How to Create a Free Print Book Cover for KDP

Updated 3/01/2021.

Table of Contents

Introduction

You had this book burning inside of you. Then, you allowed the words to flow into a document file. Now, you’ve proofread it. However, you don’t have the funds for a cover. What do you do?

Do you start a fundraising campaign? Or do create the book cover yourself? I’ll show you how to create a free print book cover for KDP. This isn’t by using their Cover Creator. It’ll be a print-ready PDF cover.

Now, if you don’t have Adobe Photoshop® or Adobe InDesign®, there are free software programs that’ll help you create your book cover.

My method involves three free software programs. I’m sure you’re thinking three is a lot. Yes, it’s more than one. You’ll use one online and download the other two. Once you open them, the steps are easy to follow. These programs include Canva, GIMP, and Paint.NET.

Step One: Creating the Concept for Your Free Print Book Cover

Have you thought about how you want your book cover to look? Is there an image in mind that you’d like to use? Or do you need to peruse a collection of images to find the perfect one? If you don’t have the funds to purchase an image, there are free options on the internet.

However, be careful in choosing your image. You want to choose an image that the creator released under Creative Commons CC0. Essentially, this gives you the right to modify the image and use it for personal or commercial purposes.

Make sure the image you select allows you to use it for commercial purposes. Some sites require you give attribution while others don’t. For those requiring attribution, you can include that on your Copyright page. Some sites to consider are Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, Burst, StockSnap.io, ISO Republic, Freeimages, Skitterphoto, and Canva. Canva has free and paid images. Their paid images are $1.00 each.

Step Two: Create a Free Print Book Cover in Canva

Canva is where you’ll design your book cover. The other programs allow you to format the print-ready PDF cover.

After signing up and logging into Canva, go to Create a Design.

Select the Book Cover option.

The dimensions of 1410 px x 2250 px will work for your print book cover. This will be the front cover. Then, you’ll come to the screen below.

Step Three: Select Your Book Cover Layout

Find the most appealing layout for your book. Many are free. Once you’ve chosen your layout, you can customize it by changing the fonts, applying filters, uploading an image, or selecting an image from their library of stock images.

At 12.95 per month, Canva Pro gives you more options like uploading a custom font and exclusive access to millions of free premium stock photos and other media. Their free version features thousands of free templates.

If you sign up for Canva Pro and want to upload a custom font, you can find free fonts for commercial use at Google Fonts, Font Squirrel, FontSpace, DaFont, Abstract Fonts, FontStruct, 1001 Fonts, and Urban Fonts. Also, you can check out this blog post for 70+ Best Free Fonts for Designers – Free for Commercial Use in 2020. Make sure to check the license before downloading the font.

Then, you’ll choose a layout:

Now, you’ll customize it. After customizing it, you’ll name it at the top where you see eBook – Untitled Design.

Afterward, you’ll download it as a JPG.

You’ll do the same for the back cover. Put what you want to see on the back. You can have it as a solid color or add another image.

If you want your back cover to be a solid cover that matches a color on your front cover, you can open GIMP.

Then, go to File and open your front cover file.

Afterward, you’ll use the Color Picker Tool to pick a color for your back cover.

To see the Hex Color Code, you’ll need to go to Windows at the top, click on Dockable Dialogs, and select colors.

The Hex Color Code for the example back cover is 064d6b. You can keep GIMP open because you’ll need it in a later step.

Then, you’ll go back to Canva.

Click on the Background color .

Click New Color and enter the code beside Color code #.

Make sure to leave room for the barcode in the lower right-hand corner. And don’t forget to name it and download it as a JPG.

Step Four: Go to KDP for Paperback Cover Template

To get your KDP Paperback Cover Template, go here. Then, you’ll enter Trim size, Page count, and Paper color. Afterward, download the cover template. You’ll receive a prompt to download a ZIP file. When you extract the file to your desired location, you’ll have a PNG and PDF cover template.

Your downloaded template should look like this:

Step Five: Open GIMP to Assemble Your Cover

In GIMP, you’ll go to File. Then, you’ll select the PNG KDP Paperback Cover Template. When the Dialog box comes up, you’ll convert it to RGB working space.

Go to Layer at the top. Then, click on New Layer. The layer will be the same dimensions as your template. Click OK.

Afterward, you’ll need to use the Move Tool to drag the Front and Back Cover images from where you saved them on your computer onto the template.

Use the Scale Tool to fit the images into each section.

Make sure that none of the text or images that you want on the cover are in the pink areas of the template.

Keep GIMP open. You’ll now need to open Paint.NET to create the spine for your book.

Step Six: Create the Spine for Your Book by Opening up Paint.NET

When you open Paint.NET, it should look like this:

The dimensions of your book spine would be the spine width by the book height. Therefore, the book dimensions for the book cover example would be .83″ x 8.00″. You’ll go to Image and click on Canvas size.

Then, you input your dimensions. Change the resolution from 96 to 300. 300 dpi (dots per inch) is the resolution needed for high-quality printing.

When you click on OK, it’ll look like this:

Go to Image and Rotate 90° Clockwise.

If you created a solid back cover, disregard going to GIMP and using the Color Picker Tool and continue with the instructions for Paint.NET because you already have the Hex Color Code for your back cover. Then, you’ll use that color code for your book spine.

However, if you didn’t create a solid book cover, you’ll go to GIMP and use the Color Picker Tool to obtain the background color for your spine by clicking on the back-cover background. To see the Hex Color Code, you’ll need to go to Windows at the top, click on Dockable Dialogs, and select Colors.

Then, you’ll go back to Paint.NET. Go to the Colors Dockable Dialog and Click on More.

Enter the Hex Color Code for your spine. In the example, it would be 064D6B.

Then use the Paint Bucket to fill the spine with that color.

You’ll use the Text Tool to enter your book title and author name on the spine in the order as it appears on your book cover.

The Book Title font on the example book cover was Raleway. Raleway wasn’t available in Paint.Net. I performed an online search to see if it was available for a free download for commercial use.

It was available for download on Font Squirrel. I downloaded and installed it. It was immediately available in Paint.NET.

The Author’s name font on the example book cover was Libre Baskerville. Libre Baskerville wasn’t available in Paint.Net. Again, I performed an online search to see if it was available for a free download for commercial use.

It was available for download on Font Squirrel. I downloaded and installed it. It was immediately available in Paint.NET.

Go to Image and Rotate 90° Clockwise. Then, save it as a JPG.

Step Seven: Finishing Up with GIMP and Saving as a PDF

Now, you’ll go back to GIMP.

Drag the spine image with the Move Tool onto the template.

Use the Scale Tool to fit the image in the spine section.

Go to Windows at the top and open the Layers Dockable Dialog and click on Layer.

Click on Layer in the Layers Dialog. Then use to fill the layer with the spine background color to make sure you cover the yellow barcode. The Layer in the Layers Dialog will turn the color of the spine.