, now make new slide and copy everything you've done on to it. Now repeat all of the above again. Then repeat as many times as required until you have several variations of your cover. Fonts, sizes, colours, spacing etc. Sounds like a lot of grief, but you'll see the worth when your done.

Okay, now here's the bit that most people muck up...

Pick the final image you are going to use, left click and drag a box over everything on the slide and then select "Group" from the "Arrange" menu. Done? Good! now right click on the cover and select "Save as picture". Tada! you now have a single image cover in, most likely Jpeg format. Png is okay for overlays, but Jpeg is probably best for cover images, as it will convert easily later if you change formats.

So now we want to make your big square picture into a nice hi-res cover the shape of your ereader screen. Ideally you also want to reduce the size a little as well, i.e. 600x800 3:4 ratio. So open your picture manager and locate your cover. MS picture manager has a nice simple set of tools, usually down the right-hand side of the screen. The first tool you want is "crop". Select 3:4 from the options and it will put a big square the correct size over your picture. You can move the square about to make sure everything is centre as you want to see it. Then click the "Ok" button. BANG! You've got a perfect cover shape.

The last thing you may want to do, because it will save you any compatibility issues later, is reduce the overall size. i.e. scale it. This is really easy, just pick the resize tool and select 600x800. Bosh!!! you're done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I said, there are a number of free and paid for programs you can use. What you've got or what you want won't really affect the process of creating a snazzy professional looking cover. How you get it into your book is a whole other post.

(Did I say "post"? this has turned out to be more of a feature blog

)

Here are two alternatives I did for a guy a few weeks ago as an example of what you can achieve with a bit of patience and creativity.

Images removed

Best of Luck

G:0)

01-23-2012, 08:58 AM	#6
Whackatagin Tweaker Posts: 102 Karma: 324366 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Scotland Device: Kindle / KOBO / PC	A good way to make cover images. Hi Rand I've done a few covers recently and the one thing that you need more than anything else is a keen eye and a very good imagination. That said, here's the process I use. (I'm not a pro by the way, I'm just a lot better at it than the people who ask me to do it ) What you need to start with: A background picture/image, choice is only limited by imagination. Some form of overlay editor. Sounds complicated, but the likes of good old PowerPoint will give you plenty of options. Finally, you need some sort of image format editor, that's a fancy way to say a photo or picture manager. If you have PowerPoint, sniff around the start menu for Office and you will find MS Picture Manager, it's limited, but VERY effective for getting your cover the right shape, scale, crop etc. So lets look at item one, a background image. One thing I would definitely not advise is "robbing" a picture from the web. Of course if you're only using your cover in calibre or your own device I suppose that's okay. Anyway, a good photo is an excellent place to start. Alternatively there are some really cool image design programs out there. I personally use Bryce 7 A LOT. Takes a bit of learning to get really creative, but there are lots of people using it and sharing their tips and tricks on YouTube. Bryce PLE is free from DAZ Studios. Next you want to add some text. Let's stick with Powerpoint for now, but you can use just about anything that will let you draw on your picture. Photoshop is good, but expensive. Paintbox is rough and doesn't scale well later and the options are limited, but it works. So, what I normally do is... Open a new file in PP and insert my picture. It will generally scale it to fit if it's to big. Don't worry if it's too big or the wrong shape, we'll get to that later. However, it is important that you only add text and graphics to the area that you will be using as your cover. A 3:4 ratio is normal for most ereader formats. (i.e. 600x800 pixels) AND, if you are going to upload your cover for thumbnail conversion, many sites, such as Kobo will crop it further to a more traditional paper book size of 5:7, so leave a little space down the sides when you add your text. Notes for text. Keep it big and simple. Have a look on Amazon or B&N at published covers. Sometimes you'll get a fancy designed title, but everything else is plain and simple. Avoid fancy fonts like lucinda, comic sans etc There's a reason you don't see them a lot on cover, there @#$%. Once you have your text laid out you need to scale it, i.e. get the font the right size. Don't be afraid to get big! Once it's on an ereader or a website your not going to be able to read that subtle little by-line, so ditch it or make it BIG. Once your happy with that, align it all. Vertically and horizontally. This is where the keen eye bit comes in. If you center your title in the middle it will generally look cheap and awful, drop it down to about a third from the bottom, or lift it up to nearer the top. Do likewise with your auhtor name, and add any by-line stuff in as appropriate. Use the box around your text as a guide and move it with the arrow keys on your keyboard. It's slow, but you can see it coming into alignment, and indeed passing the optimum point. Everything looking good? Excellent, now make new slide and copy everything you've done on to it. Now repeat all of the above again. Then repeat as many times as required until you have several variations of your cover. Fonts, sizes, colours, spacing etc. Sounds like a lot of grief, but you'll see the worth when your done. Okay, now here's the bit that most people muck up... Pick the final image you are going to use, left click and drag a box over everything on the slide and then select "Group" from the "Arrange" menu. Done? Good! now right click on the cover and select "Save as picture". Tada! you now have a single image cover in, most likely Jpeg format. Png is okay for overlays, but Jpeg is probably best for cover images, as it will convert easily later if you change formats. So now we want to make your big square picture into a nice hi-res cover the shape of your ereader screen. Ideally you also want to reduce the size a little as well, i.e. 600x800 3:4 ratio. So open your picture manager and locate your cover. MS picture manager has a nice simple set of tools, usually down the right-hand side of the screen. The first tool you want is "crop". Select 3:4 from the options and it will put a big square the correct size over your picture. You can move the square about to make sure everything is centre as you want to see it. Then click the "Ok" button. BANG! You've got a perfect cover shape. The last thing you may want to do, because it will save you any compatibility issues later, is reduce the overall size. i.e. scale it. This is really easy, just pick the resize tool and select 600x800. Bosh!!! you're done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I said, there are a number of free and paid for programs you can use. What you've got or what you want won't really affect the process of creating a snazzy professional looking cover. How you get it into your book is a whole other post. (Did I say "post"? this has turned out to be more of a feature blog) Here are two alternatives I did for a guy a few weeks ago as an example of what you can achieve with a bit of patience and creativity. Images removed Best of Luck G:0) Last edited by Whackatagin; 02-14-2012 at 11:22 AM. Reason: Sorry, sold the pictures and rights.