Front Cover Dimension confusion - please assist!iBooks Author

Question

Front Cover Dimension confusion - please assist!iBooks Author

I am in the process of getting my completed iBook ready for publication. As I go down the checklist list of parameters and proper formatting for preparing my iBook for iTunes Producer, I find that I am perplexed by the front cover dimensions. I am hoping someone here may be able to help me out. Here is my quandary:

My front cover design is in a portrait orientation. Originally, I made my front cover fit within iPad retina dimensions:1536 x 2048 - this gave me a total of 3145728 pixels. Then, I saw that in the iBookstore formatting guide none of my image assets can be more than 2 million pixels. So, I created scaled-down version at 1213 x 1586, which gave me 1923818 pixels - just under 2 million pixels. I figured I was in the clear. But then I came back to the iBookstore formatting guide, which specifies that the minimum width of the art should be 1400 pixels, and that larger images are reccomended. This would be great if my cover was square since that would give me 1960000 pixels - but it's not - it has a vertical orientation, like real books and many books that I've seen in the iBook store.

I am wondering what should the correct diminsions for my front cover be if I want to include a full-screen portrait-oriented iPad image, that is as high-rez as possible but still stays within the 2 million pixel limit? It would seem that logic tells me that I can't have it both ways. A minimum 1400 pixel width, plus under 2 million pixels, plus a non-square orientation is simply not possible!

What am I missing here? Any help of clarification would be greatly appreciate!

Thanks so much.

Raleigh Green

Posted on Feb 20, 2013 3:52 PM

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Answer 1

K T

Level 7

23,889 points

Feb 20, 2013 4:11 PM in response to Raleigh Green

From the iTunes Producer Guide v2.8:

Drag the publication’s cover art to the Cover Art box, or click Choose and select a cover art file.

Cover art (also known as a marketing image or jacket) should be at least 1400 pixels along the smaller axis and must be a JPEG or PNG file in RGB Color mode. For an average trade paperback, this could be 1400 x 1873 minimum size, as the books are generally taller than they are wide. For best results, deliver the largest pixel dimensions possible. When possible, match cover art to the cover contained in the book file. The 2 million pixel maximum does not apply to the cover image.

Do not scale up artwork if it is smaller than the required size. If you are scanning your cover art be sure to scan at the highest resolution, or at least 1400 pixels along the smaller axis. Cover art must be at least 72 dots per inch (dpi). Do not submit art that contains an embedded color profile, back cover, or thumbnail art.

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Answer 2

K T

Level 7

23,889 points

Feb 20, 2013 4:02 PM in response to Raleigh Green

Forget the pixel math....just focus on W x H

Do you want a square cover or not?

Did you drop any image into the 'cover' well in iTP?

Did you publish direct from iBA and let that process create a cover for you?

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Answer 3

Feb 20, 2013 4:12 PM in response to K T

Thanks for the quick reply!

I don't want a square cover - Ideally, I'd prefer 1536 X 2048 (full-screen iPad retina display), but I'm afraid I'd get an error.

I haven't put things into iTP yet because I wanted to get clarification on this issue first.

rg

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Answer 4

Feb 20, 2013 5:05 PM in response to K T

Thanks so much for your reply KT.

I will try my 1536 x 2048 in iTP and see what happens.

However, in the meantime, my last bit of confusion is whether to include my front cover from within iBooks Author, or iTP, or both?

The clip you sent me implies that I should drag my cover art image into the Cover Art box in iTP. Does that mean that I should leave the cover art blank from within iBooks Author?

I think I'm almost to clarity here - again thanks for your input!

rg

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Answer 5

K T

Level 7

23,889 points

Feb 20, 2013 5:18 PM in response to Raleigh Green

Cover art is used in the store.

A 'cover' in your book is actually the 'Book Title' page (renamed accordingly/first page in the thumbnail view) and it is your choice to match your cover art if you like.

When you Publish directly from iBooks Author, the handoff to iTunes Producer results in the book title page being used as the cover art in the tab for Assets/Cover Art. At that point you can leave it alone and continue with the process, or delete it and add another image.

I think as you walk thru the process the first time some of these questions will become apparent easy enough 🙂

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Answer 6

Feb 21, 2013 1:31 AM in response to Raleigh Green

This step in the process is confusing...

I misunderstood the process because I believed that the text on the first page of the book was automatically transposed to a 1400 image that I provided. This is not so as I have just delivered a book and the book went on the store without any text. You must use photoshop elements and put in text. Flatten the image and drag and drop this image into iTP. This can be delivered without resending the book and sample. It goes on store in a matter of hours automatically.

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Answer 7

K T

Level 7

23,889 points

Feb 21, 2013 7:09 AM in response to kenfromUK

>You must use photoshop elements and put in text.

PSE not a must, I think, just one example of using whatever tool to do the same thing....any decent image editor can be used 🙂 to do the same thing. Good tip, tho, thanks.

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Answer 8

Aug 1, 2013 11:52 AM in response to K T

There is still some confusion within our organization about this, so this is probably going to sound redundant. The way I read it, the cover image that is embedded in the epub file that we submit to Apple should have a width of no less than 1400 pixels, but can be larger than the 2 million pixel limit for other images in the epub. Is this correct?

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Answer 9

K T

Level 7

23,889 points

Aug 1, 2013 1:12 PM in response to fanfare23509

I never bother counting pixels. I set the image to the minimum size for one side and upload. If there's an issue, the backend will complain and you'll have to redo based on feedback from the alert at that point in the process.

The App Store will redo the image as needed for iTunes in terms of resolution - it's not going to print as a cover for New Yorker, so if print is part of your background, get over it 🙂

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Answer 10

K T

Level 7

23,889 points

Feb 20, 2013 4:24 PM in response to Raleigh Green

>The 2 million pixel maximum does not apply to the cover image.

Did you drop your 1536 X 2048 image into the 'cover' well in iTP yet? An immediate feedback from that?

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Answer 11

Feb 21, 2013 10:51 AM in response to K T

Thanks very much for your help and expertise! I now have a crystal clear picture of the situation (very gratifying). All the best and again, many thanks!

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Answer 12

Aug 1, 2013 1:28 PM in response to K T

Thanks. I'm pretty sure the 2 million pixel count for the cover is not a requirement. I can't see how 1400 x 2100 pixels can ever equal less than 2 million.

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