Armand Morin: eCover Generator (version 1)

Important note: This is a critical review and not a salesletter or an ad! 


Format 

Software program - digitally delivered.

Note! Please be so kind and note that this is a review of the first version of eCover Generator. An updated review of the newest version will soon be published here.



Review 

"It simply can't be done!"

That's what many Internet marketers has said (or thought) again and again.

"It's simply impossible to create software program that will automate the ebook cover creating process. There are too many factors you need to implement in the software, in for it to work effectively."

But now Armand Morin has actually done it!

He has created a software program that makes it possible for anyone to make their own ebook covers superfast. And the neat thing is that you don't need to have any graphical skills to do it. Most of the tasks are either automated or made idiot-proof.

This means that anyone can create their own covers without spending hundreds of dollars on hiring a graphic artist.

The really important questions are, of course...

1) how good the quality of the covers are, and
2) whether you're able to customize and individualize each cover so that it doesn't look like the covers of all the other users of this program.

After all, if you want to make a good and professional impression on your customers, you want to get... 

1) professional covers,
2) unique covers.

I was really excited to test out this new piece of software, in order to the answers to the two questions I've just mentioned.

I must admit that I was rather skeptical, but after I've tested the program, here is my conclusion...

Armand Morin's program, eCover Generator, works surprisingly well. To a certain degree you are still limited by the number of templates you get with the program. However, most of these templates look really good. And, what's equally important, you're really able to customize and individualize each cover to a very large degree. Each cover will still be based on the templates you use, but you have a lot of possibilities to give each cover a unique look. Yes, actually you can edit the templates that you get with the software (in your own graphic program) or add new ones.

When you'd like to create a new cover with eCover Generator, you have three general choices for what you want the cover to look like. You can choose a 1-dimensional, a 2-dimensional or a 3-dimensional box.

When you've decided which kind of box you want to use, you have a lot of templates to choose between. Each template will give your cover a different color and design. Several of the templates already have images added to them.

Next, you can add your own text and your own images to each box. You don't NEED to add images, but you can do it if you like to. And you can choose any of your own images if you like. In other words, you're not limited by the program in this respect.

The finished cover can look really professional. Of course the final look will still depend upon the amount of work you put into it, but you have a very good chance of making a professional cover. My advice is that you spend some time on the individualization process, instead of just adding a headline to the template you've choosen. Your cover will look much more unique and professional that way.

One of the really cool parts of this program is how flexible it is. For instance, you can edit the text you want to write on the cover in just about any way you like to. You can edit the font, the size, the color and the position (by rotation etc.) of the text. You can also change the size of the text after you've entered it, by dragging in on the handles of the text-box. And you can see the result immediately in the preview window. Besides, you can also adjust the anti-alias quality of the text, which means that you have much better control over the look of the text. 

I only have two minor criticisms here. Firstly, you can't edit the text after you've entered it. If you want to change it, you have to delete it and enter a new text. Secondly, if you choose a particular text-color in the Text Layer Font-box, the program doesn't remember your color choice. You have to choose the color by clicking on the Text Color-button in first New Text Layer box view. These two criticisms are only minor points. And in my opinion they don't subtract from the overall value of the program. 

As you go through the process of creating a new ecover, you can get a better view of the cover by clicking on the zoom-in or zoom-out button. This is a very helpful feature in the program.

When you're finished with the cover, the software automatically assembles the different parts into the finished and complete cover. Then you just push the Save-Button to save the image on your harddisk. 

That's it.

Here is an ecover I just made:









It tool me about 15 minutes or so to make this cover. If I had taken the time and put a little bit more of energy into this cover, it could easily have been even better. But not that bad when you consider that I only spent about a quarter on it, don't you agree?

As you can see, I've added a little shadow to the image. That's very easy to do in eCover Generator. After you've made the ecover, you just push a button, and voilá, you've added a shadow.

The only serious criticism I have of eCover Generator, is that it doesn't have an Undo option. This means that you can't undo a wrong move. If you mistakenly enter a wrong text, you can't change the text. You have to delete it and enter the right text. If you import a wrong image, you can't undo the import. You have to start again all over or open the templates file and find the template you want to use.

I found the program extremely easy to use. Much, much easier than most of the larger graphic programs. Each step in the process of creating your ecover is fully explained. And if you'd like to get even more explicit and detailed explanations and help, the help program will come in handy.

Finally, the results you get from the use of eCover Generator can look really good. In my opinion some of the templates look better than others. But if you choose one of the more nice-looking ones, you can get a really fine and professional end-result. And let me mentioin one thing that's very important: The dimensions of the final covers look just right. This is very important, in my opinion. Nothing looks more bad than when you see an otherwise good product featured with a very amateurish ecover with totally unrealistic dimensions. You won't make this mistake, if you use Armand Morin's eCover Generator.



Overall assessment

After having tested this new program, my conclusion is that it works surprisingly well. You are really able to make your own professional looking covers, even if you don't have a graphic bone in your body.

Of course your covers will still be limitied to a certain degree by the number of templates you get with the program. However, most of these templates look really fine, and if you spend a little extra time on each cover, you'll probably get a very good result. Besides, you're able to edit the templates or add new ones to the collection, if you'd like to do that.

In short, if you want to spare some money and time on getting professional covers for your ebooks, I think you'll not be disappointed by this program. You'll find that it'll spare you both money and time. And who doesn't want to accomplish that?



Price (at the time of this writing)

US $97 



About Armand Morin

Who is Armand Morin? Click for the answer!



Buying information 

Website 

http://www.ecovergenerator.com 



Snail mail

Internetric Company
6008 Whittier Dr., 
Raleigh, NC 27609
USA



Email 

support@ecovergenerator.com