If you are going to create an eBook of your very own, it is important that you know how to design a book cover. You could hire an eBook cover designer, however, if you are just starting out and self-publishing an eBook, it could be a bit expensive to employ an eBook cover designer. Don’t fret, though. There are a good number of eBook cover design tools that are very affordable, and easy to use.

  • Paint.NET

Paint.NET is the tool you need if you want a free, efficient, and easy-to-use program. As a cover design tool, it is more on the basic side, and does not really have any frills or extra features to make it attractive to the more expert eBook cover designers. However, if all you need is a book cover design tool that has a short learning curve, then this is for you.

  • Canva

This designing tool is widely used and is usually used for both book covers and marketing materials for your social media campaigns. From a user’s perspective, it is quite easy to use and gives users access to blank templates.

This means you don’t need to design your eBook cover; you just need to tweak it to fit your motif.  Pricewise, Canva offers a free version and two other paid versions. The paid version offers the Pro and Team plans. The Pro is for individual users and costs $12.99. The team plan is for groups and costs around $14.99 each month.

  • Over

The Over design tool has many great features to offer you. The tool has a great touch-screen feature, and offers a lot of great fonts and images. This will ensure that your eBook will have a unique cover. When it comes to creating a personalized design, this is by far one of the best options at your disposal. The Over design tool has a free version, and a Pro version that costs around $69.99 per year.

  • Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo is not free; however, you won’t be remiss if you use the tool. It technically has most of the design features that you will equate with Photoshop. One small setback is its difficult learning curve. It is not as intuitive as Photoshop, which makes it difficult to create a 3D image for your book. This does not mean it is impossible, however, learning how to do so is a bit tricky.

Pricewise, Affinity Photo is not free, however, it is still affordable at $40.99 for the macOS or Windows version. You could also buy the whole suite on all platforms for only $99.99 .These could even be brought lower due to sales promotions. Overall, this design tool has all of the features that you would associate with Photoshop while being less expensive. Just make sure that you learn how to use the features efficiently to get the most out of your money.


  • Photoshop

This book cover design tool is synonymous with design, and is the most well-known in the industry. The best aspect of Photoshop is that it is extremely customizable, and relatively easy to use. The tool has a myriad of features that many designers will love. It is very intuitive, and you could use the tool to create practically any kind of design you could think of.

Some great examples of its many features are image manipulation, cutting, and merging, to name just a few. The tool is surprisingly easy to use, and even a beginner could get the hang of using it with a bit of practice.

Due to the tool being considered the best in the industry, it could be a bit expensive. However, the tool recently offered a monthly subscription option of $20.99 for the Photoshop plan. You could also make use of the Photography plan for $19.99 and even get multiple Adobe apps for $39.99 for the Creative Cloud plan.

  • Krita

If you want a design tool that has all the capabilities of Photoshop, you won’t really go wrong with the Krita tool. It has a lot of great design options, and is surprisingly easy to use. There is a very easy learning curve, and it has both a desktop and tablet version. If you are artistically inclined, and you want to draw your own book cover design, Krita is a great option. Aside from book cover design, this is also a favorite of illustrators, because it has great pixel and 3D texturing options.

One of the best things about Krita, though, is the fact that it is free to use. With the many features it has to offer and the affordability, Krita is a must have for book cover designers of any level.

Conclusion

As a newbie eBook author, you may want to find economical ways to design an eBook cover. While you could hire an eBook cover designer, you may not have the budget to do so. This is understandable because the eBook option is meant to be economical. With these eBook cover design tools, you’ll be able to design your eBook cover without spending too much.