Bookcover, what software?

Question

Well i need to get a poster and bookcover and i dunno in what to make it, photoshop, freehand, etc. or what? I never had any experience with fotoshop nor indesign >.< only freehand

i really dont feel like making it by hand :\

Answer 1

I suggest InDesign. That is what I have used to design book covers. You can use Photoshop to do all the actual designs, but place (ctri+d for windows or apple+d for macs) that in InDesign and do all the text in InDesign. Photoshop is not for text. If you don't have the programs, Adobe.com has trial versions you can download. InDesign also allows you to do spreads, so you can do multiple pages, front and back. Just remember your orientation, front cover is on the right and back cover is on the left. Good luck and have fun!

Answer 2

Depending on the graphics you intend to use, I suggest that Adobe Photoshop is where you, either create it, or, at least, prepare the graphic for your cover.

THEN, bring the graphic into a page layout application, such as InDESIGN or QuarkXPress for the finishing touches, such as text and other copy, color separation, traps, chokes, bleeds, etc.

These are NOT cheap solutions, but they are the tools used by professionals. Those operations done in the page layout softwares are not easy, either. The designer had better know what he is doing. If the print shop has to fix any problems, they WILL charge for the time to do it.

Alternatively, the Corel suite of applications is much cheaper, but I don't know how much of the technical end of thing it can do.

I will suggest you have a consultation with the print shop that will produce the book. They will give you the best advice about what YOU must do before you turn it over to them. After more than 30 years, I still do these consultations whenever I go to a new print shop, or am trying a new technique.