Cover Image Best Practices

We require that all titles have an external marketing cover image. These should be submitted in JPG or PNG format and are used by retailers for marketing images on their websites.


Marketing Cover Requirements

eBooks must have a marketing cover image provided for use on the website detail page. This is provided separately from the eBook file. The preferred format for the marketing cover is JPEG with the following specifications:

  • RGB color format (not CMYK, which is for print only)
  • Minimum of at least 1400 pixels (px) on the shortest side
  • 300 pixels-per-inc (ppi) to ensure image clarity
  • 3 million total pixels or smaller file size
  • Amazon recommends 2700px on the longest side with 1688px on the shortest
  • Covers with less than 500 pixels on the shortest side are not displayed 

Do not stretch the image to meet the size requirements,because this may lower the image quality. The content of the cover image must not infringe another publisher’s or artist’s copyright on the same cover.


eBook Requirements

  • Files must pass validations, see: File and Cover Image Validations
  • The title and author on the cover must match the metadata you are submitting
  • No remnants of the printed book: The eBook is a freestanding product and is considered a separate edition of the book (it is NOT a digital copy of the print edition). No bar codes, prices, “large print”, “includes CD”, etc.

  • iBooks only: No 3-D shots of books. The cover of the eBook must be 2-D.

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