How to Create a Book Cover in Affinity Publisher

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

What program are you currently using to design your LCB covers? Are you thinking about making the switch to a professional program? What's held you back so far?

[@jimmyparson7221]

Rachel Harrison-Sund Hi Rachel, would you be able to consult on Digital Publishing on Kindle as well?

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Jimmy, I do have quite a bit of experience with ebook publishing as well. What type of help are you looking for?

[@jimmyparson7221]

Awesome! Well.. more so with the marketing and promotional aspect of digital ebook publishing.

[@craalooshcroatiantradition3124]

Hey Rachel :)
I use Canva for LCB covers. I'm new to KDP, and have only been using free tools so far, just for practice (no prior design experience).
Will watch the rest of your Affinity Publisher videos and probably buy it this Black Friday ;)
I love the option you show in this video on how to instantly chose any color from a detail on the front cover and create the back cover in identical color... so easy, effortless really...
Thank you for clear instructions in all of your videos!

[@williamflynn6261]

I have had the Serif Suite of programs for awhile for my photography and stock photo work. I got publisher this January. I had Photoshop for years before they got into the subscription mode. A lot of money and not all the features in my CS6 (non-expanded) version that are found in these three software titles. With your help and inspiration I see an avenue to use even my writing skills to get a lot more out of my investment of time and money. Your UA-cam channel has opened a door for my future. Thanks and well wishes to you and your family.

[@cmteller7425]

No unneeded blah-blah-blah, just the necessary information. Three thumbs up!

[@desiphool]

This was VERY helpful and straight forward. No rambling on about other stuff. Well spent 13 minutes. Thank you!!!

[@Sasha-eo6jz]

Thank you so much for going through affinity publisher. I realize these videos are old, but they have helped me much more than a paid videos that I’ve watched, because they are specifically tailored to low content. Plus, your voice is very relaxing.

[@dbreardon]

You can also add your XYZ logo to "Assets" and it will be available every time you open any new or existing document. Just drag it over from the asset panel onto your document. No need to find it on the computer and "place" it on your document!

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Great tip, thanks!

[@robinwc4672]

Oh wow, thank you so much! I love your content. Your voice is very well-suited for tutorials. So it's always pleasant to get through your tutorials and I always learn so much!

[@PASHKULI]

The width of the spine depends on the final number of pages AND the paper thickness of those pages + a small 'bend' factor usually covered by the bleed depending on the thickness of the cover paper! So usually book cover designs should have a bit more wider 'bleed' areas (at least horizontally left
ight bleed margins)

[@aprilkristie7245]

Rachel, I am so very pleased by your willingness to share your knowledge at such a wonderful cost. Looking to give this a go and see where the chips may... looking forward to your course, again kudos to you! Woman Power!

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Aw, thank you April! Your kind words are much appreciated!

[@nicolec.1204]

Thank you for this tutorial! Short and sweet, with everything I needed to know. ❤

[@rich_h483]

Loving the affinity publisher videos. It gives so much more control than Canva. I’ve just downloaded the free trial so can’t wait to give it a go.

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Awesome, glad you're liking it!

[@kathryncainmadsen5850]

LOVE these show and tell videos. SO HELPFUL!

[@me-kg8rl]

the best video in youtube for kdp cover , thank you so much, that's was very helpful

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

You're very welcome!

[@TrinketTrickster]

Thank you so much. I almost gave up because I don't have a mathematical brain.. it just doesn't work that way, so I was always having my work come back with measurements. I sorted out the content but was still having problems with my covers. This is such a huge help!

[@kazeemawe2168]

Thank you! Very helpful

[@kobelskidesigns3068]

Thanks for the Affinity Publisher tutorial. I just got it. Ok, I cheated since I hate surprises my kids got it for me for Christmas. You made that look so easy. I cant wait to see what adventure it is going to take me on. Thanks again, looking forward to watching your other videos

[@SylviaDallas]

You've just made my life 100% easier - Away with Photoshop !

[@manishkr8522]

thanks thanks many thanks

[@jordanlotus188]

very grate job as well as nice audioable voice. thanks. Please make for photo books.

[@teacherjessieluke6082]

Hi.. KDP does not have a template for 8x8. Any other choice to find template?

[@robfrydryck127]

Very well done Thanks!

[@TimothyDark]

Thank you! This was awesome! You gained a sub!! 🙂

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Awesome, thank you!!!

[@billlathrop8764]

Add one more key for Preview Mode on the PC...it's Ctlr+Shift+W... Ctlr+W on the PC is the shortcut to "Close" the document...Ciao.

[@jjkungST]

Thank you so much, it's helpful

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

You're welcome!

[@Sleepyheadnow]

Thanks so much Rachel

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

You're welcome, Frank!

[@mohammedelshaer5955]

Great as usual

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Thanks Mohammed!

