If you want to create a book and save it in a digital format or print out, then you need to find the best book design software.
I have described top 13 software for such a purpose and the list includes programs that can satisfy experienced designers and beginners alike. Besides, there you can find both paid and free book design software which is good news for people with a limited budget.
This overview is bound to give you a deep understanding of the best programs currently available, describing their strong and weak points. Either you need professional software or entry-level one, you can find a good variant here. Besides, the book creator examples presented below were selected to cater to the needs of users with different financial capabilities.
Verdict: Adobe InDesign is a go-to tool for many designers and printing experts, who are interested in producing page layouts. It is equipped with all sorts of purpose-built tools that can satisfy both average and professional users.
The program is helpful when you need to create print or interactive documents, which significantly expands the scope of its application. Adobe InDesign can function as book cover software and it offers the necessary features for handling the inside pages. Choosing this program, you can precisely control the size of pages, typography aspects, and enjoy numerous export options.
Verdict: Though QuarkXPress doesn’t top this list, it is still a worthy InDesign alternative, which you can rely on if you want to design a book.
It can assist you whether you need to work on the filling or external side of a book. The most notable feature of this software is “Flex Layouts”, which provide a graphical “WYSIWYG” interface that you can use in an efficient manner without learning HTML and CSS coding.
You can easily change the size or shape of the Flex Layouts, thus automatically affect the text and graphics on the page. This is a really helpful option, making it possible to see how the page will look on different devices with varied screen sizes.
Verdict: Bookemon is a free service for designing books and preparing them for printing. You can use it to create books and share them with your friends, clients, or followers. This option will be especially useful for authors of biography books, children’s literature, poems, etc. Besides, you can use it to create a yearbook. This service has a mobile app for making photo book and can be used as a cookbook software.
When using Bookemon, you can customize the available templates or use files in Word, PDF, PPT and various image formats. You can also use your own photos to illustrate your book.
Whether you decide to use a version for macOS or Windows, you will have access to a variety of themes that can be edited even by beginners. You just need to click on a thumbnail to start working on your project. After designing a layout, you can select a book format and choose a cover.
Verdict: What is the best software for book layout? Many people engaged in designing books, newspapers, magazines and other printed media believe that it is Affinity Publisher. The program has a straightforward UI and diverse features for performing even complicated tasks.
Here you can work with master pages, text wrapping, image frames, link text frames, tables, grids, and use numerous graphic and editing instruments. The StudioLink technology ensures smooth integration with other components of the Affinity suite. Thus, you can edit images, publication pages, and vector art without resorting to third-party apps.
Verdict: This is the best book design software if you plan to work with long and complex files. The program is regularly used for creating non-fiction books and all types of technical documents.
Thanks to a broad range of publishing options, you can easily optimize and output your creations to different devices – generate PDF, Responsive HTML5 or export in extensions meant for Kindle. Anyway, this book layout software is ideal for work with long documents. You can use automatic settings for headers and footers, easily shift content from chapters and paragraphs, etc.
Verdict: Coming with more than 10 book layout templates and handy tools, this program can satisfy both beginner and seasoned designers. The online editing instrument is helpful if you need to add links, videos, text, hot spots, audio, sliders and other multimedia elements to your book.
Thanks to the possibility to own a custom domain for the book, you can use your own brand for HTML5 books instead of an embedded one. The free online hosting service allows you to share your books on the net even if you don’t have your personal website. The statistics section delivers timely info on the popularity of your book.
Verdict: Reedsy Book Editor is an extremely useful free tool for automatic ebooks formatting before publication. What makes it stand out is that it takes care of all the hard-to-remember typesetting rules, like margins, indents, spacing, etc. I like that it can be used on every device and browser, and is accessible for complete beginners.
With this tool, you no longer have to keep up with the editor’s or co-author’s revisions. Reedsy allows you to collaborate on your book's manuscript in real-time. You'll have the ability to track changes, edit text, and leave comments.
The file exported from Reedsy is ready for instant distribution to eBook marketplace. I also like that the tool has the option of connecting you with professional editors, marketers, designers, etc.
Verdict: Indeed, Kittl offers a wide range of design tools that spell convenience for a creative project, but what really impressed me was the drag-and-drop feature, together with real-time previews, which allowed to make precision in details right there and then with no guesswork.
Halfway through my project, I was amazed at how the variety of genre-specific Kittl book design tools, along with quality stock images and professional fonts at my fingertips, turned what could have been an incredibly time-consuming task into a quick and enjoyable experience. The tools were great in enhancing my design with ease and efficiency while keeping me productive in the completion of quality work.
Verdict: This convenient free book layout software can tackle any printouts from photo albums to novels, including the creation of e-book versions. Many users are especially grateful for the free ISBN number they can obtain.
From the same file, you can simultaneously create a printed and an electronic version without the need for tedious separation processing. Among the free options, you won’t find such quality and flexibility supported by convenience of use that this software offers.
Especially since the program can recognize the plug-ins of the most popular Adobe programs and even work on portable devices through a designated app. Apart from being a popular text formatting instrument, it is also featured among the best photo book makers.
Verdict: This multi-purpose layout software from Shutterstock is a great program for assembling the book and its cover for print single-handedly.
Though you’ll be using templates, the library you’re getting access to, in combination with the instruments for customizing, will result in a perfectly unique design. For more elaborate work, you will find better options on this list.
If you’re in a rush to have everything done, this is just what you need for doing a decent design in little time. Since this free book design software is powered by the huge stock photography platform, you need an account to have access to the editor.
Verdict: This is not only the best book cover design maker but also a great program for independent authors. It allows assembling and putting out for sale a book quickly and with little investment.
You can take care of the style and layout of the text and when the result is satisfactory, there are two options. You can either put it out for sale on the platform as an eBook, or print the physical volumes. In the first case, the service is free, in the second, you pay a flexible price that reduces for larger volumes.
Verdict: Adobe Express is popular free graphic design software. It has a multitude of templates that can further be enhanced in any way that your creativity suggests. Thus, the results can be truly unique each time.
Many claim this is the best book cover design software because of the incredible fonts that were professionally designed and set out for free use. Between the available images, fonts, colors, layouts, and instruments for adjusting them, you will feel unrestricted possibility to create.
Verdict: This program is featured as the best InDesign for Linux alternative and can be added to this list as the best book design software with an open-source code. This is not a new unreliable program, the first version appeared 13 years ago. You can assemble and refine books, magazines, posters, and any typographical item.
It is friendly to unexperienced users and yet allows achieving quite professional-looking results. It even supports working with scripts and has several pre-made ones. For example, you can set items to be automatically expanded to the page’s full size in a click.
Even introducing your own things, like fonts, is possible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t yet recognize the proprietary file types, but otherwise, the program is outstanding. If you need to find a service with a wider choice of interactive features, you may also use Publuu - Ebook creator that allows adding a realistic flip effect.
Verdict: This book cover creator software can set you off with a perfectly balanced default layout. If you are following particular branding, however, all the components can be tweaked to match it. The same goes for special creative visions that you will be able to bring to life.
If there is a particular palette you’re going for, enter the hex codes to get the precise colors. With the immense library of stock photos created by professionals, you can represent any idea on the cover.
This program is particularly helpful for several specialists working on the same project because everything is stored in the cloud and users can access the content with different permissions. This can also be convenient for those, who switch devices often.
