How to Use Book Brush

Since the app is a paid service, first choose your
subscription level. Again, there is a free tier, but you cannot save projects.
Essentially, it’s the
free trial.

Once your account is created and logged in, you land
on the homepage. Everything you need is right here.

Let’s
start with book covers. 

• Click on the templates from the left, Cover Templates
  or on the upper right menu bar, choose Tools, then Covers Creator. I’m using
  Cover Creator to start from scratch. (The templates are still listed at the
  bottom even if you choose Cover Creator.) 
• Hit Create New. The Cover Creator
  screen has a warning regarding your subscription level, i.e., I can make but
  not save. 
• Choose your book type. I’ll continue with an e-book. 
• Next, choose
  which vendor to format for: Kindle, Kobo, Wattpad, and Kindle Vella. You can
  also create a custom cover by putting in your own dimensions for the cover.

Background:

• The left side of the screen has elements to add to
  your cover. 
• Click Background. 
• Choose from the library or upload your licensed
  photo. You can search their library. 
• Once the photo is added, click and drag
  the image back and forth to find the section of the image you want. This is
  great for repeating a slightly altered image for a series or for creating a
  print cover. 
• Once the image is up, a menu bar appears above with options to
  flip or change transparency. Click More Options to add a menu on the left with additional
  choices. Included are Size, Gradients, Color, Border, Blur, Overlays, and
  Filter. Essentially, you can alter the photo in many ways to create the perfect
  background image. (Animations are available, but only on paid plans.)

Text:

• Click on the Text option on the left menu. 
• Click Add
  a Text Box. Multiple boxes can be added. 
• Click on the text box to open a new
  menu on the left. 
• Inside the new text box, erase the current text and type your
  title, author name, or whatever is needed. (There is a spell check.) 
• Bold,
  italic, underline, all caps, and alignment are next. Under that, find font,
  size, color (you must press Okay on the color pop-up menu, old school but…). 
• Next, there are options
  for transparency, shadow, shadow color, line height, letter spacing, and you
  can make the text a button. 
• Last, there are options for text background color,
  transparency, shadow with color, rounded corners, and a border with color.
  Again, animation is only for paid subscribers. 
• To change the position or size
  of the box, click on the picture. Use the directional arrows on the edges to
  change the size. Click and drag to move the element. You can flip the words
  (arrow in the upper left of box), trash the text box (trash can upper right),
  or copy the box (plus sign bottom left).

Images:

• The images section has a series of community stamps to
  be added to the cover. Things like vendor images or bestseller stamps can be
  easily added to your cover. 
• Click and drag the image to the desired spot and
  adjust the size. 
• Next on the menu is a place to upload your own images
  depending on your subscription. 
• Last, you can search for images to add a small
  icon or pic to the cover. This last section seems better used for ads than
  covers. 
• Stamps and Images can be customized further if you click on the element
  and then More Options above it (gray menu). 
• Choose from the left menu to flip,
  make more transparent, blur, filter. 
• Next is background with color,
  transparency, shadow with color, and rounded corners. 
• Last is Background
  Remover. This is a premium option that lets you pull a person, animal, house,
  or whatever from their background and use the image. Credits are used for this
  option, and a More Info button is there to explain further.

And that’s
just the cover people!

Under Custom Templates, there are a slew of choices for
ads including Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub. Click on Platform to see all
the options. You can also choose templates designed for genre, a certain
descriptive (like a dog or coffee mug), and partners like Book Funnel. These
templates are customized, much like the cover with a few more elements.

Book Template allows you to add a 3D cover of your
book to the ad image. These are considered an upload if you used a pre-made
cover from somewhere else. Options include print, digital, audio, and
cover-reveal images. Background, Text, and Images are the same as under Cover
Creator, except you can add video to your background.

Next week, we
will look at trailers and videos for Book Brush.