If you are a self-published author trying to create your own book cover design, you might have found out that it is not as easy as it looks. Luckily, many authors do eventually figure out how to use Photoshop successfully and create some really amazing book covers. There are some tricks that can help you get to that point faster if you know them. We’ll be looking at five things that you can do to create an amazing book cover for yourself.
Look at Book Covers for Inspiration
The first thing that you can do is look at other book covers for inspiration. While you should not there is no harm in taking inspiration from someone else’s book cover and then changing certain things to make your own. In fact, this is how many cover designers actually learn. If you can figure out what makes a good book cover, and then copy the design, then you can make your own design just as good.
Download Lots of Photos
You should also download lots of photos. If you are using stock photos, then downloading a lot of photos make sense. If you can figure out which photo works for the design that you are making, then you only have to buy that single photo. Luckily, most stock photos allow you to download the actual photo you are considering the watermarks on it and use it in your designed to see if it works. When you find the one that actually does work, you can buy it.
Install Layer Styles
You should definitely install Photoshop layer styles. Layers styles allow you to change the text into many different professional looking designs. There are lots of websites out there that have remade Photoshop layer styles already ready for you to install. All you have to do is look for them, download them and install them into your Photoshop library.
Visit 1001 Free Fonts
1001 Free fonts is a website you can go to to find the perfect font. You can download all of the fonts that are available, which by now is way more than 1001, or you can simply look for the font that you want and then download it for free. This is a terrific resource for book designers, and especially for those that are looking to save money on fonts. However, make sure that you are allowed to use the font in commercial projects.
Combine or Expand Stock Photos
Finally, if you cannot find the perfect design, then you may want to consider combining two different stock photos, or expanding the stock photo that you have. For example, if you find a photo that has the perfect background, but I have something else in their the you don’t want, then you can simply expand the photo using edit > transform > free transform and then dragging it out to get it to where you need it to be. This is a great way to use stock photos to make an original design.