Dust Jacket Design Overview

What is a dust jacket book cover?

Many authors love the feeling of holding their books physically in their hands. A dust jacket is one of the printing options available to authors to do this.

Note: Amazon KDP does not currently offer a dust jacket option for printing (only paperback and hardcover). 

A dust jacket is different than the two other main types of printing books: perfect bound paperback, and hardcovers. A dust jacket has a removable cover with flaps which is different from a hardcover where the cover image is pasted right onto the front of the book. Underneath the dust jacket is a plain book cover called a "cloth book cover". You can read more about these options and which is best for your book in our post about hardcover vs paperback.  IngramSpark also offers an option called the Jacketed Case Laminate where both the removable dust jacket and hardcover case laminate files are required.

What is included when I order a dust print design?

One final PDF file that can be uploaded to your preferred print-on-demand (POD) platform. We primarily prepare dust jackets for IngramSpark.  We are able to prepare a dust jacket for a different printer but will need this clarified before beginning the design. If you're distributing with more than one printing platform and require more than one dust jacket  file, we offer them for an additional charge. 

The dust jacket will include and interior front and back flaps which can include content on them as well as the front, spine and back cover. After payment, we will confirm the preferred placement of your content and what the specifications are for your dust jacket. 

We will generate a barcode with the ISBN provided by the author. A separate and unique ISBN will be required for the dust jacket.

Below is an example of a dust jacket file prepared for IngramSpark. You can view more examples of layouts in our post about dust jackets for books:

How much does a dust jacket cost?

The price for our dust jacket design is listed on our cover design extras form (once you select it).

What are the specifications of the print-ready dust jacket file?

• File Type: PDF
• File Size: <50MB
• Dimensions: Trim size (e.g. 5x8) will be specified by author/publisher. The final page count will determine how thick the spine is. 
• Colour Profile: CMYK
• Resolution: 300 DPI

What is the process for ordering and designing the dust jacket print file?

Please note that we only offer this service for books that Ebook Launch has designed the front/ebook and paperback cover for.

Ordering: 

You can order your dust jacket in one of three ways:

1. You can order it when you first order your book cover design.
2. It may be included in your book cover design package.
3. You can order it on our cover design extras form at a later date after we have already designed your ebook cover.

• The process for designing your dust jacket begins after we have an approved ebook and paperback cover design to work with. There is no time limit between the completion of the ebook and paperback cover design and the start of the dust jacket design.
• We will confirm the information necessary to start (e.g. trim size, page count, content for flaps and back cover, ISBN etc). 
• Once we have confirmed the information, we'll prepare and present your dust jacket for your review for any errors. We'll fix any changes you have at this point, free of charge. Once you approve, let us know. 
• Once the file is approved, your dust jacket file and any final instructions will be sent and the project is considered complete.

What is the turnaround time for designing a dust jacket?

Once we have received payment as well as confirming the necessary information to begin, the dust jacket will be sent for review within 7 business days.