It’s time for me to spill photo manipulation SECRETS.
Well. Sort of secrets? Mild secrets? Basically they’re not secret at all — BUT LET’S NOT DWELL ON SEMANTICS.
It is unfortunately hard to photograph eBooks. And if you’re a big fan of #bookstagram but don’t own a lot of books…THIS CAN BE KILLER. The book covers colour seems dim or your device always goes black when you go to take the photo or the light has hit at a weird angle AND IT’S JUST ALL HORRIBLE. Rest your fluttering little souls, fiends. I can help.
Today’s tutorial is how to take a successful photo of an eBook using photo manipulation. We’re using Pixlr. Which is free. Which is what I live for to be honest — free photo apps and free pizza.
LET’S DIVE IN SHALL WE?!
Also: apologise to everyone who I promised this tutorial to like…a month ago. I DIDN’T FORGET I JUST DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE TO GET TO IT. I swear, my secretaries these days are all failing. No one makes me fresh cupcakes. No one rearranges my TBR. No one stands on the rooftops quoting The Princess Bride to all and sundry. I have to do it ALL MYSELF. #overworked
TAKE A PHOTO OF YOUR EMPTY EREADER DEVICE.
Yes. Empty. So you don’t need anything on the screen. The darling thing can be turned off if you want. It can be quietly playing Brahms. All you need is IT.
Also, it can be an iPod, a Kindle, a Nook, an iPad, an iPhone, and iSpaceship. Whatever the kids are playing with these days. I personally use my iPod touch which is about 4 years old and likes to scream at me all day long.
Take the photo like you would of a normal book. SO GO WILD. BE PRETTY.
Don’t let my screensaver fool you. I actually dislike Captain America immensely and his bleeding shield on my iPod actually just represents how FREAKING ANNOYING MY IPOD BECAUSE IT’S SO OLD AND CAN’T COMPETENTLY DO ANYTHING EXCEPT THINK ABOUT BUCKY.
Excuse me. I shall not rant on my dying iPod. Back to the tutorial at hand.
I suggest you edit this photo now (if you like editing) with whatever editing program you like. Get it all nice and ready for adding the ebook cover on top.
OPEN UP PIXLR.COM/EDITOR.
Or you can click the above link that I have provided for you because I am Queen Of Lazy Shortcuts and I imagine you are too. But I mean, you know this??? This tutorial is basically titled “HOW TO TAKE PHOTOS OF EBOOKS IF YOU ARE LAZY AND CAN’T BE BOTHERED GETTING GOOD LIGHTING FOR YOUR PHOTOS.” But that was a bit long. So.
Click “OPEN IMAGE FROM COMPUTER” which will look like so:
Upload that nice photo you just took of your empty eReader screen.
Admire it. Good job you for getting so far in this difficult task.
Now get a book cover off Goodreads!
Or google, or whatever. I’m using The Problem With Forever for no other reason than IT’S DOWNRIGHT GORGEOUS. #ShallowBookworm
Next you go to “IMAGE” and then click “OPEN IMAGE AS A LAYER”.
The image will appear just in the middle of the screen and not on your eReader screen, obviously. But patience grasshopper.
Now go to “EDIT” and click “FREE DISTORT”.
This is going to make the book cover you just uploaded completely twistable and bendable like Elastigirl from the Incredibles of which we’re still waiting for that darn sequel.
Just twist and manipulate the cover layer (by pulling on the 4 corners) until it fits onto your eReader screen. You want to make sure it lines up nicely so it looks nice and not like you spent 4 seconds doing this on pixlr. LIKE YOU ACTUALLY DID.
And then TA-DA! DONE!
Now save the beast. Very important. You can go to “FILE” and then “SAVE” or just click “CONTROL S” (or “COMMAND S” for macs).
ADMIRE YOUR GENIUS.
This is pretty much the most crucial step. You are officially a Photoshop Pro and people will be hiring you all over the world for your prowess skills. Well done.
I hope that made sense!
