Add a Cover Image

Every book should have a cover image, and Sigil can make adding one to your EPUB easy. You will need to have an existing cover image available to use (and have permission to use it). The exact size of the cover is up to you and the guidelines for your device, however here are some general ideas about what is expected.

• Kindle Direct Publishing — 2,560 x 1,600 (1.6:1 aspect ratio)
• Novels and Non-Fiction — 2,560px x 1,600px (1.5:1 aspect ratio)
• Illustrated Books — 2,800px x 3,920px (1.4:1 aspect ratio) or 3,000px x 3,600px (1.2:1 aspect ratio)
• Audiobooks — 3,200px x 3,200px (1:1 aspect ratio)

You should check with your book vendor and with the specifications for your targeted devices for the details on proper cover sizes.

To add a cover, just select the menu item Tools→Add Cover

That menu item will display the Add Cover Window.

The Add Cover window shows you a list of images already in your EPUB. But since you haven’t loaded any images yet, it’s empty.

You can insert the image into your EPUB and make it the cover in one step by clicking on the Other Files button.

Select your cover image from your filesystem and click OK.

And that’s it. Sigil has added your image to the EPUB and marked it as the cover image. It has also created an HTML file at the start of your book and inserted your cover image into the file so that it will be displayed at the start of the book:

The contents of your Book Browser show that the cover.xhtml file has been added to the Text folder, and the cover.jpg image has been added to the Images folder.

You should Save your book.