Wow, Mini, reading through your thread is thrilling! I didn't know it until now, and have been working widely on my own. As I like mostly editing ebooks, creating cover images has so far not been my favourite hobby (but perhaps ... becoming soon). So I have, in the first range, been looking for covers that look sufficiently pretty and .. are quick to be produced. So, actually, I'm working with simpkle tools:
- A photo editor (to define the dimensions, select a frame and first, simple effects, such as texture)
- MS Paint (further effects)
- MS Powerpoint (or similar), for text effects.
See examples.