QIHU'S GRAPHICS TUTORIALS

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR COVERS

Let's use this as an example! I've just used the WattPad Covers app (it's not up anymore but I still see this kind of cover around) and used a sample picture for them, put on a filter and slapped on some font.

NUMBER ONE:
First of all, don't just use one app. They won't have all the features that you're looking for and picking the thing that is almost what you're looking for will not help. The covers app didn't have a lot of pictures so I picked a random one that fit my title and used it.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: get a few different apps and try them out! you may find that one of them will give you what you want. for example, i have one for fonts, one for editing, one for filters and one for special effects.

NUMBER TWO:
You don't always need filters to make it look nicer. This used to be just black and white and it looked fine! You can see that the colour of the font and the background don't really mix well together with the black in the font being a few shades darker than the black in the photo.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: if you're okay with the colour on the photo, don't change it. if you do want to change it on a coloured background, you can transfer the picture onto an editing app and fiddle with the adjust colour options there!

NUMBER THREE:
The font is one of the important parts of a cover. In the cover, I used two different fonts and that's okay but you see that they don't really go with each other. The small details in the fonts for 'Being Alone' doesn't match with the simplicity of the font holding the author's name. You might find that the font holding the author's name is too basic and plain.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: i recommend finding fonts online and spend a few minutes looking through them and put those on your covers. I have a tutorial on how to get fonts if you don't have phonto on hand!

NUMBER FOUR:
The picture, in my opinion, doesn't fit the vibe of the cover that I'm trying to get at. Sure, she's alone however it looks like she's alone because she doesn't have any friends rather than alone because there is no one else in the world. You want a picture that tells your story enough but doesn't ruin the entire plot. If I wanted to make a story about a zombie apocalypse, maybe someone running away from zombies would be a nice idea or a picture of a city in ruins. The title can also help with that bit that'll be saved for later.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: take a few minutes to go to google, pinterest, anywhere you can find photos to get one that fits the theme of your book!

NUMBER FIVE:
Placement! Right now the cover looks a bit empty between the title and credits so maybe you can make the font bigger to fill them in but you shouldn't overcrowd. I'll talk about that more in the next chapter of this.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: if you want to make it seem less empty, you can choose a picture that has a person in the centre of the cover or make the font fit the empty space!