5 Best Book Design Courses For Beginners in 2024

Books are not just sources of information; they are also artistic creations. From design to writing, every aspect of book design plays a vital role in its success. If you are interested in the art of designing books, many courses can help you learn the skills you need to create beautiful and interesting books.

Keeping this in mind, here at Coursesity, we have curated some of the Best Online Book Design Courses. The courses in this list will ensure you're on the right track to becoming a professional book designer and creating beautiful books that your readers will love.

Top Book Design Courses List

  1. Book Cover Design Masterclass with Canva - Beginner to Pro
  2. How to Design a Stand-Out Book Cover for Amazon KDP in Canva
  3. eBook and Paperback Book Cover Design Using Canva and Gimp
  4. Book Covers: Free PowerPoint Book Covers for Self-publishing
  5. Designing a Book

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1. Book Cover Design Masterclass with Canva - Beginner to Pro

You can make or break the success of your book with the design of your book cover. Therefore, this course will help you learn how to use Canva, a free and user-friendly design tool, to create professional-looking eBook covers, KDP Paperbacks, Hardbacks, and 3D mockups.

This Book design course will help you learn the following:

  • Understand the basic and complete anatomy of a book cover, design rules, and terminology.
  • learn the fundamentals of a book cover design for digital and print-ready books.
  • Learn how to Individualize your projects to match any book you are working on.
  • Learn how to Develop concepts, ideas, and sketches for your book cover design projects.
  • Learn how to Incorporate key design elements to make your book covers stand out.
  • You will become more confident using Canva for book cover Design and any graphic design.
  • You will learn everything about the different design requirements across Book publishing platforms.
  • Set the proper Book Cover Sizes, Dimensions, and design Specifications for any book cover based on genre or publisher.
  • Best book cover design guidelines and recommended best practices from start to finish
  • Learn how to Create Professional Print Ready Book-cover Design with Front, Back & Spine with Free Canva.
  • Understand basic design theory, including working with color, layout, typography, photos, and more.
  • Learn how to create covers for any Book Cover Design Genre.
  • Learn how to stay up to date with book cover Design trends and Styles.
  • Color theory and how to use the right color combinations for pleasing visuals.
  • Understand how to use the right color modes, color profile, and design resolution for any book cover.
  • Learn how to use effects, styles, and filters to create a stunning book cover design.
  • Learn how to design covers for any major publisher like Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu, and Others.
  • How to use design mockups to create quality 3d book covers for book promotions.
  • How to Save your final digital or print-ready Book cover in the proper formats, size, and color mode.

Upon completing this course, you will have the knowledge and skills to design professional-looking book covers for eBooks, Paperbacks, Hardbacks, and 3D mockup graphics. Using Canva, you can also create marketing materials for your business or books.

This course is perfect for anyone who wants to create stunning book covers that capture readers' attention and help them choose your book. Whether you're a self-published author or an aspiring freelancer, this course will provide the tools to succeed.

  • Course rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 (3,624 Rating total)
  • Duration: 17.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate on completion

2. How to Design a Stand-Out Book Cover for Amazon KDP in Canva

A great book cover is crucial for catching potential readers' attention and generating interest in your book. In this course, you'll learn how to design stunning book covers and 3D mock-ups for hardcover, paperback, and eBook formats using Canva, an affordable and easy-to-use design software.

This Book design course will help you learn the following:

  • What critical elements do you need to include on your cover to make it stand out from the crowd?
  • How to create paperback, hardback, and eBook cover designs for FREE using Canva.
  • Calculate and set the proper orientation and dimensions for your book cover using free-cover calculators.
  • Learn Canva features and techniques that can be used for creating stunning effects and customizing fonts and backgrounds using images.
  • Find inspiration for your book covers with a guided tutorial on what covers stand out and why?
  • Gain and understand the technical design terms used in cover design, such as trim size, file size, aspect, color modes, and file type to use when uploading.
  • Know how to create and save your cover files to the correct specifications for a print book and eBook on major platforms like Amazon KDP and Ingram Spark.
  • Create unique book mock-ups for marketing that are FREE.

This course will give you the skills and knowledge to design eye-catching book covers and 3D mock-ups that stand out on the shelf. You'll also learn how to use Canva for designing other marketing materials. Whatever your budget, this course will give you the tools to create stunning book covers and 3D mock-ups that will captivate readers.

  • Course rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (81 Rating total)
  • Duration: 3 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate on completion

3. eBook and Paperback Book Cover Design Using Canva and Gimp

Cover design is an integral part of the publishing process, but it can be daunting, especially for self-published authors. In this course, you'll learn how to design professional-looking book covers using Canva, an easy-to-use design software.

This Book design course will help you learn the following:

  • Find inspiration for your book covers as well as free, cheap, or premium images without infringing upon someone else's copyright.
  • Understand the technical terms used in image design, such as image size, file size, aspect ratios, color modes, and what file type to use when uploading to your chosen platforms.
  • Know the current specifications for print books, eBooks, and catalog covers on major platforms like Amazon and Smashwords.
  • Design an eBook catalog cover in Canva using either a template or your specifications and images.
  • Work out the specifications for a paperback book cover or generate one in Createspace, and then design your cover in Canva with a little image manipulating in Gimp.
  • Set up and design book covers in Gimp using layer masks and blend modes to create interesting effects.
  • Convert your catalog cover images and paperback book cover images to a suitable size to embed within your ebooks.

Upon completion of this course, you'll have the skills and knowledge to create eye-catching book covers that stand out in a crowded market. You'll also know how to use Canva to design other marketing materials for your books or business.

  • Course rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (453 Rating total)
  • Duration: 4 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate on completion

4. Book Covers: Free PowerPoint Book Covers for Self-publishing

If you're a self-published author or aspiring to be one, there's one challenge that you can't avoid - designing your book cover. Learn how to design professional-looking book covers quickly and easily using the powerful tools available in Microsoft PowerPoint 2013/2016. Regardless of your previous experience with design software, you'll be able to follow along with the step-by-step instructions and create stunning book covers in no time.

This Book design course will help you learn the following:

  • Learn the fundamentals of Microsoft PowerPoint 2013.
  • Create professional-looking book covers with ease.

Upon completing this course, you will create stunning book covers that will help your book stand out from the crowd. You'll also have a solid understanding of how to use Microsoft PowerPoint 2013/2016 to create professional-looking designs for various other purposes.

  • Course rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (113 Rating total)
  • Duration: 7 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate on completion

5. Designing a Book

Discover the art of designing a book that will stand the test of time. With this comprehensive course, you'll delve into the key components of an elegant and readable book, starting from the Adobe InDesign basics. The class walks you through setting up your document, refining text styles, incorporating images, crafting a captivating book cover, and prepping your book for print.

This Book design course will help you learn the following topics:

  • Document Setup and Strategy
  • Placing Text
  • Styling the Text
  • Working with Images
  • Finessing Text Composition
  • Creating the Front Matter
  • Creating the Cover
  • Preparing for Print

Follow along, step-by-step, as the course expertly guides you from a blank page to a stunning finished product, demonstrating that print still holds immense power and beauty. The course will prepare you to design books that captivate readers and stand the test of time. As a result, you will be well-versed in all aspects of book design, including document setup, typography, image placement, cover designs, and printing.

  • Course rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 (3,624 Rating total)
  • Duration: 3 Hours 40 minutes
  • Certificate: Certificate on completion

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