And if not…eh. Just admire my beautiful photos and graphics and definitely don’t blame me for my terrible tutorial skills. But hopefully your #bookstagram game can be STRONG NOW as you represent books you don’t physically own or want to do cover reveals for or just want to pretend you have a cover edition you don’t have. #winning
Oh Cait! I was looking for a tutorial like this to help me photograph e-books. If only Kindle had colour covers.(Why?? Why not? Why?) I have had a few failed attempts. I will try following your advice. Bookmarking this
THEN THIS IS JUST FOR YOU.😊 (And I’m really glad it was helpful, eeep!)
hey… this was super helpful. but um sadly the pixlr online editing tool has updated and doesnt have these features/settings anymore. do you know an alternative to this?
You can still use it the old version! Go to https://pixlr.com/editor
Okay. Thanks a lot. It does work!! 🙂
Wow that is definitely super helpful for me, thank you!!
I get ARC as ebooks because I’m from France so taking pics of them is not easy, I’ll definitely do that for the next one!!
And yes you know this but: such gorgeous pictures! I love the book thief one 💛
Yayyy, I’m glad this is useful for you!! *flails happily* AND AW, SHUCKS, YOU’RE SO KIND. *gives you all the cake*
This could be so useful…I mean, I’m between ereaders right now, but I do photograph other ereaders sometimes. Thanks for the turtorial! And I love the Problem with Forever cover!
You can even use your broken ereaders for this!😂 I keep thinking about stealing my parental’s ipad so I can have a bigger screen but also…#lazy and that would require going to go fetch it so yes. I mean, all this tutorial has really shown is how lazy I am.😂
Yeah… I usually just spend the two clicks it takes to get the pic off Goodreads and into my blog post! 😂
Fair enough!!😂 Whatever works best for everyone, right?!
I always assumed that you took the picture with the cover already on the screen and just fought with your iPod to stop the screen from turning off. This makes more sense. 😉
MWhaha, my TRUE wizardry skills have been revealed again. *twirls majestically* 😂
THIS. EXPLAINS. SO. MUCH.
This tutorial was everything I wanted and more! I’ll admit, I always struggle with taking photos with my phone/Kindle BECAUSE OF THAT DARNED REFLECTION.
Your iPod has lasted remarkably long…four years is so long for an iPod I think! Mine broke about three years after I got it 🙁 Evidence of more of your mystical powers!) 😛
Thank you so much for this WONDERFUL tutorial!
omg I’m so so glad! *flails happily* And the reflection is the worst right?! And trying to take the photo before the screen goes dark again = life’s greatest struggle.😂
AND I KNOW. I’ve think there’s been two model updates since I bought mine?! My sister’s is long dead and we got ours at the same time. I’m pretty sure mine is just alive by sheer determination and my unwillingness to spend money.😂 The home button doesn’t work, it can’t update apps or get new apps, and it’s always crashing….but will I let it retire? NO.😂
Ahhhhh this is an absolutely GENIUS method of editing! Your tutorial made it look super easy and the photos all look so real! #talent The next time I try out bookstagram, I will be using this trick! <3
Eeeep, I’m really glad it’s useful!! 😀
HALLELUJAH, CAIT. Now I can finally take pictures of e-books, sheesh. Haha thank you for doing this tutorial!! I will definitely be bookmarking this and using it so I can sip tea like a queen and appreciating how my lighting wasn’t completely and utterly destroyed by the temperamental arrogance that is a touch screen. Whew. LIFE SAVER.
I’M REALLY GLAD IT WAS USEFUL. *rewards self with cake* 😂
This is genius! Thanks Cait!!
AHHH I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT.
Yes yes I love that cover!! Also, YOU DISLIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA?? NO NO WE CANNOT BE FRIENDS ANYMORE😂😂😱 I have been waiting forever for this tutorial and I totally get it when you say that you didn’t forget it, just did not have time. #relatable
I KNEW SOMEONE WAS GOING TO YELL AT ME FOR THE CAPTAIN AMERICA COMMENT.😂 I don’t know??? Like I’m not American?? He acts too self-righteous??? I love Iron Man?? ALL THE REASONS.😂
ahem.
