Transcripts
1. Introduction to eBook cover design course - What you will learn inside this course.: Hi, I'm FEA and welcome to a book cover design
course for beginners. In this course, I
will show you one of the easiest and
quickest ways to design professional a book
covers that you can use to publish your
eBook on Amazon. This course makes
it as easy as it can get to design a book covers even without having
any design experience or knowledge in design tools, I've used the method I will share with you in this course to create multiple covers like these in a very short
amount of time, thanks to the beginner friendly designed tools available today, you didn't have to be a
professional designers nor have any experience in
book cover creation. First, I will show you how to find Amazon's
recommendations for a book cover size
and format to learn what criteria you're able
to cover needs to meet. I will also show you how to
find cover design ideas and inspirations that
help you select the cover design style
that you like the most. Then we will move on to
the design tutorial, where I will show you a
step-by-step guide on how to design an April cover using beginner friendly
design software. I've also included a bonus video where I show you how to find breed design templates
that you can customize and use for
your own a book cover. So if you're looking
for a simple way to design an ebook cover using a free design tool this course has made
exactly for you. Thanks for watching and I hope to see you
inside the course.
2. Get familiar with Amazon KDP recommendations for ebook covers.: Hi. In this video, I will show you how to find the Amazon guidelines for
creating a book covers. As you can see here,
there's a page on KTB.amazon.com that you can access even though you
don't have an account. I will include the link of the page for you below
in the resources. And I highly recommend
that you take a look at it and read through
the guidelines. Now for a quick review of the dimensions and the
formats that we need to use. You can see here that Amazon recommends that ideally
the size should be 2560 pixels in height and
1600 pixels in width. Another important point is the size of the images
that we're gonna be using. It says here that
it's important for the images to be smaller
than 50 megabytes. As you can see here, there are some other guidelines
that Amazon included and especially the content guidelines that I highly
recommend that you read through. And they are most
importantly talking about the importance of
uploading your own work and not copying
somebody else's work or using another book's title
and subtitle and so on. Once you're ready, reading
through this page and making sure that you are
familiar with the guidelines, you will be ready to move
on to the next step, which is finding some design
ideas and inspirations.
3. Collect book cover design ideas and inspirations: Hi, In this video, I want to show you quickly
how you can collect some ideas for the
book cover design that you're gonna be creating. I always take the step before
I begin designing anything. It's not for the sake of
stealing anybody's work, but it's just a way
to get inspired it to collect some different ideas
and compare between them. Maybe to find a
font that you like on a book cover or a
color mix and so on. So the place that I wanted
to show you where to research first is
called Pinterest. If you've never heard
of Pinterest before, it is a free social
media platform. It is based on collecting ideas and pinning them and
saving them for later use. I use it a lot before I begin
designing anything because it is a great place to
collect some inspirations. The first thing I
will do is to go to Pinterest and then
go to home feed. Then click on Search. And then I will type
book covers and the search bar cover ideas. Then you can see
that the platform shows many different
ideas for design. Of course, not all of them
are relevant for the search, but it doesn't matter. And then you can keep
looking until you find something that you like
and you're inspired by. Now if you want to
minimize the search to something more relevant
to your topic than what you need to do is to add the topic on the search bar. In this example, I will look for something like yoga books. Then you can see that
the platform showed me some examples that
are related to yoga, more than just
general design ideas. So again, take your
time and researching, of course, the topic that is
relevant for your own book. If you have a cook,
then you need to change the keyword here. Then you will see that you will collect some different ideas. So this is a great place to find inspiration
and take your time on scrolling through and then maybe take some screenshots. Or if you have an
account on Pinterest and all you need to do is
just click on Save. Then you will be ready to
move on to the next video, which is the design tutorial.