[@janelletriley]

I'm unable to click on "Include bleed". Will this be an issue or was it something that I did wrong during the setup?😮

[@annabellak.2864]

Thanks for this, I was wondering what settings should be used in Affinity for the covers. And it's nice to see other people's process too. I prefer directly opening the PDF template file in Affinity Publisher, so I don't need to do the math for the page size. 😄

[@vickylatorre2969]

I am changing the cover to some of my KDP books. I am have having problems with them when. They show perfectly fine in Affinity, as a PDF export and also in the KDP preview. I don't have any warning messages on the KDP preview but even thought it shows okay I can see it is way too high. I checked the measurements in affinity document. It seems to be correct. I am exporting (press-ready) and I also tried the (print) option and is not working. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Any help will be deeply appreciated. Thank you.

[@Afa42]

Hi Rachel, great video... best one out there by far. Can you make one on designing an ebook cover...

[@i.m.hidden2788]

Wow great video! This was super helpful and easy to follow along - Thank you! Question though: what shortcut or hotkeys do you use when your mouse changes back to the move tool? Also, your keyboard is SO LOUD in all of your videos. Idk if you can do anything about that but it is extreme in my headphones. Sorry to complain, but thank you so much for your help and for building my confidence that I can do this!! xoxo

[@specialk8927]

I don’t have to calculate anything when I use Canva I just put in the dimensions that’s already on the cover

[@HowNowLearning]

Hi Rachel! This is great, and thank you so much for doing these tutorials. I just got Affinity, and it really does give the Adobe products a run for their money!
One question, regarding this example-- is there a way to truly center the "Camping Journal" text title, or are you just eyeballing that? This is a problem I have been trying to solve for two years. I feel like all of my covers that I do this way look slightly off because I can never get the title text to really be centered. Hope that makes sense. Thanks again!

[@sharleneplescia1473]

So when you download the template, do you download the images for your bookcover at the same time or download them as a new file?

[@cw330]

Very helpful video, Rachel and I'm happy to have found you amongst all of the other contributors. My book is a first attempt at desktop publishing and I have a simple question about the template: Since it exists as a separate PDF file, am I to assume that once my book has been completed and edited for the last time, I would send the manuscript and cover template as separate file to the printing company. It seems clear that they would have to set it up themselves for the binding process. Thanks, Craig

[@dmmchugh3714]

Will the bar code automatically fill in ? So no need to modify or highlight that section of the cover at all?

[@dannyduggan1348]

How do you download the kdp book cover template to Affinity publisher.

[@majluke]

hello, when you export your cover book, how do you know the spine dimensions and front and back cover dimensions?

[@dmmchugh1826]

Is there a way to test out that the cover upload works with the journal upload ? When can we see how the journal looks before sending the exports to KDP ?

[@kelechiii_]

Wow. Thank you.

[@yukonchris]

As someone who is beginning to investigate self publishing, I've been enjoying your instructional videos; however, I do have one immediate question: what is this "KDP" that you keep referring to? Thanks in advance.

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Hi Christopher! KDP is the Kindle Direct Publishing Platform, Amazon's self-publishing service. This is where you can easily self-publish the books that you create.

[@hpftv3578]

thank you for the tutorial that was helpful, i have question is it necessary to add bleed to the cover case it has it all ready in the template, thank u 3>

[@Prattman1994]

How do i get my template up and running if i have information about spine width but not page count?

[@aaronshort7797]

great tutorila but following these steps does not work on affinity publisher? when uploading it to KDP aftwards with the same size template its all out of line

[@naimahall3515]

Thank you so much for this. Where did you get the templates? I only need a front page template, does affinity publisher have them or did you source online?

[@johnkennedy9994]

Nice video. Please make the arrow white or a contrasting color. It’s almost impossible to see where you’re clicking and follow what you’re doing. Other than that, I appreciate your hard work making these videos.

[@Drathaar01]

I've had all three Affinity products for several months but haven't really used them. After your last Publisher video, I gave it a shot and haven't looked back. I use Photoshop for covers, so wouldn't Affinity Photo be used for covers? Also, I have that exact cover on a camping journal 😀

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Glad you're enjoying AP, Kevin! I would use Affinity Photo for editing any photographic images I want to use, but I prefer to put it all together in a desktop publishing software, as it's meant specifically for creating print-ready documents. Also, I like to do all my covers for one interior file in the same file, so I can work more quickly and keep them all together.

[@Drathaar01]

@@RachelHarrisonSund Ah, ok. One thing I do after loading the template is to put guides on all the borders - edges and spine. That way, I never have to turn off layers to see if I'm outside the lines. Once the guides and cover image are set, I don't even need the template anymore. It saves a lot of time

[@dbreardon]

Affinity Photo would be good for picture content. Based on this video, Affinity Designer can be used for vector drawing content. Both are fantastic programs

[@KarenPrince-Kazz]

I Rachel, thanks for the wonderful videos. I have watched some of them several times. Just a quicky . . . I thought you had to flatten the image before exporting the PDF for KDP. When you do that in Affinity Photo or Affinity Publisher the bleed on the exported PDF becomes white. Is this a problem? Should I bother to flatten the images or will they be fine unflattened? Thanx for your time.