But YES. At least I finally did it right?! #shame.
This is something I have battled with for AGES now! I used screenshots and cropping, but it’s not nearly as pretty is it? I cannot wait to give this a go.
Yayyy I’m so glad it’s helpful for you! 😊😊
*claps hands in glee*
YEY! The most wanted tutorial EVER
I am so happy… And dying to try it! And cursing time-zones because I’m currently at work and they frown upon non-working related tasks!! Even if today is a slow day because holiday yesterday meaning a LOT of peeps grabbed the chance of doing a 4 day weekend. Not me though… I preferred to save my days for a whole week.. Meaning my niece kindergarten doesn’t plan christmas party day a year in advance making us guess the day… I managed to narrow down the week… because I’m smart like that 🙂
Anyway… I’m happy with the tutorial. Thank you Cait… things like this are concrete proof that you are all kinds of awesome.
I’M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG.🙈🙊 I absolutely literally the worst, ahem. But I can’t wait till you try it and you can tell me how it goes?! (And good luck with your slow work day!!)
My world is being flipped right now. I always thought the photos were unedited? Like the screens with the covers??? IT’S SO REALISTIC I CAN’T BELIEVE.
Thanks for sharing you magic skills – I’ve wanted to see behind-the-scenes stuff from the bookstagram for some time!
YOU’RE WELCOME FOR ME SHARING THESE DAZZLING SECRETS.😂 And any other behind-the-scenes tutorial requests are welcome to be made! I don’t know what to share about half the time because I’m so used to just doing things like this.🙈🙊
This is super helpful! The majority of recently released books I own are either digital or I own, but mainly digital. And I hate how my ereader is always black and white if the rest of my photo is coloured. SO I WILL DEFINITELY USE THIS. Especially if I get the time (holidays in 14 days and counting (down)!!!) *nods*
Yayyy I’m really glad it’s useful for you, Shar! And beautifully coloured covers are the best for sure *nods*
OMG! Thank you so much Cait!! I trying to take photo using my phone. I download the book cover from Goodreads before but it did not show as good as yours. Thank you so much for spoiling your secret 😀
You are MOST welcome and I’m so glad it’s useful for you!!
Mind. Blown.
HERE TO BE HELPFUL. *tosses confetti*
ok, I’m tempted to try that now, just to play with elastigirl pictures. XD
WHY DON’T YOU LIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA????? *glares* He’s awesome! My sister is more of a fan then I am, but you still have to admit that he’s pretty cool. If you need proof, there’s the fact that he doesn’t use any tech at all, and is still cooler than iron man, who is basicaly my arch nemesis.
ok, how do I finish this comment? its 7:45 in the morning and I’m still tired….
Most crazily, ~Olive
p.s. oh, there it is. 😛
Hahah, well I love Iron Man! I can’t stand Captain America and I love tech.😂 Oh well, more Captain America for you and more Iron Man for me, right? #win 😂
yep! XD
I can’t wait to start bookstagraming ebooks. I had no idea *hangs head in shame* it was so easy – well I haven’t tried it yet but you make it look easy! I don’t own many books because I have two homes on different continents and airlines haven’t started giving bookbloggers extra luggage allowance… can you do a tutorial about this real #bookwormproblem 😀
Don’t be ashamed!! I only figured out how to do this a year ago or so myself. 😉 And that was only after I learnt to make those 3D book covers (which you can do with this tutorial too *nods*) And omg that would be hard living on two continents! 😱
Now I’m really curious as to why you don’t like Cap. America. Care to share?
I just think he’s too self-righteous and that makes him irritating to me.😂
Nice! That totally looks good!
Huzzah! I’m so glad it’s useful!
