Designing Art for Covers of Books, Magazines, and Other Publications

So far, we’ve seen that in the ever-evolving world of digital art and design, the advent of AI-powered tools such as DALL-E 3 has marked a revolutionary shift in how we create and conceptualize visuals. In the last chapter, we saw the practical use of AI-generated artwork in the form of NFTs. Now, we’ll delve into another interesting and practical application of art generated by DALL-E 3.

In this chapter, we’ll explore the practical applications of DALL-E 3 for designing art for book covers, magazines, and other publications, offering tips and strategies for crafting compelling textual prompts that can be translated into stunning visual illustrations. Whether you’re looking to create an eye-catching book cover that tells the genre and setting of a story at a glance, a magazine cover that stands out on a newsstand, or any other publication artwork, these pro tips will provide an innovative...

Technical requirements

In this chapter, you’ll continue to use DALL-E 3 through OpenAI or Bing Image Creator as done in earlier chapters.

You can also use your choice of software to edit your DALL-E 3 generated covers or illustrations if needed. We recommend the following:

• Canva: Canva’s simplicity and ease of use make it an ideal choice for beginners. It is available at the following link: https://www.canva.com/.
• Adobe Photoshop: Photoshop’s advanced capabilities and industry-standard status make it a preferred option for more experienced designers. It can be accessed here: https://www.adobe.com/.

Creating powerful cover art

Creating powerful cover art for your book or magazine is a crucial step in attracting readers and effectively conveying the essence of your work. Here are some steps and tips to guide you through the process:

• Understand your book or magazine’s core theme and audience: Your cover should instantly give readers a taste of your book’s story or your magazine’s content. Keep in mind what your audience likes—this will help grab their attention and get them excited about what’s inside.
• Research and gather inspiration: Check out what’s working for bestsellers in your genre — their covers can spark some great ideas. Gather a mix of visuals, colors, and styles that click with what your book or magazine is all about.
• Choose a focal point: Choose a standout feature for your cover, such as a bold image or eye-catching text. Make sure it gels with your book’s vibe and grabs readers right off the bat...

Parameters and sizing

Let’s talk about the industry standards for book cover designs. Here’s a breakdown of common terms and standards:

• File type: If you are submitting a book cover file to an online print-on-demand service, you’ll want to choose the correct file type. Note that the default option for saving DALL-E 3 images is WebP on OpenAI and JPG on Bing (at the time of writing). You can read more about print-on-demand services here: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/print-on-demand-books.
• Color settings: You’ll want to save your image as an RGB file if your book is online, or a CMYK file if it’ll be printed. The choice between RGB and CMYK depends on the final medium where the image will be displayed. RGB is optimal for digital screens due to its ability to represent a wide range of colors through light, while CMYK is essential for printed materials because it aligns with the color-mixing process of physical printing.
• Resolution: Use...

Altering our prompt to generate a better book cover

Recall that the cover we created earlier encountered some problems, including incorrect cover size, misspelled title, and improper placement of the title text. Let’s look into how we can address and rectify these issues.

We can alter our initial prompt to remove the text “Morning Glory” by simply not including it in the next prompt, and include the output size of 1,024 x 1,792. See our following updated prompt:

Create morning glories crawling around a sword in the forest with morning sunlight coming through the trees, 1024×1792.

As you can observe, in this prompt I am telling DALL-E 3 that I need a vertical image when I end my prompt with 1024x1792. Note that when you use size prompts, the first figure is the width, followed by the height. See Figure 6.2.

Figure 6.2: Add the 1024x1792 size parameter

At times, the specific dimensions you request in your prompt might not...

Presenting our finished book cover

Having completed our book cover, it’s now time to present it to our boss, client, or anyone else who needs to review it! These are the steps we’ll take to prepare our image:

1. Click on the Share button at the top-right side of the page.

Figure 6.8: Initiate the download

2. Click on Download.
3. You’ll encounter various file type options. Select what type of file you want to save your cover as (JPG, PNG, or PDF).
4. To access a broader range of file types, click on the down arrow next to the file type. This will reveal a drop-down menu with additional options, as illustrated in Figure 6.9.

Figure 6.9: Select the file type to download

With your file now ready, you can proceed to print it or share it through email, text message, or on social media platforms.

Summary

This chapter explored the crucial steps needed to attract the right audience with compelling cover art and illustrations. We delved into the standard sizes for book and magazine covers and outlined how to craft artwork that adheres to these sizes, using precise prompts to adjust the image dimensions. We also covered how to save the final cover image in different formats.

Now that we’ve explored the practical use of AI-generated art in book and magazine covers, we now turn our attention to the future possibilities of AI in the realm of art.