Beyond generating ideas, Visuals by PublishFlow gives you full control over your book cover creation. The Cover Tool is designed to help you go from a rough idea to a professional, print-ready design.

Here is how to create and refine your cover step by step.

How to Start Creating a Cover

Start in the Visuals Dashboard. Click on “+ New Visual”.
Select Cover to open the Cover Tool.

1. Set Your Creative Direction

This is where you define how your cover should look and feel.

0. Market Positioning
Enter the marketplace keyword your readers would use to find books like yours and select the marketplace (e.g. Amazon US). PublishFlow uses it to understand the visual patterns in your market. The keyword does not appear as text on the cover.

1. Choose Your Style
Pick Let AI Decide (recommended): The AI analyzes bestsellers and competitors to find the winning style. Or choose yourself: Photorealistic, 3D Rendered, 2D Rendered, Line Art, Minimalist, Painterly, Vintage, Bold Graphic or Cinematic.

2. Select the Mood & Feeling
Again: Let AI Decide (recommended) or pick one: Artsy, Moody, Whimsical, Mysterious, Warm, Epic or Playful.

3. Select the Cover Size & Specs
Choose the correct format based on your book type. Pick the same trim size you will use for your book export, then the cover fits without cropping. The selection sets the aspect ratio for new covers; existing covers keep their format. All supported sizes are listed at the end of this article.

4. Subtitle Strategy

• Show Full Subtitle (recommended): Your exact subtitle appears on every cover, unchanged.
• Let AI Decide: The AI rewrites the subtitle freely. Covers can show different wording or a badge instead.

5. Characters & Vision

• No Characters: Focus on typography, objects, patterns and abstract elements.
• Include Characters: People or illustrated characters will appear on the cover.
• Style references (optional): Upload 1 to 3 images whose visual style you'd like to match. Best for palette, texture, lighting, rendering style, mood and typography. Not for exact layout or object placement.
• For each reference you can say what to borrow from it and set a Style Match Strength (Subtle, Balanced or Strong) to control how closely the design follows it.
• Your Vision: Describe the scene, the colors and any specific details you want the AI to focus on.

2. Generate Your First Covers

The first generation may take a few minutes. Once your initial covers are created, generating new variations becomes much faster.

Review Your Cover Results

This is where your ideas come to life.
You can:

• Finalize a cover
• Open it in Magic Studio
• Generate more variations

Create Variations

You can keep refining your direction until it feels right.
Choose between:

• Combine Favorites
• Remix a Favorite
• Same Settings, New Images
• Fresh Direction

This allows you to explore different styles without starting from scratch.

Refine in Magic Studio

Once you find your favourite result that matches your vision, open the cover in Magic Studio.
Here you can:

• Reposition text
• Adjust styles
• Add stickers or badges
• Fine-tune details

3. Finalize Your Cover

When your cover is ready, click Finalize.
This will:

• Upscale your cover to print-ready 2K quality
• Format it for KDP standards
• Allow you to download it as a JPEG file

4. What You Can Do After Finalizing

After finalizing your cover, you can:

• Use it as your book thumbnail
• Duplicate it
• Download it
• Create an audiobook cover
• Generate a back cover
• Return to Magic Studio for further edits

Why Use the Cover Tool?

The Cover Tool lets you explore, refine and finalize your design in one place.
Instead of relying on a single result, you can iterate quickly and stay in full creative control, until your cover looks exactly the way you want.

Which cover sizes are supported?

The Cover Size & Specs dropdown offers these sizes, grouped as in the tool:

Standard: 5" x 8" · 5.06" x 7.81" · 5.25" x 8" · 5.5" x 8.5" · 6" x 9"
Large: 6.14" x 9.21" · 6.69" x 9.61" · 7" x 10" · 7.44" x 9.69" · 7.5" x 9.25" · 8" x 10" · 8.25" x 6" (Landscape) · 8.25" x 8.25" (Square) · 8.5" x 8.5" (Square) · 8.5" x 11" · 8.27" x 11.69" (A4)
Square: 1:1 Square

These match the standard KDP trim sizes, so your finalized cover is ready for upload.

Can I edit external covers with PublishFlow?

At the moment, it is not possible to import external covers into PublishFlow for further editing. However, you can use PublishFlow to create wraparound covers and A+ Content. You can also upload an existing image and use it as a reference when creating a new front cover.

Why Can't I Select the Hardcover Option?

Amazon KDP limits hardcover books to a maximum page count: 550 pages for black ink and 500 pages for color ink. If your book is above that limit, the hardcover option stays locked in the cover tool. Check your page count in Format & Export; a paperback cover works regardless of length.

The Outer Edges of My Hardcover Wraparound Are Blurry

Blurry outer edges on a hardcover export are completely normal and do not indicate a problem with your cover.
To meet the required hardcover dimensions, PublishFlow extends the outermost pixels of your cover into the bleed and hinge areas. As a result, the edges may appear stretched or blurry in the exported file.
During printing, this entire area is wrapped around the hardcover case and is not visible on the finished book.

If the main cover design looks correct, your file is ready to upload.

Want to see it in action? Check out the tutorials for the Visuals Tool.

Updated on: 06/09/2026