Thanks! I am too lazy to bring my laptop back and forth to work, even though I only have to physically go once a week, heh heh. I have to ride public transit and transfer busses at the hub, and I’m not a youngster anymore, so after I found I could Google and email everything my boss needs from my Kindle tablet, good old Lappy stays at the office. Therefore, I have to do everything via android apps, but there is one that has a free form collage which basically allows me to do the same thing you descibed above.
My pea brain never thought to superimpose the book cover on an empty Fire tablet. Thanks for the heads up. I have only needed to take ebook photos twice, but they sure did look terrible. I want to start taking more elaborate photos now that I have a good digital camera, and am hoping that my son will get his old, but very expensive laptop, fixed so I can view and edit oin a large screen with better programs. Thanks for the tutorial. 🙂
Oh you are most welcome! It’s not hard and just sometimes we need a little nudge to do something totally easy that’s really helpful, right?! Eeep! (And you’re very awesome with just doing everything from your kindle for work. GENIUS.) And I hope it goes well with the editing! I only use free-picmonkey so far but it’s still intensely useful. *nods*
That is so amazing!! I did not know that!! Thank you Cait!! I’m gonna go try this out now 🙂 Sending cakes your way 😀
*eats all the cakes happily* THANK YOU AND YOU’RE WELCOME.😂
THIS IS SUPER HELPFUL. Whenever I try to do this I’m always fussing with my phone’s screen brightness to try and get it to look right but it never does. AND NOW WITH THIS…
I’m actually not sure how I didn’t think of just editing the book cover in before this.
Yaaaaas, I’m so glad it’s useful for you! And I actually learnt how to do this through those 3D book making tutorials?? So I’m really pleased I had the inspiration to just do it for this to. hehe.
This is genius! I’ve never used that software…but free is definitely in my budget!! Thanks!
Free is always the best right?!😂 I barely ever do anything online unless it’s free…hehe.
Oh wow! Thanks for sharing your secret and with a free app at that! I usually ebooks on my very old kindle that has no colours so this will help a lot!!
Ps. I love your #bookstagram photos! They make me happy (:
Omg YAY I’m really glad this will be useful for you! (And also, aww, Cyn! You’re so nice. *blushes*)
You’re a bookstagram GENIUS! Thank you for this. I’m one happy bookie right now and I plan to give this a try later. 😉
Aww, thanks, Lisa.😂 I’m happy to share the tips around!!
YOU HATE CAPTAIN AMERICA???? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
Haha, it’s okay–to each his own, and all that. But I love Captain America. 🙂
THE BOOK THIEF PHOTO. IT IS KILLING ME.
I seriously need to reread that book . . .
ALL THE MORE CAPTAIN AMERICA FOR YOU, THEN, RIGHT?!😂
(And omg the Book Thief is pure gorgeousness and perfection, right?! Now I need to re-read it…)
Okay, this is pretty amazing! Like how. I can’t even take a normal photo haha. Thank you for this
I’m glad you liked it!! You can also use this method to make 3D books too which is really fun.😂
Thank you so much. This is awesome!! I’m not very technical (but at times I can follow directions) and I’ve just started playing around on Canva but this looks like even more fun. I must stop using dogs as book props…
Oh canva is wonderful, right?! I love how it saves templates and lines things up for you.😂 IT SAVES MY LIFE HONESTLY. hehe. And I’m actually not very tech-savvy myself, so if I can pull this one off, anyone can!!
You have spilled all the secrets of your awesome! Why haven’t I heard of this program before? Must try.
