Here's an image of the cover Charles King did for Bob McElwain's book, Those Who Betray. Note it has been converted to .JPG from the original .TIF file used in printing. And it's much smaller than the original. This explains any fuzziness; there is none in the original. On the book, all is super sharp and clean.

If you're interested in colors, scroll down below this image.

To the left of the pistol in the above image is a color swatch containing 100 colors. The image below is the same swatch as a .JPG created from an original .TIF file. The idea here is to show how representation of CMYK colors look on a screen as opposed to how they look in print. See below for details.

You can not see the actual difference by comparing these two images. However, if you grab a copy of Those Who Betray, you can compare what is on screen here to what is printed on the back of the book. This will give you a pretty good idea of how colors viewed in an image are reproduced in print.

Recommendation: Forget about colors. Leave all to the artist. If we could make a stronger statement, we would. The fact is your opinion about how colors on a monitor will print is NOT better than that of the artist. And frankly, it is probably not as good. Mess with colors if you must, but you can end up with an awful looking cover. If you still crave details, read on.

As stated, our advice to all is to leave colors to an artist. There are lots of differences between what you view on a monitor and what you see in printed results. Rather than being concerned about them, the better plan is to get back to writing another great book. However, for those who simply must know more, here we go.

Charles King, one of our Site Partners, delivers outstanding proof copies of his covers for your approval. But he makes it clear that the colors you see on the screen will appear differently in print, usually lighter. Further, since this is a toner process, colors can vary from run to run. Here are his suggestions for looking at a proof copy, then picturing how it will print.

"For best results, turn the contrast of your monitor all the way up. Then turn the brightness down as far as you can so that white still looks white. View the monitor in dim room light or natural light, never under very bright light or when it is completely dark."

As suggested, most colors viewed on a monitor will tend to be printed in somewhat lighter shades. Some do not reproduce well at all, and are best avoided. Gray is one such color. So again, leave these decisions to an artist. Here's an example of the kind of thing you can get into when you ask for a specific color. When it was suggested the gold used on our site be used as a basic color for a book cover, here's what Charles said.

"The gold in the background of Foremost Press is R=204 G=204 B=153. In order for a color to work well as a background in POD printing, at least one of those RGB colors should be all the way up at 255 and/or one should be down at zero. This RGB color translates to c13m10y40k0 (cmyk colors are on a scale from 0 to 100% rather than 0 to 255 as RGB colors are.) c13m10y40k0 is only 40% yellow with some cyan and magenta thrown in to make it look grayish and dull. It looks good on screen, but would look bad in print. If you change to R=255 G=255 B=115 you get something around c0m0y60k0, much "brighter" in print in terms of the primacy of the absorptive color though it doesn't look any brighter on the radiant screen."

Had enough? Even in this short paragraph, Charles has made it abundantly clear that producing good colors on a printed cover is a complicated task. We'll stand by our ground on this, and again recommend leaving color decisions to an artist who knows what he or she is about.

Charles is an authority on CMYK colors. Closely involved with Lightning Source for several years, then working in graphic arts through his own shop, means he knows what he's about.

Charles points out that questions about colors continue to come his way. Since it is such a complex topic, he has explained part of it in great detail on the page below.

He begins with an explanation of the meaning of DPI, examines the use of half-tones in printing, then wraps with information about their use in color. For those who just have to know, take the time to study the following page.

And yes, the word is "study." You're not going to pick up on this with a brief scan or even a hasty read.

You will find the above both definitive and informative. And if you hang in until you understand it, you, also, will side with us: Pick the right artist, then shush about colors.

While you're on the site, click to the Home page and ask for a quote for your book cover. When you see your book in print, you'll be thankful for this recommendation.