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The Cover step of the book wizard provides a scalable preview of your book cover.

Drag the slider at the left of the preview up and down to change the preview size. This visual editing aid does not affect the actual size of your cover.

Red dashed lines near the outside of the cover indicate the crop area. Image or text in this area will be cut off or not visible on the outside of the book cover. Green dash-dot lines on either side of the spine indicate the fold of the spine into the front and back covers. Click the >Hide/Show Crops & Folds< button to toggle display of these indicators.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:14:45 | Back to top

Log into your account and create or modify your project. (How do I create a new revision?) Modify the cover background and text colors in the Cover step.

Color selection

Indicate colors using a color picker dialog box that pops up when you click on a color block.

• Click on a color in the round color wheel to select it.
• Click in the value square to select a light-to-dark tone for the color selected in the color wheel.
• Alternatively, you may type the hex value of a color in the text box at the top of the color picker.
• Click the >Cancel< button to close the picker without applying changes.
• Click the >Accept< button to apply the changes and close the picker.

Background color

The Backgrounds & Pictures tab, located in the Cover Properties section below the preview, provides the following methods to determine the background color of your cover.

• Click a color block above the Back Cover, Spine, and Front Cover to pop up a color picker.
• Check the “Use a Single Color” checkbox to make all of the cover the same color as the front cover. (Only one color block displays if this feature is active.)

Text color

The Text tab, located in the Cover Properties section below the preview, controls the text color applied to various text blocks (Title, Author name, Spine text, and Back Cover Text).

• Click the Front Cover, Spine, and Back Cover links at the left of the section to display options for each. Click the color block located beside the font and size drop down lists to pop up a color picker for each.
• Check the “Use a Single Font & Text Color” checkbox to make all of the cover text the same font and color as the front cover title. Select the font color by clicking on the Text Color picker to the left of the checksbox.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:14:45 | Back to top

1. Log into your account and create or modify your project. (How do I create a new revision?)
2. In the Cover step, click the Themes tab in the Cover Properties section, located below the preview.
3. Click on a theme to select it, then click the >Accept< button on the theme description box to apply the theme to your cover; click the >Cancel< button to close the theme description and return to the preview.
4. Modify your selected theme, if you wish, using the Backgrounds & Pictures and Text tabs in the Cover Properties section.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:04 | Back to top

1. Log into your account and create or modify your project. (How do I create a new revision?)
2. In the Cover step, click the Backgrounds & Pictures tab in the Cover Properties section, located below the preview.
3. Select either the Back or Front Cover icon in the Pictures section. (The smaller square overlaying the Back Cover icon provides access to the author’s picture, which prints on top of the background image.)
4. Click the >Upload a File< button to transfer and use an image stored on your computer. Or, click the >Browse the Lulu Gallery< button to use one of our images.
5. Check or uncheck the Stretch to Fit checkbox, depending on whether you want the image non-proportionally resized to match the cover. If you uncheck this box, the image resizes proportionally, stopping when its width or height matches the width or height of the front or back cover.
6. Click the >Accept< button to to place your image on the cover.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:14:45 | Back to top

You have two options for uploading your cover. You may upload separate front and back covers as described in How do I select a background image? Or, if you’re an advanced user, you may upload a single one-piece (wrap-around) cover, as described in Can I use a one-piece (wrap-around) cover?

Note: The book format dictates the optimal dimensions of your image; for best results, use a picture as close to the size and resolution guidelines as you can. For more information, see What dimensions should my book cover have?

• Cover files that are uploaded separately must be JPG, GIF, or PNG files of at least 300dpi.
• One-piece (wrap-around) book cover files must be PDF.
• You may not use a Word document as your cover.
• Do not include crop marks in files.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:04 | Back to top

1. Log into your account and create or modify your project. (How do I create a new revision?)
2. In the Cover step, click the Backgrounds & Pictures tab in the Cover Properties section, located below the preview.
3. Select either the Back or Front Cover icon in the Pictures section. (The smaller square overlaying the Back Cover icon provides access to the author’s picture, so does not lead to the Gallery.)
4. Click the >Browse the Lulu Gallery< button in the Cover Background Image dialog.
5. Click on a thumbnail to select the image.
6. Click the >Accept< button to apply the image you selected to your cover; click the >Cancel< button to make no change.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:04 | Back to top

We create each of the covers in the gallery to fit a specific trim size.