I’m so glad it’s useful for you! And SUPER easy to do which is a relief because I am not tech-savvy.😂
So I love this post and will definitely have to do something with it at some point besides pet its beautifulness and bookmark its usefulness BUT HEY I LOVE IT SO THANKS! (The last time I needed to take a picture of an ebook I read… I had to take a picture of the cover on my laptop screen because I don’t have an e-reader or a phone?? I KNOW, I’M A FAILURE. XD So this is super awesome. (Plus I love Pixlr and yet didn’t know about some of these things so HOW??? :O I’m pretty excited. :D)
I actually love aaaall the Avengers, pretty much. o.o Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, even Banner and Natasha sometimes. BUT OF COURSE MY FAVORITES ARE HAWKEYE AND BUCKYYYY BECAUSE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. <333 *unappreciated anti-heroes with epic left arms FTW* THEY ARE ALL MY PRECIOUS. So it's sad you dislike CA buuut I guess everyone has their opinions. XD And I do love Iron Man and all the rest, so at least we can connect over those…?? Hee. 😀
(Leave it to all us crazy fangirls to make half this post into CAIT DOESN'T LIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA. XD Sorry. :P)
YAYY I’M GLAD YOU LIKE IT, THIS MAKES ME HAPPY. And sometimes it’s the simplest things that are really cool and helpful right?! I learnt this a few years ago and omg it’s been so so useful.
BUCKY IS WONDERFUL but definitely not under-appreciated hahaha. All I ever see on tumblr/pinterest is everyone flailing over Bucky! And yes we can most definitely connect on Iron Man FOR HE IS MY FAVOURITE. <3 I wondered if anyone would start yelling about the Captain America comment hahhah, but so far no one's disowned me?! I TOOK A RISK THERE.😂🙈🙊)
Okay, you’re totally right about Bucky being appreciated by fans — I more meant that he doesn’t have very much screen time. XD And Hawkeye is both (not enough screen time and not enough fans. XDDD)
So so true!! Bucky needs more screen time always.😂 I was actually surprised when I watched Captain America 2 that he WASN’T in it more. From all the fans flailings, I thought must be in like every scene?! hhaha, but no…😂
Oooh, do a tutorial on how you read so fast! I need all your secrets. The Problem of Forever i beautiful! I loved that one, that was my first Jennifer L. Armentrout book I’ve ever read. It was great. I should probably check out some of her other books.
Omg I don’t even read that fast!!😂 I think I just spend a lot of time reading?? hehe. And YES The Problem with Forever was my first JLA book too and now I want to read everything by her immediately.
Okay but now you need to tell me why you don’t like Captain America.
BECAUSE HE’S A STUCK UP SELF RIGHTEOUS TURNIP AND I LOVE IRON MAN.😂 ALSO PLEASE DON’T HURT ME.😂😂
OH THAT’S RIGHT you’re an Iron Man fangirl XD THAT’S TOTALLY OKAY. I honestly felt for both sides in Civil War, which I didn’t expect.
I HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN CIVIL WAR YET, AREN’T I AWFUL?! 😩😭
WAAAAAT YOU NEED TO SEE IT GURL OH MY WORD
This is so great – I need to try it! I’ve been completely ignoring my bookstagram for a couple of months now, and I think part of the reason is that I don’t have that many books with me at college. But this completely solves that problem! Thanks for the tutorial!
Yayyy I’M SO GLAD THIS WILL BE USEFUL FOR YOU!
You…. are so smart.
WELL THERE’S AN ACCUSATION I WON’T DENY.
OH MY GOODDDD I’M SO GONNA TRY THIS! I’ve been using Picmonkey, but that’s been a perfect pain in the arse.
I usually use picmoneky actually but it can’t do a LOT of things and pixlr is so great!!😂
WHOAAA… I’ve sooo got to try this duuudee!!! Genius! I m ashamed to even admin that every now and then I *try* to bask in the glory of the title “Photographer”. I am fine with editing as long as it’s just the basic stuff… but image manipulation is a whole new art! And who wouldda thought it would be THAT easy?! Thanks for posting this… this tutorial will come in handy for many different things… not just book cover manipulation (read: fitting a website template into an ipad or something..)
Thanks. Want some wild cake? You can have mine today =) It comes in swirls of chocolate wildness!!
I honestly fail at most editing too DON’T WORRY.😂 This is one simple manipulation I can do though, AND I’M VERY PROUD. ahah. Ahem. (We can have our moment of feeling genius right?!) And YES! I actually learnt how to do this originally for making 3D book covers. Which was also immensely helpful. *nods*
YES PLEASE I NEED ALL THE WILD CAKE.
