We recommend that you format your cover with our templates, but we understand that you may already have existing artwork for your book. Please use the following directions to ensure your existing artwork will work with our system.

Page Size

Your cover must be a single (one-piece) PDF that includes the back cover, spine and front cover.

You can submit your cover on any size page as long as the printable area is:

• Measured exactly for your book's trim size, spine width and at least .125" bleed
• Centered horizontally and vertically

Minimum Cover Width: Bleed + Back Cover Trim Size + Spine Width + Front Cover Trim Size + Bleed

Minimum Cover Height: Bleed + Book Height Trim Size + Bleed

Download our Artwork Templates to find the cover size for your specific book and helpful guide layers.

Trim Size

Make sure your existing book cover is the same trim size as the book you will publish with our service. For example, submitting a cover that was previously used for a 6.25" x 9.25" book would not work for a 6" x 9" book.

Barcodes

For manufacturing and distribution reasons, your book's back cover must include a valid ISBN barcode.

If your cover already has an ISBN barcode, make sure it is high-resolution (at least 300 dpi), and 1.5" - 2" in width with proportional height. Ideally, this barcode should be 2" wide by 1.2" tall. Please make sure you have the rights to use the ISBN on your cover (not all services allow you to use their ISBNs elsewhere).

If your artwork does not include an ISBN barcode, our system will automatically superimpose one in the lower right-hand corner of your book's back cover. There is no cost for the assignment of this ISBN.

Our system will place the ISBN barcode in a space 2" wide and 1.2" tall. The bottom of this ISBN barcode is located 1/4" up from the bottom trim line of the cover. The right side of the ISBN barcode is located 1/4" to the left of the spine. Please ensure that you don't have any important images or text in the ISBN barcode location. You can also refer to our Artwork Templates for the exact size and position of the ISBN barcode on your final cover.

If you don't have an ISBN already on your cover, but you have live graphic or text elements in the location that our system will place the ISBN, you will need to move those elements or place the ISBN in a different location yourself.

Publishing Logos

Some book publishing services add their logo to your cover artwork (we don't!). While you are welcome to place your own logos on your cover, please remove other book publishing service logos from your cover artwork prior to uploading your book cover file to your account.

Spine Width and Variance

If your artwork was created for a different service, please make sure that the spine width of your current cover matches our spine width. Different services may use different thickness paper, which is why the spine width of your cover artwork could be correct for another service but incorrect for our service.

Ideally, you should avoid hard vertical lines separating your front or back cover panels from your spine and should allow for at least a .125" variance of your spine on each side (for example, the text on a 1" spine should be no larger than .75" wide). For books with a page count of less than 130 pages, we strongly recommend a blank spine.

Your spine width should be calculated based on the number of pages in your book and using the appropriate formula:

Black and White Interior Book Spine Width
Number of pages x .002252 = Spine width in inches

Color Interior Book Spine Width
Number of pages x .002347 = Spine width in inches

Example of spine width calculation for a 120-page black and white interior book
120 x .002252 = .27" spine width

Text and Image Placement

All live cover elements (text and/or images that cannot be cut) must be at least .25" inside the trim lines to ensure no important elements are cut during the bookmaking process and the appearance of your printed books is consistent.

Bleed

Your cover's background must extend at least .125" beyond the final trim line to accommodate for cutting/trimming tolerance.

Crop/Registration Marks

Please do not include any crop or registration marks on any files you submit to us, as they may interfere with the binding process or appear on the cover. We use our own measurements, specific to our systems, for cutting and binding; crop or registration marks placed by you could interfere with this process.

Images and Fonts

Any images you include on your book's cover may be tagged with your choice of CMYK or RGB profiles or left untagged in a generic color space. All images should be sized at 100%, flattened to one layer and placed in your native document at a resolution of at least 300 DPI. You should also embed all fonts in your PDF file.