DIY renders of 3D book covers (free)

Boxshot invites users to upload their book cover and spine, then fiddle with a variety of controls to arrive at a striking 3D rendering of said cover. The basic offering is free, with a paid version offering more bells and whistles.

“This 3D book cover generator is constantly rendering a realistic book model with the pictures you loaded. Every time you move the camera or change a parameter — the rendering starts from the beginning. It may take some time for the noise to come away and you get a nice and clear 3D image.”

— Boxshot website

10 Useful Photo Sites for Book Cover Images (Paid + Free)

Guest post by  Ivy Attie

Although you are not supposed to, judging a book by its cover is a skill we all employ from time to time. Whether standing in a queue at a bustling bookstore or reviewing thumbnails on our favorite digital platform — the cover is often the only element we have time to peruse.

If you are a writer, you will agree that you usually don’t have the time or the resources to carry on a customized photoshoot for your book covers. Especially if you are an independent publisher, you may not boast the budget to hire a professional illustrator to do the artwork for your book. In that case, stock photographs come to the rescue and provide you with readily available material for book covers.

What Are Stock Photographs?

Stock photos are a repository of pictures or illustrations taken by photographers. They are available in numerous categories, are high quality, and boast similar attributes as a professional shoot.

Most of the stock photo sites offer images for free. However, various reliable stock agencies charge a nominal amount for the license they provide. These agencies have professionals working for them who ensure the images they receive are from the copyright holders. The images are also more competent and less overused than the ones available on free photo sites.

But of course, the final choice of agency depends on your budget. To help you make the selection, here is a list of stock photo sites, both - paid and free, for your print and design needs.

Best Paid Stock Photo Sites

Let’s start with some of the best sites where you can get high-quality stock images.

1.    iStock

iStock by Getty Images offers an exclusive and extensive collection of photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, and music clips. They have over 20 years of presence in the stock photo industry and curate some of the most outstanding genre images for your publishing needs.

When it comes to pricing, iStock is not the cheapest. However, they have some flexible payment plans that let you choose between monthly and yearly plans along with single image purchases, on-demand packs, and bulk purchases. You can also take advantage of an iStock discount and save money on your purchase.

2.    The Stock Alchemist

The Stock Alchemist is a boutique-style stock photography site that specializes in book covers and album sleeves. The exclusive collection is hosted by Regina Wamba, a renowned personality popular for her creative brains.

Here, you will find a range of book cover options for different genres, including romance, science fiction, and dystopian. You can download a low-resolution file for free. However, a substantial fee applies to each image for license and high-quality versions.

3.    Shutterstock

Shutterstock offers one of the largest collections of stock photos and vectors. They also regularly update their database, so you will be no short of choices on this platform. One of the best features of Shutterstock is that it allows online editing directly from the browser, besides integration with Adobe Creative Cloud apps.

The pricing plans of Shutterstock are pretty manageable. Besides on-demand packs, the company offers subscription plans for teams and enterprises. You can also receive a free trial of 10 images for a month. All you need to do is sign up with their services and receive your free credits.

4.    StockPhotos.com

Stockphotos.com is probably one of the newest additions in the stock photo industry. Created by a team of stock photo experts, the site completes all the requirements you have for a photo site and more. New pictures are also added daily to the site.

One of the best things about stockphotos.com is the resource page. Here, the team covers everything you need to know about stock photos, licenses, and editing limitations. So, if you are still discovering the industry, this is the website you should visit.

5.    DepositPhotos

DepositPhotos is one of the most affordable options on this list. It boasts an exquisite collection of pictures, vectors, illustrations, and videos with a royalty-free license. The license allows you to use stock assets in any way you want without giving attribution to the original owner or the agency.

The pricing plans for DepositPhotos start at $9/month. You can choose to go with either bundle subscription packs or on-demand packs. An app for iOS and Android is also available for members to pick pictures on the go.

Best Free Stock Photo Sites

Now that we've covered some paid options let’s look at the free stock photo sites for budget-conscious authors. Before using images from these sites, you must check out their license details & terms and conditions to remain legally safe.

6.    Pixabay

Pixabay is a go-to solution for designers and marketers looking for a quick and free option to fill the visual gap in their projects. It contains a massive database of more than 2.4 million photos, vectors, and illustrations.

Pixabay operates under its own license that allows anyone to use the pictures wherever they want. You also don’t have to give credits to the original author (even though it’s a good idea to do so).