This is a fantastic idea and I’m going to have to bookmark this post so I can try it!!!
Yayyy I’m glad it’s helpful!
I use Pixlr all the time, it’s honestly one of the best free tools for photo manipulation out there. Love this tutorial, I might even try this out myself despite not really posting that many book pictures, haha. Thank you!
It is so good!! I basically always use picmonkey, but pixlr CAN do way more things which is helpful.😂
This is genius! I’ve used pixlr before, but never thought to use it for this. Thanks for sharing!
Yayyyy I’m so glad you liked it! I use picmonkey for almost everything, but pixlr DOES have some epic features, right?!
Cait, I always assumed your pictures were just really lucky shots.
Thank you for enlightening me I will never be able to look at them in the same way again.
XD
NOPE I’M A HUGE CHEATER.😂 now you know the truth!
In my case, I’d also need to edit a picture of a phone or an e-reader in there because I don’t have one. 😛 I read e-books on my computer. One day… one day, I’d like to get a decent e-reader or tablet where I can read and read and read without having to sit upright in an uncomfortable chair and stare at my laptop. (I do have an old Kobo, but it doesn’t even have a touchscreen, so you have to turn pages by pressing a big blue button that makes a loud click. Amazing how quickly that thing became obsolete…)
Ah that would complicate matters.😂 And omg I hear you with reading on a computer….it’s so awkward, right?! I hate doing it so I basically NEVER DO (which is why I’m the worst beta reader ever…ahem). But you could probably use that old Kobo to take photos on, actually?
OH My gOsh! you are awesome! Thank you so much. I’ve been struggling with this lately.
I’M SO GLAD IT’S HELPFUL!!
OH GRACIOUS – I loved this post, Cait! This is definitely going to be useful for me when I need to photograph an ebook xD. And YES The Problem With Forever is GORGEOUS *stares at it for 1.7 weeks*
And I’d love a tutorial on how to set up book pictures – I have such a problem with setting up my book pictures to look nice. Props and lighting and the actual set-up of the books, and all that nice stuff *nodnod* xD
*joins you in staring at The Problem With Forever for 1.7 weeks* 😍😍😍 THOSE COLOURS THOUGH.
And omg I know NOTHING about light.🙈🙊 I wish I did know gahhh. But I could do a tutorial on set up although I’ll tell you my secret right now: I just dump everything in a pile and hope for the best.😂
The Incredibles is our “family movie” (along with Elf), so needless to say, I AM A SUPER IMPATIENT AND FREAKINGLY NERVOUS PICKLE AT THE MOMENT AND I NEED THE NEXT MOVIE, LIKE, RIGHT NOW. GAH.
Ahem.
Anyways, lovely tutorial!
YES I AGREE. WE NEEDED THAT INCREDIBLES MOVIE LIKE YESTERDAY OMG WHAT IS THIS LIFE MAKING US WAIT SO LONG.
This is AMAZING. Because… the only way I have EVER done it was so load the imagine on my phone and try to snap the picture really quickly before the screen went black and… you can imagine how successful that was. And I WANT to be able to have pictures of the ebooks I am reading, so… GENIUS, Cait! THANK YOU! Also, you reminded me that I really must read Dead and Breakfast so, there’s that. Thanks again! 😀
YOU’RE WELCOME. I’M HERE TO PLEASE. And omg Dead and Breakfast is SO GOOD. It’s hilarious.😂 And I have a small weakness for ghosty stories so you can imagine it was a win for me. 😉
OMGGG YOU LIFE SAVER CAIT! I needed this because just as I’m about to take the most epic bookstagram photo of my device with the cover, it turns off and I just take a photo of a blank screen. Now I can photoshop the cover on top 😉 Thank you so much for sharing!
