Best tools to make a KDP paperback cover

To make a KDP paperback cover for free, use Amazon's KDP Cover Creator: it sizes the spine and adds the barcode, but the cover can't be downloaded or reused. Canva is a general editor where you set the wrap size yourself. Book Brush ($149 to $950 a year) sizes print wraps from templates. For AI covers, DIY Book Covers makes front covers only, while kdpbook.io, KDP Builder and our KDP Book Cover Studio also build the full wrap with a computed spine. Pick by whether you need the back and spine, AI art, and a file you can take elsewhere.

Facts read on each tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-13. · Plain-text version

Quick picks

Free

Amazon KDP Cover Creator

Built into KDP, sizes the spine and places the barcode for you.

Templates and marketing images

Book Brush

Sizes the wrap from trim, paper and page count, and also makes ads and mockups.

AI cover and hardcover wrap

KDP Builder

Title drawn into the art, paperback and hardcover wraps, ISBN barcode.

AI cover without a subscription

KDP Book Cover Studioours

Ours. One-time credit packs, an ebook cover and the matching paperback wrap.

Side by side

Tool	Price	Full wrap + spine	Barcode area	AI art	Title text	Print file
Amazon KDP Cover Creator	Free	Yes, spine from your interior	Yes, adds the ISBN barcode	No (gallery or your image)	Typed	No download
Canva	Free; Pro paid (varies by country)	Not documented; size it yourself	Not documented	Yes	Typed templates	PDF Print, 300 DPI
Book Brush	$149 to $950/year	Yes, from trim, paper, pages	Placeholder	Not documented	Typed templates	PNG and PDF
DIY Book Covers	$19 to $59 once	No (front only)	Not documented	Yes	Drawn into the art	300 DPI image, 6 × 9
kdpbook.io	$25 to $99/mo; free credits	Yes	Yes, 2 × 1.2 in	Yes	Typed (5 templates)	PDF wrap
KDP Builder	$16 to $166/mo; packs from $8.99	Yes, plus hardcover	Yes, optional ISBN-13	Yes	Drawn into the art	300 DPI PDF
KDP Book Cover Studioours	$10 to $50 once	Yes	Not documented	Yes	Edited by chat	PDF wrap
KDP Coloring Book Studioours	From $7/week or $15 per book	Yes (8.5 × 8.5 in)	Guide overlay	Yes	Drawn into the art	PDF wrap

“Not documented” means the tool's own pages don't say it, not that the feature is missing.

Tool by tool

Amazon KDP Cover Creator

Website ↗

Best for: Authors who want a free, simple typed-text cover that Amazon sizes and barcodes for them and who only publish on KDP.

How it works: Built into KDP's paperback setup. The spine width comes from your interior's page count, paper and ink, so the interior has to finish processing first. Spine text needs at least 80 pages.
Images: Pick from KDP's gallery or upload JPG, PNG or TIFF (300 DPI recommended).
Text: Title, subtitle, author and series fill in from your book details, with font, size, color and alignment controls.
Ebook: Yes, with some language and marketplace exceptions.

Limits: The cover can't be downloaded, so you can't reuse it with another printer or in ads. KDP's separate cover calculator does give a PDF/PNG template for designing elsewhere.

Sources (2)

Canva

Website ↗

Best for: Authors who already know the exact wrap size and want a general-purpose editor with many templates and stock images.

Price: Free plan, plus Pro and Business plans. Prices depend on your country (we saw Pro at €110 a year from Europe).
Covers: Hundreds of front-cover templates. No KDP full-wrap template or spine calculator on the pages we read, so you set the canvas size yourself (our cover size calculator gives it).
AI: Text-to-image tools (Magic Media, Dream Lab) on the free plan; AI editing tools on Pro.
Export: PNG, JPG and PDF Print at 300 DPI with optional bleed and crop marks. CMYK export needs a paid plan.
License: Books and book covers are a permitted use. Unedited Pro content in ebooks is capped at 480,000 pixels per file.

Limits: Wrap sizing, spine and barcode area are manual.

Sources (5)

Book Brush

Website ↗

Best for: Indie authors who want a template editor that sizes print wraps and also makes ads, mockups and box sets.

Price: Yearly plans: Plus $149, Gold $149 (shown down from $199), Platinum $246; Pro I, II and III $278, $470 and $950 a year. Cover Creator is in every plan.
Covers: Ebook, audiobook, hardcover, print wrap and Kindle Vella covers. Its tutorial says you pick trim, paper and page count and it draws the spine and bleed lines.
Barcode: A white placeholder marks where Amazon adds the barcode and is removed on export.
Design: 3,000+ premade templates and 1,000+ Google Fonts or your own fonts; also ads, mockups and box sets.

Limits: Only yearly billing on the pricing page; refunds within 7 days. The spine and barcode details come from an undated tutorial on its blog.

Sources (5)

DIY Book Covers

Website ↗

Best for: Budget-minded fiction authors who want a quick AI front cover at 6 × 9 and will build the wrap elsewhere.

