Designing a Coloring Book Cover Guide

Sep 19, 2024

Creating a Vibrant Coloring Book Cover for Amazon

Importance of a Good Book Cover

  • Essential for attracting customer attention.
  • Particularly important for coloring books.

Tools Needed

  • Vector Editing Software:
    • Recommended: Affinity Designer (one-time purchase), Adobe Illustrator (subscription)
    • Free Options: Inkscape, Basic version of Gravit Designer

Components of a Book Cover

  1. Template:

    • Includes size, back cover, front cover, and spine.
    • Obtain from Amazon KDP account via the cover calculator.
    • Typical size for coloring books: 8.5 x 11 inches, 60 pages.

  2. Background Pattern

  3. Foreground Image

  4. Text on the Book

Steps to Create a Coloring Book Cover

Step 1: Getting the Template

  • Use KDP account: Help > Format Your Paperback > Cover Calculator and Templates.
  • Enter book specifications to download the template.

Step 2: Setting Up in Affinity Designer

  • Open a new file with dimensions from the downloaded template.
  • Use sRGB color profile with a DPI of 400 (minimum 300).
  • Lock the template layer using the layers panel.

Step 3: Creating Back Cover

  • Use the rectangle tool to create the back cover.
  • Choose a color (e.g., black) and make the stroke invisible.

Step 4: Designing Front Cover Components

  • Use Creative Fabrica for SVG bundles (ensure it’s print on demand).
  • Important: Use vector formats (.ai, .svg, .eps).
  • Drag and drop the selected design into Affinity Designer.

Step 5: Adding Text and Quotes

  • Adjust text and quote within the pink border to avoid trimming.
  • Use layers to control and group text components.
  • Create a shadow effect:
    • Duplicate and modify layers.
    • Adjust fill and stroke colors.
  • Add color and gradient effects to text for depth.

Step 6: Background Image

  • Use Vecteezy for patterns (e.g., Zentangle).
  • Drag and drop vector image into Affinity Designer.
  • Adjust using vibrance and saturation to make it pop.

Step 7: Adding Book Title

  • Position title on the front cover.
  • Suggested title: “Mother's Day Coloring Book”
  • Use strategies to improve search visibility on Amazon.
  • Duplicate and modify text layers for shadow effect.

Step 8: Export as PDF

  • File > Export > PDF (for print use, DPI at 300).
  • Save and prepare for upload to KDP.

Final Steps

  • Ensure the PDF is ready for upload.
  • Prepare interior, titles, subtitles, keywords for Amazon listing.

Additional Resources

  • Video tutorials for creating book interiors available.

Note: Subscribe for more tutorials and updates.