Free album cover maker

What size should album cover art be?

Most distributors ask for a square image of 3000 × 3000 pixels, in RGB colour, as a JPG or a PNG. Apple Music asks for at least that size, and the other stores show your art smaller but take it from the same file. That is why this album cover maker exports exactly 3000 × 3000 by default, checked pixel by pixel when the file is made.

Keep the art square, with no borders added to fill the frame. Use RGB, not CMYK: CMYK is for print and screens do not show it right. A JPG at high quality keeps the file small, which matters because some distributors also cap the file size. Choose PNG if your design has flat colour and sharp type and the size cap is not a problem.

For posts, the 1080 × 1080 option gives a square that Instagram and most feeds show without cropping. Make it from the same design so the release looks the same everywhere.

The store rules your cover has to follow

Stores reject covers for the same reasons again and again. The rules differ a little between distributors, but these are the ones nearly all of them apply: no website addresses, no social media handles, no email or phone numbers, no prices or words like new or exclusive, and no logos or brands that are not yours, including the logos of the stores themselves.

The art also has to be sharp. A small photo stretched to 3000 pixels looks soft and can be refused as low quality. When your photo is smaller than 3000 pixels on its short side, we tell you, so that you can find a bigger original or pick a template where the photo is smaller, like a frame or a circle.

Finally, if you put words on the cover, they should match the release: the artist name and the title as they appear in your metadata. Our check warns you as you type if it sees a link or a handle, and the guide under the editor lists the rest.

How to make a cover that works small

Your cover is seen at the size of a thumbnail far more often than at full size: in a playlist, a search result, a lock screen. Before you download, look at the phone mockup under the editor. If you cannot read the title there, make it bigger, shorter or bolder, or leave it off and let the picture speak.

Contrast does most of the work. Light type on a dark photo or the other way round. Duotone is a fast way to get there: it maps any photo to two colours, so a busy picture turns into a calm one that type sits on easily. Grain adds the texture of print and hides the banding a smooth gradient can show.

One idea per cover is enough. A strong photo with a small title, or a big title with a quiet background. The templates are built that way, so you can start from one and only change what you need.

Fonts, photos and rights

The 16 fonts come from Google Fonts and use the SIL Open Font License, which allows commercial use, so you can use them on a release that you sell. Your photo has to be yours, or one you have the rights to use for cover art. A photo found online is usually not.

We do not generate images with AI. That would need a server and your words would leave your device. Everything here is drawn in your browser from the template, your photo and the type you pick. If you want AI art, make it elsewhere, check that its licence allows a commercial release, and bring it here as the photo to add your type and get the size right.

Learn more, or get a person on it

Read the mastering guides, comparisons and data, or send your tracks to an engineer with OBRA ULTRA.