7.    Pexels

Pexels is another free photo site you would definitely enjoy. And just like Pexels, you can use the images found here any way you want without giving credit to the original photographer. The collection is extensive as well, with new photos added daily.

One of the best features of Pexels is its search filters. You can quickly vet down your choices through the easy-to-use interface according to the niche, subcategory, orientation, and even trending topics. You can also modify the size of the picture you download - saving you tons of time in post-processing.

8.    New Old Stock

As the name implies, New Old Stock is slightly different from the others present in the stock photo game. This site features pictures from the past era - primarily black and white for the history buffs out there. So, if you are writing about history or nonfiction, this site is for you!

Images presented here are available under the public domain license. This means that all pictures are available by the public and for the public - without any cost.

9.    StockSnap

Another freebie stock photo site is StockSnap. The pictures offered here are free from copyright restrictions and can be used in any way you want.

One of the best collections at StockSnap is their landscape and scenery collection. If you are curating pictures for a travel-inspired novel, this site is a must-check. You can also choose the images you find here and integrate them with other artworks to create a unique yet beautiful book cover picture.

10. Unsplash

Last but not least is Unsplash. In fact, a list of stock photo sites will be incomplete without the mention of Unsplash, as it has one of the largest free stock photo libraries with over 1.5 million assets. And just like others mentioned in this list, Unsplash boasts a well-curated collection of professional photographs.

All the photos found here are entirely free to use. They can be used in any project, including personal and commercial, without giving attribution to the owner.

Final Words

Hopefully, the above 10 sites will give you a good start at designing your book cover. Do your research before making the final choice to ensure you are using the pictures legally and ethically. And if you are looking for professional help, feel free to contact us at Working Type to let us handle your book. Happy publishing!

Advice for Independent Authors

Independent authors are often preyed upon by publishers. Writing a book is hard but a relatively linear task — write > edit> proofread, but the modern landscape of publishing and promotion is wide open, with a myriad possible strategies and pitfalls. Unsurprisingly, many authors find the prospect of self-managing their book overwhelming and sign up with ‘vanity’ presses. Many of these presses over-promise and under-deliver. With the amount of money they spend on signing up with a publisher, authors could have achieved a great deal pursuing their own promotional plan. There are many resources online to assist with this planning. Jane Friedman is also very helpful.

Here is a good roundup of Australian resources. The Queensland Writers Centre has some useful advice.

Independent publishing is hard, but it can be very rewarding. Many of the possibilities are very low cost, your reach is potentially global, an amazing thing in itself.

WorkingType Design has compiled a useful hints booklet for authors, downloadable here.

The Map is Not the Territory

National Geographic Magazine has just opened up an archive of thousands of its customised maps. Those of us who grew up with piles of yellow-edged National Geographic magazines will recall the intensely detailed and often very colourful maps covering the globe, nations and specific themes.

Two Fine Free Font Offerings

When IBM commissioned a typeface family for their own internal use, they also released it for general use. Clean and practical, Plex also has some style and warmth. With sans, serif and monospaced subfamilies and many weights, one might wish that many businesses relying on dull typefaces such as Arial and Times New Roman might make the switch and use something much better for free.

“With four subfamilies, eight weights, two styles (roman & italic), and 100 Languages, IBM Plex™ can do just about anything you need it to. Just download, add to your font manager, activate and enjoy.”

Another free offering, Overpass is not quite a grand as Plex, but with eight weights and true italics, it is a fine and generous offering. Very smart and highly readable, and more space efficient than Plex.

Free and Nearly Free Fonts

Hundreds of websites cater to the Internet's limitless appetite for free typefaces. Only a few restrict themselves to high quality fonts. Font Squirrel is one such, and Lost Type allows users to pay what they want for their font of choice. Some of the Font Squirrel offerings have multiple weights, and a few are issued by commercial type designers, such as Plex, a huge font family commissioned by IBM.

Images With a Yum Factor

An alternative to all the anodyne food images available at typical stock art libraries -- free photographs from www.foodiesfeed.com

Finding and Using Free Images

Authors and cost-conscious designers often find themselves searching for low-cost or free imagery for covers and illustrations. This site explains in detail the copyright and usage issues associated with the employment of such imagery. It also maintains an extensive and extremely useful list of free image sites. 

Makerbook Showcases Quality Free Resources

Free is the new black on the Web. Free digital resources of surprising quality are available for photographs, typefaces, illustrations, web wireframes and much more. Makerbook brings together some of the higher end sources of free material and organises them in a simple and visually attractive way.