Hi friends! While I wait for the paperback proof of The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers to arrive in the mail this week, I’ve been creating some 3D mockups of the book to use on my site. I tried out a ton of tools, both paid and free, and found two services I really like. I wanted to share them with you all to save you the hassle of doing your own research if you ever want to do this for one of your books. It’s REALLY EASY to do and both of these tools are completely free with no account required to download your images.
Option #1: Smartmockups
Smartmockups offers 3D mockups of all kinds (t-shirts, coffee mugs, business cards, etc.). I used their site to create and download this cool 3D mockup of my ebook on a tablet and phone:
What I like about Smartmockups:
No account required to download your mockup.
Download as many free mockups as you want.
Internal cropping tool–if you look closely you can see that these covers don’t exactly match the device’s dimensions, however I was able to crop it within Smartmockups without creating a new image.
Transparent background
Multiple download size options
Keep in mind you will need a cover image that you created elsewhere to upload into their editor.
To find their free mockup templates, go to their site > Browse All Mockups. From there, choose your category on the left, then filter by “free.”
Option #2: DIY Book Covers
I also liked DIY Book Covers, and used their site to download these paperback and mixed ebook + 3D paperback mockups:
The quality is not as high in my opinion, but it still looks much better than comparable tools I found online, plus you can download as many as you want without making an account.
What I like about DIY Book Covers:
Easy-to-use tool
Transparent background (be sure to download in PNG)
Option for an image of a paperback next to an ereader, which is not available in Smartmockups
No account needed for free downloads
The site has a lot of other information and tools for authors, like a cover design creator, tutorials, and marketing advice
From the homepage, go to Book Design > 3D Mockups. Again, you will need your own cover image to upload. One thing to note is that I could not get the DIY Book Covers uploader to work in Firefox. I had to use Safari.
If you have tools you like to use to make 3D Mockups, please share them! These are the two that worked for me but I’m sure there are other good ones out there. I liked that they were free, high-quality, and I wasn’t required to make yet another online account in order to download them.
I just got a text from the AVA confirming a case of Hendra in New South Wales near Scone, which is a major horse area and significantly further south than it’s been identified before.
“Real magic can never be made by offering someone else’s liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.”
– Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn | 2/31