We are excited to announce that Lulu is offering our own Cover Creation Tool. This tool will allow you to create your own cover from within the Book Creation Tool. You will be able to add images, text, and shapes as well as an ISBN barcode to the cover.


Note: If you are creating a magazine or comic book, you cannot use the Cover Creation Tool for inner cover customization. See special instructions for how to print on inner covers here.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Templates

If you are unsure where to begin with the design of your cover, you can use one of our templates to get you started. Click on the Template button on the toolbar to select from the options we offer.


Screenshot showing the template button in the toolbar and a pop‑up gallery of cover templates available for selection


Click on the template to add it to your cover. Once you have added the template, you can then edit and manipulate the text, shapes, and images.


Selected cover template appearing on the canvas with editable text boxes overlaid.

Adding and Editing Images


Toolbar panel on the left with the ‘Images’ icon highlighted for inserting cover images.


From the toolbar on the left side, click on the Images button to begin adding images to the cover tool.


A user‑added image being dragged onto the cover canvas using the circles around the image.


Once you have added the image, you can then click the image to bring it over to the panel and begin cropping/resizing the image. Clicking on the button at the top of the image allows you to rotate the image and clicking on the corners will allow you to expand the size of the image.


An inserted image with corner handles visible for resizing and a rotate icon at the top


The built-in crop tool allows you to resize the image and change the location from within the cover borders.


Step 1: Double-click the image

Step 2: Adjust the image size and position within the borders

Step 3: Click outside of the image to finish cropping


Overlay of crop grid on the image within the cover borders, showing cropping controls.


Close‑up of crop tool modal with handles allowing adjustment of image framing.


Once you have the image in the correct location for your cover, then you can begin adding text and shapes.

Editing Text and Shapes

You will find the Text button on the left-hand toolbar. Click on it, then click on the letter "T" to add a text box. To edit your text, simply double-click within the text box.


With the text tool, you can change the font, size, and spacing with the Options button.


Text box on the canvas being edited, with font options panel open.


Once you have your text in your desired font and size, you can move it around. You can rotate the text using the circle at the top of your text box. If you want to move your text to a different location, simply click and drag it to where you want it to be.


Text box on the canvas with a circular rotate handle visible at the top center. Position panel open showing options for moving layers, locking text, and aligning text.


The Position option in the toolbar allows you to align the text, lock it, or change the location of the layers.


Selected shape on the canvas with position toolbar overlay for alignment and locking.


After selecting a shape and resizing it, you can align the shape or lock it from the position toolbar. You can also add text boxes into shapes.


Opacity slider menu displayed over a semi‑transparent shape.


You can adjust the opacity of the shapes from the Opacity menu after clicking on the shape.


Shape stroke and fill color picker dialog open, showing color swatches.


You can also adjust the stroke of the shape and the color of the stroke by clicking on the icon shown here.


Group Image Selection

The cover tool now offers the ability to select and manipulate groups of images at one time.  All you need to do is hold down the Shift key when selecting the group of images that you wish to manipulate.


Multiple images selected on canvas with Shift‑click, indicated by group bounding box.

ISBN and Barcode

If you have already set up your ISBN in the Copyright step of the creation tool, you can add the ISBN barcode to the cover using the ISBN button.


Toolbar with ISBN button selected, showing options for entering in your ISBN/ISBN barcode information.


Adding an ISBN Barcode is a 2-way communication with the project. The ISBN info will be pulled from the project if you have already entered it in the Copyright step of the creation tool. If you have not added the ISBN already, it can be added at this point when creating the cover.

Keyboard Shortcuts


Keyboard shortcuts modal listing common cover tool hotkeys, overlaid on cover editor.


The Cover Tool offers some handy keyboard shortcuts! The list of shortcuts can be found by clicking the Shortcut button at the bottom right of the Cover Creator page.


A screenshot displaying all the shortcuts for the Create Your Cover tool.

Guides


Cover canvas displaying margin, bleed, fold, and trim guide lines overlaid.


The cover tool will automatically be populated with all of the margin, bleed, folds, and trim guides turned on. You can turn these off at any time to see what the cover looks like without any guides.

Finalizing Cover PDF

Before you finalize your cover, you have the option to preview the image without any guides to ensure that it looks perfect. Click the Preview Cover button on the bottom right to see what it will look like.


'Preview Cover’ button highlighted, with canvas switching to preview mode without guides.


Once you are happy with the design, you can exit the preview and generate the cover.


Cover generation confirmation with the ‘Generate Cover’ option visible.


The cover will then be added to the project in the Design step, and you will be able to see the full book in the preview section.


Screenshot confirming that the cover was generated successfully.


Once you've generated your cover, you'll be redirected to your project, or you can click the Back To Project button to preview the entire book. From there, you can download the print-ready files to ensure the cover looks as expected.