I AM HERE TO BE HELPFUL. *awards self cake for effort* 😂
Ha ha love it! Very amusing! And I think I incidentally learnt something while I was laughing ☺
Omg you’re wonderful.😂 I AM SO GLAD IT’S A LITTLE BIT USEFUL. 😉
Yes, definitely useful. Now I just have to figure out how to take a pretty picture of a mobile phone… 🙂
I FEEL SO CHEATED BUT THIS IS SO CLEVER. Thank you for this, and tell your secretaries there will be NO CHRISTMAS CARD FROM ME BECAUSE I’VE BEEN WAITING AGES FOR THIS. XD
I am so going to try this because this seems so much less time-consuming than doing it the other way. THANK YOU CAIT!!!
MY SECRETARIES APOLOGISE BUT THEY REALLY ARE IN THE CORNER OF DISGRACE RIGHT NOW.😂 I’m glad it was worth the wait though!
Oh my god this is genius. Mostly I’ve been attempting to take the photos with the cover/ app open on my device through trial and error and editing it. I might have a play with this tonight!! The results could look so much better.
Thank you for sharing such secrets, oh bookstragram master
Yayyyy I’m so glad it’s helpful! And honestly it’s WAY better than trying to get the cover on the screen looking bright enough.😂
Oh mY GOSH is this how people also do the #coverthroughphone thing? Because that has always wowed me. I don’t read ebooks so I don’t have this problem but I LOVE how they look against Real Books.
I actually have no idea about that.😂 But it could work right?!?
OH MY GOODNESS CAIT YOU ARE MY QUEEN.
This tutorial shall save lives.
I’M SO GLAD.😂
Have I told you how much I love you? XD Instead of keeping these secrets and tutorials yourself to help your instagram look better, you’re sharing what you’ve learned and I JUST ADMIRE THAT SO MUCH. Because I really needed this tutorial. I tried taking pictures of my computer screen a couple weeks ago and it was just one big giant FAIL.
So thank you. You’re awesome. <3
I’M HERE TO BE USEFUL.😂 hehe, but thank you! I’m glad you liked this! And yes, it could work for computer screens too, or if you’ve seen those 3D book covers? Works for that took. 😉
Omg how cool!!! This is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
YOU ARE MOST WELCOME. 🙂 I’m glad it’s useful!
Genius.
THANKYOU.
OMG THIS POST HAS SAVED MY LIFEEE. THANK YOU. SO. FREAKING. MUCH.
I think a good tutorial post would be ‘how to edit without dying’ or ‘how to outline without your brain melting’ but maybe you’ve already done those and I don’t remember.
I’m actually working on an editing post!! And by “working” I mean, I’ve been thinking about it for 2 weeks but am too lazy to type it up.😂 BUT FOR YOU I SHALL!!
Okay, this is insanely awesome! Thank you so much for sharing! I just got a new kindle and this will come in handy with my Bookstagram! You’re the best!
I’m so glad it’ll be useful for you!
WOW this is super helpful! Thank you, Cait 😀
Yayyy I’m so glad!
This is very, VERY helpful, Cait! I was just wondering, what device do you use to post your masterpieces on #Bookstagram?
Happy reading!
I post photos on my iPod because I don’t have a phone. 🙂 I edit the photos on my computer and then email them to my iPod…which usually throws a tantrum if I let the photos be too big haha.😂
OH MY GOODNESS. THANK YOU SO MUCH, CAIT!!!!
~Liv
oliviakfisher.blogspot.com
YOU’RE WELCOME. I’m glad it was helpful! 🙂
THIS TUTORIAL IS FABULOUS CAIT!! I was trying to do this on PicMonkey, but couldn’t figure it out. So glad you have pictures to help show each step! And now I know to use Pixlr instead of PicMonkey for this. Lol. Now I should go back to editing photos to resurrect my poor blog. ^.^
I’M REALLY GLAD YOU LIKED IT!! *flings confetti over both of us* And I usually use picmonkey for just about everything…but pixlr has some really handy features too.😂
I bookmarked this post because I knew one day it would come in handy – and today it did. Cait, you are brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Louise Marley
Yay I’m so so glad to hear that!🎉
OMIGOSH! I did it for the first time and your tutorial was SUPER easy to follow and I done it!! OMG THANK YOUUUU SOOO MUCCH!
