How to make a cover to be printed

Once you are finished with the internal layout of your book, you can create your cover. In the main Information section of your paper version, just click on "edit the cover".

Main info

This will open the editor that allows you to work on the three different parts of the cover: BACK - SPINE – FRONT COVER

BACK COVER

The back cover corresponds to the back of the paper book where we can usually find different information such as synopsis, biography, and/or author's photo. This information can be altered by clicking on the "+" symbol in the top toolbar. For example, to enter the synopsis, click "+" and choose "description". The synopsis will be added to the main Information section, but you can edit the text directly in the cover editor. It is important to leave an empty space at the bottom to allow our system to enter the barcode with the ISBN code that will be assigned automatically and free of charge when publishing the book.

SPINE

The dimensions for the spine of the book is automatically calculated by our Write, based on the characteristics of your book (number of pages, type of paper, format, and graphic theme). The spine is where you usually place the title of the book and the author's name. In the case of indie publishers or authors who have their own editorial brand, you can also add a logo. Please note: you cannot insert text or drawings on the spine for books with less than 100 pages. In general, when adding text or graphic elements, you need to be careful not to cover all the space of the spine - but to leave some space as a margin. For more information, we suggest you read our article on the technical specifications for covers.

In this regard, Write features a "Help" function that will help you regulate the text dimension based on the size of your cover spine. In the tools menu at the top, select the spine text box, click on "box settings", and a pop-up window will show several settings including the useful "Auto" function.

You can follow the same procedure for the title and author's name.

In addition, any potential logo on the cover cannot use the entire size of the spine. You must leave a space of at least 1.6 mm on right and left sides, as indicated in our technical specifications. Please see the image below:

The logo is inserted horizontally by default. If you need to rotate it, select it, click on the rotation symbol in the tools menu, and set the value you prefer. To have a vertical logo oriented in line with the text, as shown in the previous image, you must enter the value -90.

FRONT COVER

The front cover shows the main image of the book. It is essential that all texts and graphic elements are clear and have a resolution of no less than 300 dpi, especially the image that will be chosen for the front cover. The chosen image must be free from copyright or you need to own the rights to use it. You can also create monochrome covers without any background image - if you prefer to have a monochrome cover, you can skip this paragraph and go straight to "The monochrome cover".

If you prefer to have an image on the front cover, this image will have to be uploaded as a background, here's how to do this:

Go to the FRONT COVER box and click on the brush symbol at the top to "customize cover font":

Click on "edit image" and select the image you want to use for the front cover - remember, that it must be a high-resolution image in jpg format (at least 300 dpi). Once the image is uploaded, click on "background settings" and choose the option "image covers area".

If all the details are in place, you can download the cover that is now ready to be printed by clicking on "download" at the top right and choosing the PDF Cover.

The monochrome cover

You can create monochrome covers without importing images, acting directly on the background and text colors. For example, if you want a green cover, you will have to set this color on the three squares: back, spine, and front cover.

Just hover over the front cover box, click on the brush symbol, then on the white square of the "background-color" and choose a color from the palette. Each color has a code: let's suppose the green color you choose has code #42953a. 

Copy the code and insert it for both the back and front cover by clicking on the brush symbol and pasting it in the appropriate background color window. Your cover will become green.

You can follow the same procedure to choose the color of the text on the cover. If you want your text to be white, hover over the back cover box, click on the symbol of the brush, then on the black square for "text color" and set the color white (code #ffffff). Now copy the color code in the other two boxes and you will get a cover with a green background and text with your selected color.

Once the graphic setting is completed, the cover is ready to be published on HUB, you just need to download it. Click on "Download" at the top right and choose PDF Cover.