UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
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Michael Cargill
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Michael Cargill - 2nd edition of Saying Goodbye to Warsaw
The middle one. Don't enhance the star. Keep it subtle.Flipping brilliant.
Ha! I'm glad you liked that door one actually.It'll need to be cropped at the side anyway to make it the right shape, so the star will be a bit more prominent anyway.
We shall see!
The more I look at it, the more I think the door is perfect.Bloody well done finding it!
Now don't screw up the font choice and the the colour of the font.
Right, I've done some work on the cover. Trying to figure out the right font is doing my head in but here's what I've got so far.
Good start.Try it with the title on the bottom and your name on top.
I slightly prefer the second, as I like the look of the handle. What about dropping the lighter band at the top a touch, leaving a darker 15mm or so at the top edge.
I'm really excited about this book Mike.I can really see it being a best seller.
yah i like being able to see the handle too so i'm with david on this one
Elle, you are going to love this book.
I prefer the large font in the first one, Michael, but I'd move it to the top and leave a border at the top - as per David's suggestion.
You've got four days off now, eh?You need a book.
Mike, send Elle a pre-view copy.
Oh, I'd really like to know how you feel about the ending. I thought it was great, but I wonder if you would...
David wrote: "I slightly prefer the second, as I like the look of the handle. What about dropping the lighter band at the top a touch, leaving a darker 15mm or so at the top edge."Now THAT is a good idea.
Better than swapping them.
My Internet is being a complete arse, so uploading things is taking ages - just the one pic this time.I moved the title down a bit, and also moved the two lines closer together and shrunk the band a bit. Also made my name smaller (not sure if it will show at the scale on here).
I'm gonna ask Katie to have a look.
I think I'd make the title a little larger. Just thinking about when it's a thumbnail image. Do you know how to make it look like the black text is punched out of the lighter band. The background would show through where the black text is, and might look really interesting. You could then make it a little larger without it being too heavy and upsetting the overall balance.The photoshop function is called layer masking.
Yeah I think the font is too small too.That layer thing sounds great.
Just a speedy visit to say I think that cover image is perfect. Looking forward to this book, Michael.
Photoshop really is an amazing beast!I've made the text larger but left the white band as it is - I decided to 'hide' the bottom bit of the title mostly because I had just learnt a new trick..
Michael wrote: "Photoshop really is an amazing beast!I've made the text larger but left the white band as it is - I decided to 'hide' the bottom bit of the title mostly because I had just learnt a new trick..
"
Excellent!
Don't hide the bottom bit.It looks pants.
Well, I like it, Michael. Glad you like the new trick :D
I like the effect but not how the bottom of the text isn't there!
Right, I expanded the white strip slighty so I could separate the title a bit.
That's better. Good boy.Still think your author name is too small.
And I'm concerned about whether that effect will make the title unreadable at thumbnail size.
On reflection it does look better with the whole of the text showing. You could try making the lighter band a little lighter still, so that the text stands out. Another way to do it is alter the lighter band so that only the black separation shows through. It does look effective though.
It's getting better. I'm of the opinion the title and author name should be very readable at thumbnail size.
I guess a good way to test it would be for Mike to post it as a thumbnail.
When you say thumbnail, do you mean the size when posting it like this:
Or when going into the actual page for the book itself?
Oh, bloody hell.Um, not sure how to make it smaller. My Internet is still being a twat so I can't do any more uploading.
I doubt if the star would be visible at that size either.
I can only decrease the size by about 2/3 by pinching my iPad screen.
If it's any help with the smallest zoom using my web browser the font goes completely unreadable and that's not as small as the thumbnail
I never thought of that, Elle!It's readable at 25% zoom on Chrome, which is as far out as I can go.
It's more so your name that goes a little blurry, the title is okay
I'd still knock the strength of the lighter band back a bit, say 20% strength. But I think it looks good.
David, do you mean make the band whiter or more transparent?
So the background still shows through, but with less strength, thereby increasing the contrast between the band and the text.If the band is a separate layer in photoshop, you can alter the slider for transparency and judge when it looks correct visually. You can adjust individual colours in the same way.
David, you're clever.Have a cookie.
Thank you. Hang on, it's not bacon flavour, is it?
Oatmeal chocolate chip.With dried squid bits.
Hi Michael,I'm only putting my bit in because Patti asked me. I love the image, but I think your cover would be a lot more readable if you forgot the band altogether and just used white or light grey text - maybe make it look chiselled with the bevel/emboss feature? In thumbnail, what you have would be illegible.
You seem to have a very wide cover, too. Book covers are usually 6 x 9 - at least that's what all the pre-made covers are.
Just my tuppence worth.
Thanks Katie. I knew you'd offer great advice. :)
UK Amazon Kindle Forum
Books mentioned in this topic
Saying Goodbye to Warsaw (other topics)Shades of Grey (other topics)
Underneath (other topics)
We Go Again (other topics)
We Go Again (other topics)
More...
The door one fits in a nice subtle way and I can use Photoshop to enhance the Jewish star in blue/red, but I'm not sure if it makes a very interesting cover.
The one with the chair is quite haunting.
The one with the hand is maybe a bit too similar to Underneath.
Edit - removed the other images to speed up loading times.