Price: One-time packs: $19 (50 generations), $39 (150), $59 (300), with a few upscales each.
Free: A few free generations (its pages say 3 per day in one place and 3 per week in another); free results are too small for print.
AI: Uses image models such as Gemini and Ideogram. The title is part of the image, so it can't simply be edited.
Print: Paid upscales are 300 DPI front covers at 6 × 9. Its FAQ says there's no simple way to turn them into a paperback wrap.

Limits: Front cover only: no spine, no back. Text is baked into the image.

Sources (5)

kdpbook.io

Website ↗

Best for: Authors who generate the whole book with kdpbook.io and want the cover sized and typeset in the same project.

Price: Free (2,000 credits once, watermarked, not for sale); Starter $25, Author $49, Studio $99 a month. Cover art is 65 credits.
Covers: Full wrap with 0.125 in bleed, spine from page count and paper, spine text over 79 pages, a clear barcode area.
Text: Title, subtitle and author typeset over the art from one of 5 templates; editable.
Ebook: Kindle cover as a 2,560 × 1,600 px JPEG for ebooks; coloring, puzzle and journal books are print only.

Limits: Covers are made inside a book project; there's no cover-only mode.

Sources (3)

KDP Builder

Website ↗

Best for: Authors who want an AI cover with the title already drawn in, plus paperback and hardcover wraps, from one credit balance.

Price: Monthly plans from $16 (250 credits) to $166, or one-time packs from $8.99 (100 credits). A paperback wrap is 16 credits, an ebook cover 14.
Free: 75 credits on signup, valid 14 days, watermarked exports; a free cover size calculator.
Covers: Back, spine and front with 0.125 in bleed for 16 paperback and 6 hardcover trims; spine from page count and paper.
Text: Title, subtitle and author rendered into the art, plus a text-free art file.
Barcode: A white 2.2 × 1.3 in zone on the back, with an optional rendered ISBN-13 (its cover creator page mentions barcode zones only for hardcover).

Limits: Free credits expire in 14 days. Uploading your own image is listed as coming, not available.

Sources (4)

KDP Book Cover Studioours

Website ↗

Best for: Fiction and nonfiction authors who want a genre-styled AI ebook cover and the matching paperback wrap without learning a design tool.

Price: One-time packs, no subscription: $10 (20 credits), $20 (45), $50 (120). A typical cover takes about 8 credits and the paperback wrap 4. Credits don't expire.
Free: 3 credits after email verification; watermarked until a first purchase.
Covers: An AI design editor drafts the ebook cover from a chat in 54 genre styles; then you choose trim, page count and paper for the full paperback PDF with spine and back.
Text: Set in the chat and changed by asking; only the requested text changes and the art stays.
Ebook: 1600 × 2560 px JPG.

Limits: No hardcover yet. The paperback wrap starts from an ebook cover. Its pages don't document the barcode area or the trim list.

Sources (2)

KDP Coloring Book Studioours

Website ↗

Best for: Coloring book publishers who want the interior and a matching full cover generated together.

Price: $7/week, $29/month or $49/month, or one-time packs of $15 (one book) and $39 (three books). A cover is 3 credits.
Covers: Each coloring book comes with front, spine and back sized for KDP from its page count, with 0.125 in bleed; up to four layouts to compare.
Text: Title and subtitle drawn by the AI; editable, and redrawn for 2 credits.
Free: One sample book of up to 3 pages with its cover, watermarked.

Limits: Covers only for coloring books made in the studio, one trim size (8.5 × 8.5 in), no ebook cover.

Sources (2)

How we checked

We read each tool's own website, pricing, help and terms pages on 2026-11-13; the URLs are listed under each tool. Our two products were checked the same way, from their public pages.
“Not documented” means the pages we read don't say it, not that the feature is missing.
Prices are as shown on each pricing page (USD unless stated) and can change. No tool paid to be included.

Not included

Kindlepreneur cover template: We couldn't find one: the likely calculator URL returns 404 and their cover design guide recommends third-party tools instead.

Spotted something out of date? Tell us at the address on the About page and we'll fix it.

Questions

›What is the best free tool for a KDP cover?

Amazon's KDP Cover Creator: it's free, computes the spine from your interior and adds the barcode. The catch is that the cover can't be downloaded or reused outside KDP.

›Can I make a KDP paperback cover in Canva?

Yes, but you set the full wrap size yourself (trim × 2 + spine + 0.25 in of bleed, by trim height + 0.25 in), add the spine and leave the barcode area clear. Use a cover size calculator to get the numbers, then export PDF Print at 300 DPI.

›Do AI cover tools make the back cover and spine?

Some do. kdpbook.io, KDP Builder, KDP Book Cover Studio and KDP Coloring Book Studio build the full wrap with a computed spine; DIY Book Covers makes the front cover only.

›Can I sell books with AI-generated covers on KDP?

KDP allows it, but asks you to declare AI-generated content when you publish. Check each tool's license too: several only allow selling covers made on a paid plan.