When you open the Front or Back Cover Background Image gallery, by default you see covers that are an appropriate size and shape (tall, square, or wide) for your project, or images that do not suffer artistically from being stretched or squeezed.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:04 | Back to top

Lulu offers advanced users the ability to upload one-piece (wrap-around) covers for most books that have spines (casewrap, perfect bound, and jackets for hardcovers). To use this feature, click the >One-piece cover (advanced)< button at the top of the cover wizard.

• Lulu accepts only PDF files for one-piece covers.
• Match the dimensions provided during the cover step of the publishing process, or your cover will not print as expected.
• Do not include crop marks on your cover PDF.

If you already prepared your manuscript and know its size and page count, you can use this spine size calculator to determine the width of the spine.

For more information, see What dimensions should my one-piece (wrap-around) cover have?

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:14:45 | Back to top

In the Cover step, click the Text tab in the Cover Properties section, located below the preview.

Select Front Cover, Spine, or Back Cover links on the left.

Type in the appropriate text box to modify the title, author or subtitle for the Front Cover; the title and author for the Spine; and the description for the Back Cover.

You may use "Enter" or "Return" to add spacing above and below your text.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:29 | Back to top

1. Log into your account and create or modify your project. (How do I create a new revision?)
2. In the Cover step, click the Text tab in the Cover Properties section, located below the thumbnail.
3. Click the Use a Single Font & Text Color checkbox to display a font dropdown list and choose a font to use for all text.
4. Select Front Cover, Spine, or Back Cover links on the left.
5. Choose a font from the dropdown lists to apply to the associated text, if you did not activate the checkbox in step 3.
6. Choose a font size from the dropdown size list to apply to the associated text.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:04 | Back to top

Add a description

Your description may not exceed 2048 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

1. While at the Design Your Cover page of the book wizard, click on the Text tab.
2. Click the Back Cover link to the left.
3. Type into the Back Cover Text box.

Add a photo

The image must be JPG, GIF or PNG file with a resolution between 300 – 600 dpi.

1. While at the Design Your Cover page of the book wizard, click on the Backgrounds & Pictures tab.
2. Click the small Edit Picture icon in the Pictures section.
3. Click the >Upload a File< button.
4. Click the >Browse< button to find and select an image file stored on your computer.
5. Click the >Upload< button to send the file to Lulu.
6. Click the >Accept< button to close the dialog, place the image on the back cover, and return to Design Your Cover.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:13 | Back to top

Decide what your jacket cover looks like in the Design Your Cover step of the book wizard.

The scalable thumbnail shows the jacket cover. See How do I manipulate my cover thumbnail?

• To modify the background and other images, click the Backgrounds & Pictures tab. Click icons in the Pictures group to upload or select images.
• To add text to the flap, click the Text tab. Front and Back Flaps join the Front and Back Cover and Spine in the links on the left. Select either Front or Back Flaps and provide up to 2048 characters (including spaces) in the Description Text section for each.

For more information, please see the Book Covers FAQ.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:04 | Back to top

Remove the logo from the spine

1. While at the Design Your Cover page of the book wizard, click on the Backgrounds & Pictures tab.
2. Click on the back cover link at the left.
3. Uncheck the checkbox beside “Lulu Logo,” located below the Lulu logo icon.

Remove the Lulu URL from the bottom of the back cover

1. While at the Design Your Cover page of the book wizard, click on the Text tab.
2. Click the "Back cover" link on the left.
3. Uncheck the checkbox beside “Show the Lulu URL on the back cover,” located on the right.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:13 | Back to top

As you select or change fonts, colors or cover options, the Cover Preview automatically updates. When the cover looks the way you want it to, click the >Make Print-Ready Cover< button at the bottom of the Design Your Cover section.

Click the >Save and Continue< button to continue to the final step, Review Your Project.

Here, you may click the Download & Review Print-Ready Cover to see the print-ready PDF of the cover exactly as it will be printed.

Last updated: 2008-09-30 07:15:13 | Back to top