# Ebook cover design: covers that sell as thumbnails [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/ebook-cover-design) Almost nobody sees an ebook cover at full size. They see it in a grid of search results on a phone, smaller than a fingertip. Design for that moment first and the full size cover takes care of itself. ## 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. 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 The ebook cover beside an A5 print cover and two promotional formats, to scale. The ebook is slimmer than most printed books. 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](https://gradiently.design/guide/podcast-cover-art) and [album cover design](https://gradiently.design/guide/album-cover-design) solve it in similar ways. An ebook cover with a long title, a subtitle and a tagline in small type, hard to read when shrunk Long title, eyebrow and detail line: elegant at full size, a grey blur in a grid of results. An ebook cover with the single word Saltwater set very large over a deep sea coloured gradient, author name above 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](https://gradiently.design/guide/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](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) and [thumbnail text](https://gradiently.design/guide/typography-for-thumbnails) 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. | Genre | Common cues | Background direction | | --- | --- | --- | | Thriller and crime | Big condensed capitals, high contrast, a lone figure or place | Dark, cold, one sharp accent | | Romance | Script or soft serif type, warm light, couples or flowers | Warm, glowing, pastel or sunset | | Literary fiction | Refined serif, lots of space, abstract or painterly imagery | Muted, textured, unusual pairings | | Business and self help | Large sans serif title, a simple object or none | Bold flat colour or a clean gradient | | Fantasy and sci fi | Ornate or futuristic display type, landscapes, symbols | Deep, luminous, atmospheric | Broad patterns, not rules. Always check the current bestsellers in your own category. - Thriller night: `linear-gradient(180deg, #05070d 0%, #111a2e 60%, #b91c1c 100%)` - Romance glow: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 30%, #fde68a 0%, #f9a8d4 45%, #9d4edd 100%)` - Business clean blue: `linear-gradient(160deg, #1e3a5f 0%, #3b82f6 50%, #e0f2fe 100%)` - Sci fi nebula: `radial-gradient(circle at 70% 20%, #67e8f9 0%, #1e1b4b 50%, #020617 100%)` Four genre leaning backgrounds. Each leaves a calm band at the top or centre for a large title. ## 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](https://gradiently.design/guide/author-book-marketing) 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. ## FAQ ### 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.