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Hi Karen, I've never had to flatten an image when exporting in my 10+ years as a designer, but I have heard from 1 or 2 people that they've had to flatten it for KDP. I wouldn't worry about flattening unless you attempt to upload and it doesn't work.

[@KarenPrince-Kazz]

Thanks so much for the prompt reply, Rachel. I won't bother to flatten going forward. But just incase this comes up for any of your other students and they have to flatten a cover image, I found that if you use KDP,s .png template the bleed does not turn white as it does with the PDF template.

[@tinochill]

Hello Rachel, great video! Total newbie here: why would you create a new file and put the template-pdf over it instead of directly opening the template-pdf?

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Hi there! You can do it either way.

[@ArtdesignStudio1]

Nice

[@oranellodesigns8744]

What is better to start with Affinity Publisher or Affinity Designer

[@groovebird812]

Hi, do you create the artwork for the frontcover by yourself or there are some resources where to find such graphics?

[@mangeshmahore5948]

Could I design book cover in Affinity Designer? If your answer is yes, then you make tutorial on it.

[@moewaka1]

so how do you do a book cover in Affinity publisher - not KDP, whatever that is.

[@rndmccssmmry]

Hi Rachel, thank you for this tutorial! Did you create the artwork yourself?

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Hi Tony! No, these are graphics I downloaded from a stock image site (I can't remember which one).

[@thanawatkhongwatthana4522]

Thank you !!

[@whatsleft0]

Hi, great tutorial! You convinced me to switch over from InDesign (CS5.5) to Affinity Publisher (no small feat)! I have one question that I'd like a response (please): At or around 10:22 mark, you mention 'switch over from preview mode' and performed the activity however as a newbie, it would be helpful if you also explained how you performed the function. Please advise for how one can 'switch from preview mode, thanks!

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Hi Wayne! I hope you're glad you made the switch! The shortcut for Preview mode is Control+W. This works on a Mac and should work on a PC as well.

[@whatsleft0]

@@RachelHarrisonSund Yes. I made the change to the AF platform and now I'm using AF Publisher, Photo and Designer. Thanks, Adobe will soon be abandoned by many small to medium business users because they became a platform of greed.

[@tonycedrone9404]

Rachel your entire channel is amazing and I'm learning so much....thank you! I hope you can answer a question. When I create my new document by following your steps in this video I keep ending up with and additional rectangle that sits inside the live area across the spread. It's not something I can click on to delete. I hope that makes sense and any help is appreciated!

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Hi Tony; glad you're enjoying my channel! It's tough for me to answer your question without seeing your file, but could it be your margin?

[@tonycedrone9404]

@@RachelHarrisonSund that was exactly what it was. It was just that I had the view margins checked. Thank you!!

[@amw3952]

Where do you find your cover images? Are there any free sites you recommend?

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

I usually get mine from DepositPhotos, but you can use Freepik, Vecteezy, Pixabay, and Unsplash for free options. Just ensure you read the licences.

[@elle8484]

Hi Rachel. I have watched and rewatched so many of your videos. They are all so useful. However, I am unable to export my document properly for print onto the KDP website that incudes my book cover and interior. I am beyond frustrated and don't know what I am doing wrong. I keep getting failed to upload for both. This is for my FIRST ledger. Please help!! Thank you in advance.

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

Thanks for watching! Do you have any more information for me? It's tough to say what's going on without seeing the file myself.

[@elle8484]

@@RachelHarrisonSund Hi Rache! Thank you for your reply. Honestly, I was about ready to give up! I created a new (few) ledgers in different sizes and finally KDP took one and I have my first publish!! I guess now I wait for approcal from them to be posted up.
Do you know about the pages that are allowed for customers to preview inside a book. Is it up to KDP or can we choose to have just the cover/ back and a couple of pages of the interior?
Thank you so much! Keep up with your videos. I reccommend your channel to anyone I come across about this topic as you are such a professional and very fun to watch.
The only thing I can not manage to accomplish is getting the PAGE NUMBER correct. lol I have to do it one page at time.
Also, CONGRATS on your growing channel! You deserve it! :)

[@SkYjAcKeR666]

Just got the trial for this, can you make Kindle compatible book templates? If so, what are the sizes?

[@newwordscoming]

thx a lot

[@groovebird812]

Hi, great video. What are the margins of this rectangle inside the template? i mean this thin blue border. Is there an online source how to set this margins?

[@kerriw232]

This calculator should help you kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200735480#setup_calculator. For interior margin info, search KDP for “margins”.

[@ArpLaszlo]

Is there any advantage to doing this, rather than opening the pdf in Publisher and thus getting the right document size off the bat?

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

No advantage doing it this way; you can absolutely do it the way you just mentioned.

[@upasanagautam2083]

Is it free of cost or it has to be bought?

[@royayersrules]

What is Low Content?

[@neildevers8952]

Would this be the same in Blurb? Thanks

[@RachelHarrisonSund]

I'm actually not sure what Blurb is!

[@TastyTardis]

Have to say Affinity Publisher is the worst program i ever had the pleasure to work with. But thanks for the tutorial, helped me alot.