Now it’s time to create your first eBook cover with Box Shot King.  Before deciding on a template, consider the venue where this book cover is going to be displayed.  For example, if you want to upload a Kindle eBook, go to Amazon.com and take a look at how similar books in your genre appear. You won’t have any control over this in Amazon:  You’ll merely upload your cover photo as a placeholder, which will appear without any 3D effects.  (Don’t worry:  Box Shot King will allow you to create a “Flat Cover” version of your 3D graphics.)

On your website, however, you’ll want to spice things up a little more.  You want your book to read as a “real” book, so choose one of Box Shot King’s 3D templates.

Step 1.  Choose your Template

Step 2.  Choose your Background

The moment you choose your eBook cover template, Box Shot King will present you with a selection of backgrounds.

Choose one, upload your own, check out web resources for further backgrounds or customize the default style with your own colors.

When you select one, it will populate in your canvas area, and you can resize to the area you want to select, as well as move your borders around to capture just the right area.

Once you like what you see in the selection area, press the orange “Select and continue” button.

Step 3.  Create Your Title

When creating your title, make sure the font supports the feel and tone of your book.  For example, if you are producing a Hallowe’en collection of spooky recipes, you might choose a “creepy” font – one that people traditionally and automatically associate with horror movies — such as “Zombie Zone” or “Nightmare”.

(Remember, you add text by pressing the “Insert Text” button, once your background has loaded in.  Type your text into the textarea box; then apply your desired font and effects.)

You will also now be able to drag-to-resize your title, so it will fit anywhere you want on your cover. Press the “Submit” button, once you have typed in your Title and applied your selected effects. Your title will now render over your background.  You can then drag-and-resize it by the corner of your bounding box, as well as reposition it on your “page”.

Note that you can customize your Title text even further, using the options available in the editing bar:

Step 4.  Add an Image

Click on the “Insert Images” tab in your top, horizontal menu, and select a tab; then select a graphic; much as you selected your background.

You can select from galleries, stock photos or upload your own from this location.  (You can also use the “Upload Images” tab instead of the “Insert Images” tab.). Your graphic will render (i.e. load slowly within the canvas) and be added to your cover.

You can:

• Resize it by dragging
• Move it around
• Send it behind your text.  (You are working here in layers.)

Step 5. Edit Your Image and Working with Layers

By default, since you created your graphic after your text, it automatically populates as the front [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][top] layer.  You may not want the title underneath your graphic, so:

a. Click on the element you want at the front (i.e. your title text).  You will know if you have selected your graphic or your title, because the element you click on will be outlined in white.  (Use the double arrow as your click point for drag-resizing or moving.) 

b. Once you have the element you want to position on top selected, click on the “Bring to Front” button

Previously, your graphic was right over top of your title, coloring the letters.

Move your text to the front by selecting the title and pressing the “Bring to Front” button puts your graphic behind the text letters, which usually looks more finished and professional.

Remember; if you don’t like the graphic behind the text after moving it, you can send it “back” again by:

• Selecting the graphic
• Pressing “Bring to front”

You can add as many graphics and text elements as you want.

But what if you find part of the image is obscuring your text, yet you still want it on front?

You can simply cut out the offending portion by pressing the “Cut Selected Area” button and moving your editing window until the area you want deleted is greyed-out.

Then press “Cut”.

 

Step 6.  Save Your Cover

When you are completely happy with the finished look of your eCover, press the black and red “Finalize” button.

Your final eCover graphic will display, along with a menu bar on top giving details about its contents, including:

• Background color
• Width (in pixels)
• Height (in pixels)

This is what your finished 3D cover will look like, displayed on your Sales page or anywhere else on your website:

You can now choose to:

• Edit your cover
• Download your cover

If you are happy with the look of your graphic, click “Download”.

If you are not happy with any of the elements, just click on the “Edit” button and you will be able to go back and tweak that element.

Step 7.  Creating a Transparent Background

For seamless integration into your website, create a transparent background to your actual, finished eCover graphic by simply checking the “Transparent” radio button.

You will know you were successful because the white page background to your finished cover will instantly change to a checkered background, which in the graphic design world signifies transparency.  And the “Background Color” tab will display the word “transparent” inside its textarea box, instead of displaying a color code.

You will not see these checkers on your website.  Instead, your actual website background color will show through behind your book cover.  (White is the best color for displaying elements such as eBook covers, especially if they contain effects such as drop shadows.)

Any final graphic file with a transparent background will download as a .PNG file.  Note that if you change that to a .JPG file, you will lose the transparency.

Step 8.  Creating your “flat” Book Cover

But wait – we’re not quite finished yet.  Remember how we looked at Amazon.com earlier?  We realized that Amazon does not display book covers in 3D.  Instead, they want a perfectly flat graphic.

When you are ready to “Download”, you can create that Amazon-style flat rendition of your eBook cover very easily – simply by pressing the “Download 2D” button.

You can do this before or after you press the “Download” button for your main 3D eCover…

You will instantly be rendered an Amazon “placeholder” version of your eCover that looks like this:

Make sure your size is consistent with Amazon’s 1/6 ratio (height and width ratio).

Amazon’s ideal recommended size is 1,563 X 2,500 pixels, but you can downsize all the way to the Amazon minimum of 625 X 1,000 pixels.

You can adjust the size right on your 2D screen:

Once you’ve downloaded your flat file to your desktop, you can then upload this graphic to Amazon to act as your placeholder.

Step 9.  Retrieving your Covers

Your created eCovers are not lost, once downloaded – it’s not a one-shot deal, when it comes to creation.  They are stored in the cloud, in your Box Shot King files, and you can access them again at any time.

To do so:

1.     Open the Box Shot King home page and click on the “Members” tab

2.     Log in

3.     Click on the anchor text “Click here” under the “Welcome [Your Name]” heading

4.     Click on the “My ECovers” tab.

 5.     Click on the “Edit” button within the thumbnail of the version you want to edit.

And that’s how easy it is to create, customize and retrieve your first eBook cover with Box Shot King.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]