4. Ebook cover design tutorial for beginners.: Hi there. Now that you have the dimensions that
Amazon recommends for a book covers and you also collected some cover
ideas and inspirations. It's time to begin designing it. And this video, I will show
you how you can design your ebook cover using a free design software
called Canva. If you've never heard
of Canva before, it is one of the most popular
design software and it's available for free for a paid
version called Canva pro. It's also web-based, meaning that you can create
the design on the Canvas website and then downloaded on your
computer. Once it's ready. To create an account on Canva, you need to go to canva.com. I will show you pretty quickly. Then from here you can click on sign up and then use Google, Facebook, Apple, or e-mail. Once you add a password
and your name, you will get access to a platform that
looks like this one. I already have the pro version, but it is very similar to it. I might also have some
access to some pictures from stock images or some elements that are only available
for the pro version. But you're still gonna be
able to follow through the tutorial using the
Canva free version. So the first thing to do is
to go to a create a design. Then from there you need
to go to custom size. Now the size that we
need to use here is the same size that
Amazon recommended, which is the 2560 and 1600s. So I'm gonna start
by adding the width, which is the 1600, and then the height,
which is the 2560. Once you add the dimensions and also make sure that
you select pixels, you need to click on
create new design. This here is the
correct size for ebook covers that you
upload on Amazon. I'm just gonna go ahead and
name that people cover. Tutorial. You will see here to
the left that you have different options
for your design. Let's start with the first one. This is templates
and Canva recommends some different templates based on the size that you selected. If you can just click
on one of these, you will see that it just
moves the design to your file. We're not looking for these, so I'm just going to delete
it and also change the color. Then I'm going to
move on to elements. Elements is basically an ocean of different designs also again, some of them are for free and
some of them are for broke. Let's just say that I will look for something related to yoga. Then you will see that some yoga pictures show
up as well as graphics. Now if I want to filter the
search for graphics only, then I can click here. And then I can go through the images to select
something that I like. I do not recommend
that you go for the animated graphics
because they will not be animated once you
download the cover design. So take your time on searching through the graphics available. And again, you need to make sure that the title you add is supposed to be matching to the topic that
you have in mind. So if you have a cookbook, then you need to add maybe food. Then see the different examples. Then the same thing for, for example,
something about cars. This is just on top of my head. I'm just showing you
that the platform offers thousands of options that
you can select from. When you see that
there is no sign, it means that the
design is for free. But some of them have
the pro version, which means that you cannot use them unless you
pay for Canada. The second thing I want
you to see photos here. This is where you can use some pictures for the background
of your current design. Again, this is where you also need to research for the topic. So let's just say that you wrote a book about architecture. So I'm just going to
write architecture here. Then you will see
that some pictures related to architecture show up. Then the same thing with food, Yoga, and so on. Again, you need to look at the procedure and
make sure that you use pictures that do not have that sign if you
have the free version, otherwise you cannot
download the design. So you need to spend
some time on researching the pictures of the
elements as well. Select what design you like
if you want only elements or you want only picture than just focus on researching those. And then once you have something that you'd like for your book, we can move on to
the second step, which is adding the text
and the title of the book, of course, to show you how you can move
on with the design, I'm going to select a topic for the book that I'm creating
a cover for as an example. And I will also
select yoga and I will go for maybe
this picture here. You can see it is for free. If you slide it this way, you will see that it
covers the entire file. But if you click on it, the picture will be added
and it's full cover. I'm just gonna go ahead and
click on it and delete it. Then I will move on to texts here where you can add
some writing on the book. I think I want to add something
that is just very basic. I like a headline. Just slide that a little
bit to the bottom. Then you can see
that the headline is added in the middle of the design because this
purple line shows up. If it moves to the other side, you will see that
the line disappears. But then once it's in the
middle of the design, will show you where it is, which is a very cool feature
that Canvas provides. So you'll make sure that your
text is in the right place. You can see once I move the text to the
middle of the page, it shows another
horizontal line, and this indicates that the text is exactly in the
middle of the design. Now another important feature
that Canvas provides, which is also important for a book cover designs
is regarding the text. If you double-click on the
text and go to this number, you will see that
you're gonna be able to change the size. I'm just going to select 72
to make the text bigger. And then I want to
change the font. Now, kinda provide the
thousands of fonts. I'm not sure I've seen
them anywhere else. It is a really great option in case you want to go
for creative fonts. And then also you will find all the basics fonts available. As you can see, some of them
also have the pro version, which means that you have
to be a Canva pro member. But then otherwise you will find hundreds of options of
free fonts to select from. Let's say I will
go for something like this one and then you will see that once you click
on it, the font changes. So this is also where you should spend some time
on making sure that you select the font that
you like that is also suitable for the book
cover that you're creating. And once you find the
font that you want, you might want to
change the color. We'll change the
color. You need to select the text that
you're changing. So I'm just going
to double-click, click on this a here
where you will see that the colors will appear. Now if you have a color
in mind and you do not see it available
in this area, then you need to click
on add a new color. And this is here is where
you add the color code. So let's just say that
I want to change it to a color code that I have
already previously selected. So I'm just going to go
for something like that. And then you will see that
recolor now is a blue. Now make sure that you have the correct color code if you