This is brilliant – thank you! I was wondering how people get the photos of the screen without the glare – doooH!
I’m so glad it’s helpful for you!!
OMG CAIT. WHY ARE YOU SUCH A RIDICULOUSLY GORGEOUS MONKEY SHARING ALL OF YOUR GENIUS KNOWLEDGE. LIFE SHALL NEVER BE THE DAME. THANK YOU. AND THE PIXLR GODS.
YOU’RE MOST WELCOME.🎉🎉 ALL THE CAKE OF JOY FOR YOU AND I.
This tutorial was great! I have a lot of ebooks I’m currently reading with awesome covers ao have been wondering how to do this!
That’s amazing Cait! Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial!
I will definitely try this myself 🙂
Sophie
Ooh! This is fun! I never though I’ll be able to feature my all time partner, my B&W kindle in any bookstagram posts!
Thanks Cait!
I don’t… I can’t… I… *speechless*
I don’t bookstagram. I’m new to book blogging, and all this Instragram stuff makes me feel like an old woman. (I’m only 32… am I actually OLD?!?!) Anyhoo, this post made me wish I did bookstagram (even though I’m still not precisely sure that that means…)
Such pretty, much wow. Here I just blog and just upload the cover from Goodreads. Even arranging all that stuff so it looks all pretty-like seems like a LOT of energy! I shall show you true laziness!
Haha no it’s not lazy to not want to do photography on your blog! That’s just a personal choice and I personally am obsessed with photography so it’s a great way to combine interests for me. Definitely not a requirement or anything, don’t worry. 😂
This is such helpful information. And clearly detailed. Thank you for sharing.
A year and a half later, I’m just now discovering your tutorial and I’m LOVING it. Thanks for sharing how Pixlr works with such detailed explanation that I could easily follow. I’m dipping my toes into bookstagrams lately and this will be the perfect way to use book covers on my Kindle and on my iPhone.
Ahh I’m glad you found this and it’s still useful!! Thanks!
Omg, this is so useful and I wished I had known of this sooner! I will definitely be using this to present my ebooks, I use an old iPad and the photos never come out nice so I sort of stopped doing that but now, I think I will at least try!!!
I’m so so glad it’s helpful for you! 💛
Your tutorial helps me a lot. I love your tutorial so much. Thanks for sharing with us.
This is Ah-mazing. Thank you 🙂
lovely tips for free photo manipulation. Your article is really helpful for us. Thanks
This post is incredible and saves me the time of figuring out how to do this on Canva and/or buying a new phone to take better pictures. I applaud your genius, and may minstrels sing of your glory. Thank you!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad it helped!
Yes! This post is awesome…. I’m just starting out in the bookstagram world and this helps me tremendously. Thanks for posting 😀
This is amazing!! Thank you so much! This has made a HUGE difference for my bookstagram account, as I read almost exclusively on my ereader. You are a star!!
You mentioned in an early comment that it was possible, and I tried to read all of the comments to see if you posted a link, but did you ever do a tutorial on how to create a 3D book cover w/Pixlr?
Hi Cait ,Your tutorial was of great help .After a my failed attempts ,this worked beautifully..Thanks!!!!And keep up the good work!!
Hi, Thank you for this awesome tutorial!!
What if you want to use a background from pixabay? Just take a picture of your phone or tablet then add it to the picture?
Thank you so much!
Yes should work just the same!
Do you think I can do this without a laptop? I just have my phone!
Well the tutorial is for a laptop so 😂 I wouldn’t know!
2 things. Thank you and I LOVE YOU! 😂😭❤️ Been stressing on how to make it fit the damn screen! Some tutorials require me to pay for the apps which uhm hello, scarcity 😂 so thank you so much!
This is really helpful… Thank you so much!!
This was so easy to follow and I love the way you explain to photoshop illiterates like me 😂
Thank you so much! I read this and your other pixlr tutorial about book covers!