Cover File Requirements

Your cover file must meet the following requirements to be approved.

File Format and Size

• Format: PDF only
• Dimensions: the template's exact page size. The page is your whole cover – back, spine, and front with 0.125" bleed – so its size depends on your book's trim, page count, and paper. A 6" x 9" book with 220 pages on white paper comes to 12.68" x 9.25".
• Color profile: CMYK

Using the Cover Template

Download the template from the Print Files tab of your book. It is generated for your exact trim size, paper type, and page count, with the spine width already calculated. Design your artwork on top of it, covering the page edge to edge, hide or delete its Instructions and Guides layers, and export at the same page size. We place your cover on the press sheet and add the trim marks ourselves.

A cover built on another printer's template (Ingram, KDP) can be uploaded as-is. Check the spine on your proof, since paper thickness differs between printers and that shifts where the spine falls.

Importing into Photoshop

Photoshop flattens the template's layers into one image on import, so cover them completely with your artwork instead of deleting them. On the "Import PDF" window, "Crop to" can stay on either setting: the template's pink bleed runs to the page edge, so Bounding Box and Media Box give the same size. If your page does come in smaller than it should, choose Media Box.

Exporting from Canva

In Canva, download your cover file as a Print PDF. Make sure to select CMYK color profile in the download options. The exported PDF should stay at the template's page size.

Image Quality

Cover artwork must not be pixelated or low resolution. 600 DPI at print size is the minimum, and 1200 DPI is preferred for best print quality. Low resolution images will cause your cover to be rejected.

Common Rejection Reasons

• Artwork that stops short of the page edges, leaving the template's pink bleed zone printing around it
• Only a front cover, with no back cover or spine in the file
• The page scaled, cropped, or placed on a larger page instead of exported at the template's size
• RGB color profile instead of CMYK
• Pixelated or low resolution artwork
• A template generated for different specs (trim size, paper, or page count changed after download)