want to add it by yourself. I added these numbers
randomly just to show you that you have this
feature available. Once you're done
adding the color, you might want to
change the alignment of the text and you do
that by clicking here. And then you will see
that it changes from left to right and so on. Now the text is
already too large, so you cannot see any changes. But let's just say
that we expand the text file here and then
slide it again to the middle. You will see that if
you click on it again, that the text will move based on the different
options available. Now, I want to make the text
a little bit bigger again. So maybe this way, I will
add these three words. Then I will click
here on spacing. Now this is another cool
feature if you want to add some spaces between the texts or also between the letters. So if you click here
and you expand it, you will see that the
words expand as well. And you can also select
the number that you want. So maybe 200. This is here where
you expand the line. So it is set on
default, which is 1.4. If you want to make it bigger or smaller than you
can just slide it. Now, these are the
most important Canva features that you
need to learn about. So you can design a book cover. Of course there's more, but you will learn them as you start practicing
the platform. As you can see, it
is very beginner, friendly and easy to use. Now I think we are ready to
move on to the second step, which is designing an actual
book cover from scratch. I'll still use this
picture and I will also use yoga as an example
for the tutorial. I will start by changing
the title here. And I think I will also change
the color of the picture. But since I cannot do that, I will add a filter on top. So I'll start by going to elements and select
the square shape here. Then I will just slide it
to cover the entire design. Then click here so I
can change the color. So I think I will
go for something light because it is yoga, so it is not supposed
to be a dark book, that's just a
personal preference. I will select this one here. And then if you go to this transparency shape,
you can click on it. And then you can decide
at the filter degree. I'm gonna keep it maybe on 75. This will be the
color of my book. Now, I also want to add
some other features, like maybe some lines. So if you go here
and you select fine, you click on maybe this one. It doesn't matter which
one you click on because you'll be able to
change them from here. But let's start with this one. I will move it to the top
and expanded to both sides. If you click here,
you will be able to change the
weight of the line. So I'm gonna change
it from five to one. Then I think I also
want to duplicate it. Add another one here
and do the same. The bottom right here, I think it will be easier to duplicate both
lines together. So I'm going to click on them at the same time and click
Duplicate just to make sure that the sizes
between the lines will match. Maybe this looks alright. Now I will click again
on text and select this one just to make
it a little bit bigger. So maybe on 80. Just on top of my
head, I will name it. Mindfulness yoga. If you click on the
text and click on these three dots and you
select on Uppercase, you'll be able to change
the text to uppercase. I think I would like to
move these lines up. The texts will be in the middle. Then I would like to
change the font as well. I think this one matches
the design I have in mind. Let's just see if bold font
will be better, right? So the last thing is to
consider the color of the font. I think I better keep
it flags so it's very visible and maybe change the colors of
the lines. Brown. These ones as well. So this is a very simple book
cover design, of course, for the sake of making
this video short for you, I will not go ahead and spend hours on trying to make
the perfect design. I think I will just add
some final details, like a place here to add
the name of the writer, just a random name. Again, making it a
little bit bigger. I will also make sure to match the font with the
title of the book. Just make sure that
it is in the middle. I think one last thing is that I want to add a yoga samples. So I'm just gonna go to
elements and select yoga again. I think I will go for
something like this. Just make it a
little bit smaller and then add it onto
off the design. Now, I will stop here
with the design because my own personal preference
is to always go for very clean and
very basic designs. It is up to you if
you want to spend some time on finding
different pictures, maybe create multiple designs and convert between them
which one you like the most. It is very easy to
duplicate the design on Canva and change
some details to select which one you like
the most all you have to do is click on Duplicate page. Then from there you can
start changing some stuff. So let's say that the
filter I selected can be changed to gray and then I will see which
one I liked the most. And the second thing you can do is changing the
entire picture. So to do that, I
will have to remove the filter and then
go to pictures again. And then maybe select
this one instead. Maybe slide in, It's
a little bit here. Then adding the filter again. Then you will see that you have at all new design that
you can select from. Of course, there are
some small mistakes like the cloud is covering
the word yoga. And this is a little bit
unprofessional because the word might not be
very well visible, so you will have to
adjust accordingly. But this is again,
a quick way to show you that you will be able to make some different
examples and then select the one that
you like the most. You can also select
between the fonts and change them to see if you find something
else that you like. And then you will
see that you have two options or three if
you have the time to create them and settled down on the one that
you like the most. I will end the tutorial
here by showing you how you can
download the files. You can upload it to Amazon. Once you're done creating the design and selecting
the one that you like, you need to click here
and go to File Type and select GBD and
make sure to leave the size on sixteen
hundred and two thousand, five hundred and sixty pixels. You can also erase the quality
to a 100 if you want to. And then here is where you select which design
you want to download. I think in this
example I will be selecting the first one
because I like it the most. Then once you select it, you can click on Done. And then after that
click on download. Now the design will
be available in your downloads on your computer, and it will have the same name
as a book cover tutorial. And once you're uploading
your book on Amazon, you just have to select it
from your downloads file. Now that we're done with
the design tutorial, I will move on to the next
video and then I will be showing you how you can
find some free templates. Save you the time and effort into creating one from scratch and having to look through some pictures and the elements. Then I will be showing
you how you can adjust them and then
also save them on your computer so you can
upload them on Amazon, KDD.
