A book’s cover consists of 3 parts — the front cover, the spine and the back cover.
Front cover
The front cover design can be a unique artwork illustration that the author has created or commissioned, or we can collaborate on imagery that the author feels would be a creative representation of their book.
Some authors have ideas about the images they would like to see on the front, as well as the colours they would like to see utilized for the spine and back cover.
We can provide images from a large stock of photos and graphic images, or the author can commission an illustrator or photographer — we would be happy to make recommendations of artists or photographers if this is the direction the author would like to pursue.
Drafts of the front cover with a choice of fonts and colours for the author to choose will be sent via email as .pdf file format. By offering choices of fonts and colours allows the author to visually see what appeals to them. This process of creating drafts continues until the author has decided on the final colour and font.
Spine
The spine is typically a complimentary colour to the image chosen for the front cover. The spine will have the title of the book and the author’s name and if required the logo of the printer.
Back cover
The back cover text material can include a brief book description, testimonials, or even a short author biography. It also has the barcode which we will create and place and the logo of the printer if required.
Drafts of the spine/back cover with a choice of fonts and colours for the author to choose will be sent via email as .pdf file format. By offering choices of fonts and colours allows the author to visually see what appeals to them. This process of creating drafts continues until the author has decided on the final colour and font.
Final layout of the complete cover which includes the front cover, the spine and the back cover will be completed when the number of pages has been finalized through the book design process. The number of pages is the final deciding factor on the width of the spine.
Once the author has approved the final draft, the completed book cover file will be sent to the author or to the printer as a high resolution printer-ready .pdf file.
Image quality & preparation
The resolution of photo images for your book ideally should be 300 pixels per inch (ppi). For example, an image to fit across a 4” space on a page should be 1200 pixels wide (300 pixels x 4″).
The resolution of line drawing images should ideally be 600 pixels per inch (ppi).
Book printers will either reject or provide a warning if images are more than 15% lower than the ideal resolution.
How to find the dimensions (in pixels) of an image:
Mac users: Locate your image, right click the image and select Get Info. A pop-up window will open with the dimensions of your image displaying in the More Info section. The dimensions show the pixel height and width of your photo.
PC users: Locate your image, right click the image and select Properties. View the Summary or Details tab.
Please ask us anything you are not sure of. A simple question might save us a lot of time, and save you money.