The short version
- An ebook cover is mostly seen as a small thumbnail in store search results and recommendations, so it must read at a tiny size.
- Readable ebook covers use a short title set very large, a single focal image or background, and strong contrast between type and ground.
- Kindle Direct Publishing's guidance recommends a portrait cover with a height to width ratio of 1.6 to 1, such as 1600 pixels wide by 2560 tall.
- Genre conventions in colour, type and imagery tell readers at a glance what kind of book it is.
- Test a cover by shrinking it to about the width of a thumbnail and checking that the title and mood still come through.
On this page
Good ebook cover design is thumbnail design. In a store, on a phone, your cover sits in a grid of others at roughly the size of a postage stamp, so it has to work there before anywhere else. That means a short title set far larger than feels natural, one focal image or a strong background rather than a collage, high contrast between words and ground, and colour and type that signal the genre in a glance. The author name and subtitle can be smaller; the title and the mood cannot.
Ebook cover size and shape
Ebook covers are tall portraits. Kindle Direct Publishing recommends a height to width ratio of 1.6 to 1, and its ideal size has long been 2560 pixels tall by 1600 wide. Other stores accept similar shapes; check each one's current help page before you upload, because guidance does change.
Ebook 1600×2560
1600 × 2560
A5 print 1748×2480
1748 × 2480
Square promo 1080×1080
1080 × 1080
Story promo 1080×1920
1080 × 1920
If you also publish in print, the paperback cover is a different file: it wraps around a spine and a back cover and needs bleed. Design the front once, then rebuild it for each format rather than stretching one image across both.
Why the thumbnail decides the sale
Browsing readers scroll quickly. The cover is the first filter: does this look like the kind of book I read, and does it look professionally made? Fine details, thin script fonts and long subtitles all vanish at thumbnail size. What survives is shape, contrast, colour and a few large words. Album and podcast artwork face the same test, and podcast cover art and album cover design solve it in similar ways.
Long title, eyebrow and detail line: elegant at full size, a grey blur in a grid of results.
One word, set huge, with the author's name above. It still reads at the width of a thumbnail.
How to design an ebook cover that reads small
- 1
Shorten the title on the cover
The full title can live in the store listing. On the cover, the main title alone, in as few words as possible. Push the subtitle down or drop it.
- 2
Set the title to fill the width
Aim for a title that spans most of the cover. A heavy weight or a condensed display face helps. Bold fonts has options.
- 3
Choose one focal point
One figure, one object or one strong background. A collage of five photos becomes noise at small sizes.
- 4
Push the contrast
Dark title on light ground or light on dark, with a clear difference in brightness, not just in hue.
- 5
Size the author name by fame
A known author's name can be as large as the title. A first book should keep the name smaller and let the title lead.
- 6
Shrink it and look
Scale the cover to about 150 pixels wide, place it among bestsellers in your genre, and check that it holds its own.
Type over imagery is where many covers struggle. If the title must sit on a photo or a busy background, give it a calm, even area to sit on rather than adding a shadow. Text on a gradient and thumbnail text go into detail.
Genre cues: colour, type and imagery
Readers learn what each genre looks like from the covers they already love, so a cover that ignores those cues confuses them. You do not need to copy a trend, but you should know which conventions you are using and which you are breaking on purpose. Browse the top of your category in the store and note what repeats.
Common cues
Background direction
Background direction
Common cues
Background direction
Common cues
Background direction
Common cues
Background direction
Mistakes that make an ebook cover look homemade
Avoid
- Thin script fonts for the title
- Text over the busiest part of a photo
- Glow or heavy drop shadows behind words
- Many small images arranged in a grid
- Default fonts that ship with every computer
Do
- A heavy or condensed display face
- A calm area of the image behind the title
- Contrast built into the background itself
- One image, cropped boldly
- A typeface chosen for the genre
Once the cover works, it becomes the centre of your launch: a square post, a story, a banner for your newsletter. Book marketing graphics covers that campaign. In Gradiently, the Designer can take your cover's background and type and make the promotional sizes for you, and the background renders fresh at each size instead of being cropped.
Questions people ask
What size should an ebook cover be?
A tall portrait. Kindle Direct Publishing recommends a 1.6 to 1 height to width ratio, ideally 1600 pixels wide by 2560 tall. Check each store's current guidance.
How do I make my ebook cover readable as a thumbnail?
Use a short title in large, heavy type, one focal image, and strong contrast between the words and the background.
Should the ebook cover show the subtitle?
Only if it still reads at small sizes. Otherwise keep the subtitle in the store listing and let the title carry the cover.
Can I use the same cover for the ebook and the paperback?
Use the same front design, but rebuild it for print, which needs a spine, a back cover and bleed at a different size.
How do I check if my cover fits my genre?
Look at the current bestsellers in your category, note what repeats in colour, type and imagery, and test your cover among them.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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