{"id":96,"date":"2019-11-05T12:55:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T17:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openbooks.macewan.ca\/authorsguide\/chapter\/creating-and-uploading-a-book-cover\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T16:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:36:22","slug":"creating-and-uploading-a-book-cover","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/openbooks.macewan.ca\/authorsguide\/chapter\/creating-and-uploading-a-book-cover\/","title":{"raw":"Creating and Uploading a Book Cover","rendered":"Creating and Uploading a Book Cover"},"content":{"raw":"It is easy to generate a basic book cover directly in Pressbooks, and relatively easy to create a more sophisticated cover image for your open textbook using photo editing software.\r\n
\r\n\r\nWant some help designing a book cover image? Email digitalscholarship@macewan.ca<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Easy Option: Create a Cover Using the Pressbooks Cover Generator<\/h2>\r\n1. Log in and go to Export <\/strong>>> Cover Generator<\/strong> in the side menu.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_668\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"Screenshot<\/a> 3.13.1 Cover generator[\/caption]\r\n\r\n2. Next, adjust your book information. This is automatically imported from what you have entered under Book Info, but what you enter here will not override the text you have entered on the Book Info page.\r\n
Note<\/strong>: If you would like to keep any of these fields blank, you will need to enter\u00a0&nbsp;<\/strong>\u00a0in order to prevent the system from automatically pulling in the information from the Book Info.<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_669\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"Screenshot<\/a> Figure 3.13.2 Cover overview options[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n3. Check the page count. Pressbooks will automatically fill this field with the page count of your most recent PDF export (which you can do under the Export option in the left side menu). If you change it manually once, it will no longer be automatically updated<\/strong>, so you will have to be very careful to check the\u00a0page count here before exporting your final cover file.\r\n\r\n4. Set the colours for your cover\u2019s background and text\r\n
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_671\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"Screenshot<\/a> Figure 3.13.3 Text and colour settings[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n5. Click on Make PDF Cover <\/strong>and Make Ebook Cover <\/strong>to generate print and ebook cover files. A progress bar will appear to track your cover files as they export. When complete, the cover files will appear underneath the Download\u00a0<\/strong>heading.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_672\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"Screenshot<\/a> Figure 3.13.4 Make your cover[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
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6. Save the Ebook cover JPG<\/strong> and go to Book Info in the side column. Upload it to the Cover Image\u00a0<\/strong>section and Save<\/strong>. This cover will appear on the book information page for the Ebook version of your open textbook.<\/div>\r\n
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Send the PDF<\/strong> book cover that you have generated as a separate file to any print-on-demand providers along with an interior PDF file of your book content, which you can generate by going to the Export section of the left side menu.<\/div>\r\n

Advanced Option: Create and Upload a Book Cover Image<\/h2>\r\n
Need photo editing software?<\/strong> MacEwan University members can contact Tech Support to discuss options to access Adobe Photoshop. A free alternative option is GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)<\/a>.<\/div>\r\n1. Using photo editing software, create an image for your book cover that is 900px (width) \u00d7 1200px (height)<\/strong>, 300 dpi<\/strong>\u00a0(recommended) and a maximum size of 2MB<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nRemember to only include images that you have copyright permission to use. For help finding openly licensed images, go to the chapter on Adding Images<\/a>.\r\n\r\nOn the cover, be sure to include:\r\n