5. Use predesigned templates for ebook covers.: Hi there. In this video I will show
you how you can find some design templates for ebook covers and how
to customize them, change the titles and the
pictures and the colors, and upload them and use them for your own book cover design. To find these templates, you need to go to
create a design. And then in the search bar
you need to look for covers. The first option that you have. Then you will see
here to the left that the platform offers you many options for a
book cover design. Now some of these options
are in the Pro version. So again, you cannot
use them unless you are a pro or a Canva pro member. But many of these
options are for free, which means that you're
free to edit them at your own title and then download them and use
them for your own book. As you can see here, there are many options for different
templates and they are also divided by categories so that you can see here that
they are the inspirational, the Romans, the
Thriller, and so on. And if you want to
minimize the search to find some templates that are
relevant for your topic, then you need to search for the topic here in
the search form. So let's just say
that your book is a recipe book or a cookbook that you need
to type that there. Then you will see that
the search results are showing templates related to
the title that you selected. Now let's just say that you
liked one of these templates, for example, this one here. You want to use it
for your own book. You have two options. The first option is
that you need to re-size the files so you can have the recommended size that Amazon recommends
for ebook covers. And you can do that only if
you have the pro version. What you need to do
is to go to re-size. Here you need to change it
to 1600 and here 22560. Then there you will click
on resize and you will get the correct dimensions
that you can upload to Amazon. The next thing to do is
to change the title here, just on top of my head. Recipes, for example. Then let's say I wanted to
change this color to blue. This one too purple. Then I will select a
different picture. So I will go for recipe,
a change one here. This is one of the
quickest ways to get an ebook cover, a
professional design, a book cover that you can
have just in case you don't have the time to make one or you want to publish a
book really quickly. So this is the way to go. Now if you're using
Canva free than the resize option is not
going to be available. But if you still want
to use the same design, then what you have to
do is to copy paste. Let's just go back
to the design we created with the
right dimensions. And then scroll to the
bottom and add a new page. Then you will have to copy, paste the entire design. Select Copy, and select Paste. You cannot see it because the background is white,
just like the text. But if I copy the background
picture, there you go. Here you will have
the design that you want with the dimensions
that Amazon recommends. Now of course, you need
to spend some time on researching the template
that you like the most. I assume the book cover
templates disappeared because I did a resize and I
changed the dimensions. But just to show you again
quickly the templates, if I just create a third design, and then you will see that there are many options available. Let's just say that you're
looking for a thriller. This is the book that you wrote. You will see that
the search has been filtered to thriller
related covers. Take your time on researching
the template that you like. And once you find one that
is suitable for your book, all you have to do is do some small changes and then go through the same
procedure where you downloaded GBG and then save it on your computer so
you can upload it to Amazon.
6. Share your design!: Hi and thank you for following
along with my class. I would love to hear your
thoughts of the course and whether you suggest any
changes or updates. Feel free to leave me a review below and if you
have any questions, please reach out to me in the
discussion section below, and I will be more
than happy to help you further with your
book cover design. If you would like to
share your design with me and other students, you can upload your cover design project using the projects and resources section and
clicking on Create Project, I really look forward to seeing your designs and thanks
again for watching.
Thea A., Online Instructor
