Guides

Everything we worked out while building the generator

We rebuilt this tool three times before the covers stopped looking almost right. These pages are what we learned along the way, written down so you do not have to repeat it.

How these are written

We build the tool, so the settings advice comes from actually making covers and comparing them to the record rather than from summarising other people's articles. Where a guide states a number, it is either measured (contrast ratios, colour conversions) or taken from a platform's own documentation, and the source is linked.

Where something is a judgement call, we say so. The stretch value of 1.15 is not published anywhere official; it is what we settled on after putting exports next to the cover art. If you think it should be 1.12, tell us and we will look again.

Every guide carries the date it was published and the date it was last checked. Platform requirements change quietly and often, so a size table from 2024 is worse than useless. When we correct something, the correction goes in rather than a quiet edit.

Missing something?

These four exist because people asked the same questions often enough. If you have one that is not covered, write to us and it may turn into the fifth. Problems with the tool itself go faster through the help page.

Or skip the reading

Most people want the picture, not the essay. All four tools are free and none of them need an account.