Your book cover is often the first, and sometimes the only, chance you get to convince a reader to stop scrolling or browsing. The real question you have to ask yourself is whether you should create that cover yourself using book cover design software or hire a professional designer to handle it for you.
On the surface, designing it yourself might seem like an easy way to save money: Open Canva, choose a template, add a stock image, type in the title and you're done, right? The truth is that book cover design is much harder than it looks.
While cover design software does give you access to design tools, what it can't give you are the very things you need in order to stand out among crowded retail and digital shelves: judgment, market knowledge, technical know-how and objectivity. Those are skills that a professional book designer can offer that no software, not even AI, can compete with.
Designing your book cover with book cover design software
Programs like Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign have made graphic design more accessible than ever. With these tools, self-publishing authors can browse templates, try out typography, and create a cover without having to hire a graphic designer. If you have real graphic design experience, these tools give you greater creative control, let you make changes on-the-fly, and help you save some of the upfront costs.
That being said, the software handles the technical parts of placing text over an image. It can't tell you, for instance, whether you've chosen the right kind of image or font for your genre. It won't reveal whether or not your finished cover will persuade your ideal customer to take a closer look.
Your template is not a cover strategy
DIY design platforms like Canva and others often make the design process look deceptively simple. Choose a template, swap in your title, change a few colors and export the file. The problem is that many other authors have access to these same options. The last thing you want is for your book to look generic or nearly identical to dozens of other self-published titles.
There's also a major difference between creating a cover you personally like and creating the kind of cover that appeals to your target market. Not surprisingly, you're likely to naturally approach book cover design from inside the story. You know the characters, the symbols, the locations, and the emotional weight of every scene. As a result, you may be trying to squeeze too many meaningful elements into one design.
A professional book cover designer will approach the project differently. Highly skilled graphic artists who specialize in book cover design will see the cover as a tool to attract the right kind of audience at the right moment. Having this kind of outside perspective is invaluable, since the cover itself doesn't need to explain everything that happens in the book. What it needs to do is instantly make the genre, tone and promise to the reader recognizable immediately.
Think about it – before a reader ever sees your back cover blurb, opening chapter, or even reviews of your book, they see the cover. Its colors, imagery, fonts and overall composition start shaping their expectations before they even read a single word. Professional cover designers know the most common visual conventions and how to make a book recognizable without having it get lost in a sea of sameness.
That's exactly why knowing how to work with a design program isn't the same as knowing what makes a cover truly stand out and get noticed.
Preparing your files correctly
Even if you've created a great-looking cover using cover design software, you'll still run into problems if the file isn't prepared or formatted correctly. You have to keep in mind things beyond the front cover, such as:
- The spine
- The back cover
- Trim and bleed areas
- Correct image resolution
- Safe zones for text
- Space for a barcode
- Accurate spine measurements
- Print-ready color (CMYK) and file settings
At BookBaby, we offer a free guide to creating a custom book cover, including how to use high-resolution images and how to create a complete wraparound cover for printed books.
Professional book cover designers don't just help you avoid minor technicalities like incorrect dimensions, low-resolution images or poorly placed text. They understand both the creative and production sides of the process — creating a book cover that looks great while also meeting the technical requirements for both print and eBook distribution.
Software cannot replace professional expertise and experience
Book cover design software makes it easy for self-publishing authors to move text and images around on a screen, but that doesn't mean professional book design is no longer necessary. If you're interested in self-publishing your book in a way that attracts readers, builds your credibility and keeps your book competitive in a crowded marketplace, professional design is the best way forward.
With BookBaby's professional book cover design services, your book can get the careful, experienced, market-ready presentation it deserves while making an unmistakable first impression that encourages readers to learn more. Get started today with a free quote.