Xplisit1

I have two questions...

1) I am trying to design a book cover. Does anyone know of any templates (.psd) for book covers? Various sizes

2) While looking for templates for book covers, I ran across this site - http://www.coveractionpro.com/. If the link it blocked, this site is selling a ps action which takes your designed image, and basically transforms it into a 3d box on a reflective surface. My question. Does anyone have a link for a similiar action? I am sure with all the ps tuts out there, there has to be something close; if not better.

banny

Hi,

I'm pretty new to Photoshop but I do have some experience in designing book covers. I do know various places where you can download templates for book covers, but deciding which template to use is dependent on quite a few factors:

-How much "bleed" is required by your printer around the edge of the book cover?
-What is the size of the pages of the book?
-Is the book hardback or paperback?
-How many pages does the book have? And how thick is the paper? (the answer to both of these questions will determine the width of your book's spine)

If you answer these questions then I can direct you to come excellent templates which show you how to lay-out a book cover.

--Jim

Xplisit1

I want as much info as possible. You can email me on the side if easier. I am attempting to write a book (for the first time), so a lot of things are vague to me \:/. I do not know about the size of the pages, nor the length. Right now it is in normal Word formatting (single spaced, times roman 12) and the first draft is close to 64 pages. I do not know what that will be once converted to a book. It will be a 6x9 paperback.

Since I posted this, I downloaded a few templates from Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=templates). I am still open to see what information you have.

Thanks for responding. Look forward to hearing from you again!

JM

Hercules

Hi,

First and most important is to follow the instructions from your publisher.
They will provide you with template and spine calculation ( depends on how many pages your book is and how tick
page paper is.)

But if you would like to have all info before you chose publisher or printer house check those links:
all you need to know :
https://www.lightningsource.com/inde...wPublisher.htm
http://www.booksjustbooks.com/templates.asp

Hope this helps.

banny

Hi 6thsense,

Good luck with your publishing project! Lulu do offer various templates, but the best source I've found so far is at

https://www.lightningsource.com/LSIS...pecsEntry.aspx

I'm pretty sure you should be able to get in to that without having an LSI password. Basically, you type in the spec of your book and it will email you a template! When it asks for an ISBN, just copy and paste any old one from Amazon.

I thought I should ask whether you were thinking of using Lulu to publish your book? It's just that as someone living in the UK I've found their service very disappointing. If you think your book will sell a few copies then it might be worth using Lightning Source; even though they charge setup fees their books are a lot cheaper and their distribution is much better in the UK: plus they offer much greater control when it comes to selling your book through Amazon and the bookshops.

Give me a shout if you want any advice; I've just finished publishing a couple of books for this guy: http://www.michaeldelarrabeiti.com so I now know the ins and outs of the whole process, Lulu and otherwise!

Cheers,

--Jim

EDIT PS: As a rule of thumb for working out how many pages your single-spaced A4 will end up at 6 x 9 (and I'm going to have to think aloud here):

I reckon ten pages single spaced is about 4000 words, so one page is 400 words. A single side of 6 x 9 is about 380 words. 400 / 380 is 1.05 so I guess you should multiply your number of A4 pages by 1.05? Of course this will all depend on how you layout the book - and for this I would recommend Adobe Framemaker, rather than struggling along with MS Word.

Xplisit1

I was reading on Light Source, and did I understand correctly in that covers can only be 4 colors?