Manuscript Studio

Exporting a cover

Print wrap PDFs and flat eBook cover JPEGs — which route to use, the store presets, and why the studio has no quick-proof button.

There are two things called a cover, and they are different files.

What it is Where it comes from
Print wrap PDF Back, spine and front as one sheet with bleed The release board, in the manuscript's ④ Release
Ebook cover JPEG The front panel only, flat The release bundle, or Single files in ④ Release

The print wrap

Produced through the release board, as part of a release bundle.

It is rendered at the exact wrap dimensions, with fonts embedded, at your platform's spine and bleed.

The board is the route to use. The studio used to have a "download this wrap" button, and it was removed: it produced a cover without any of the checks that make a cover correct — a measured interior, an established spine, a sign-off that is not stale. A proof that can silently disagree with the real interior is worse than no proof.

The eBook cover

A flat JPEG of the front panel, at the store's own dimensions. The release bundle makes one for each ebook store you tick in ④ Release; Single files makes one for the store you pick:

Store Pixels
Kindle 1600 × 2560
Apple Books 1600 × 2560
Kobo 1600 × 2400
Google Play Books 1600 × 2560
Draft2Digital 1600 × 2400

Each is inside that store's published limits, and the store's card in ④ Release links the page the limits came from.

The front panel is recomposed onto the target canvas and letterboxed with your wrap background where the aspect ratios differ, so nothing is stretched.

The eBook cover is not embedded in your EPUB. Stores take it as a separate upload, which is why it is offered as its own file.

Filenames

Exports are named from your book and suffixed with the platform, so a folder of files from several targets stays legible:

nineteen-rings-cover-wrap-lulu.pdf
nineteen-rings-cover-nook.jpg

What to watch for

  • A cover wrap is specific to one platform and one page count. The file you downloaded last week is wrong if you have edited since.
  • Exports cost no credits, on any plan, but they are rate limited — they launch a real browser server-side. The bundle exists partly so several targets cost one request rather than several.
  • A free (unsubscribed) account gets no cover file. Not a watermarked one — see Single files.