AI book cover

[Dankolisic]

Went online, fooled around a little bit, found some free AI photo makers, so decided to give it a try...
Not bad, somewhat what my world looks like.
The title is in croatian, it translates to:
Erah
The secret of Ridgepeak
by: Danimir Kulish
I don't really remember the site, one of the free AI sites
.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Not bad, though it feels a bit to me like the character was stuck onto the background separately. That's not immediately a bad thing I guess. It's very common with indie covers where two elements are stuck together like that. Whole Romance sub-genres have those types of covers. It's just what I noticed.

Another small thing is that on the bottom right, to the right of the character's hand, the cliff face stops and then starts again in the same way. It's an obvious tell of an AI cover and it just looks silly.

A small thing worth researching if you want to use this cover, is the terms and conditions of the AI you used. Many of the free AI's limit what you can do with the image. Most for instance don't allow you to use it for commercial purposes if you use the free version. It's something to be aware of and make sure you can actually use this for a commercial cover.

 

[Dankolisic]

Not bad, though it feels a bit to me like the character was stuck onto the background separately. That's not immediately a bad thing I guess. It's very common with indie covers where two elements are stuck together like that. Whole Romance sub-genres have those types of covers. It's just what I noticed.

Another small thing is that on the bottom right, to the right of the character's hand, the cliff face stops and then starts again in the same way. It's an obvious tell of an AI cover and it just looks silly.

A small thing worth researching if you want to use this cover, is the terms and conditions of the AI you used. Many of the free AI's limit what you can do with the image. Most for instance don't allow you to use it for commercial purposes if you use the free version. It's something to be aware of and make sure you can actually use this for a commercial cover.

Yes I am aware it is a free AI photo generator I was just amazed how the Ai creates something like this, even for free...I bet the AI's you actually pay are way better. But no, I actually employed a friend of mine who is an artist to make the cover of the book. It is still in development, but this is a very rough
sketch - i chose option number 2.
So, using this and Inkarnate pro mode ( which I think gives me the use for commercial uses) for maps and scenes should be well within the law

 

[Finchbearer]

If you’re happy with it then that’s all that really matters, however if you want my opinion, whilst the background image is fine, I think the typography could be vastly improved.

In any book cover design you ideally would want the typography to feel part of the overall design, whereas here the typography feels distinctly separate. Try integrating the type into the design and it’ll feel more impactful along with communicating more about your story.

Your author name for instance is lost at the bottom of the image there. Don’t be afraid to increase the size of the type either, that should be front and centre stage as that is what is communicating your story name and who it’s written by!

 

[Dankolisic]

If you’re happy with it then that’s all that really matters, however if you want my opinion, whilst the background image is fine, I think the typography could be vastly improved.

In any book cover design you ideally would want the typography to feel part of the overall design, whereas here the typography feels distinctly separate. Try integrating the type into the design and it’ll feel more impactful along with communicating more about your story.

Your author name for instance is lost at the bottom of the image there. Don’t be afraid to increase the size of the type either, that should be front and centre stage as that is what is communicating your story name and who it’s written by!

Definitely not something I would go for as a book cover, just a cool thing. For me, it was like presenting someone with the book and they draw their own vision of it, but since the book is still unfinished I couldn't just send it around for people to read and I did not want to spend money since even I don't know how the world will ultimately look ( funny fact, the person on the cover has blue skin, changed it into green skin a month ago because my wife said they look similar to the Naavi from Avatar).
But for the actual book cover, i employed a friend to make a cover, it's still a rough sketch ( this is not AI)
Went with number 2.
But thanks for the feedback

 

[Dankolisic]

What AI did you use? Perchance's is pretty good.

don't really know, some of the free ai sites where you can make 3-4 images and then you have to pay. Sorry I cant remember which one

 

[Dankolisic]

Let me give you some good ones.

catbird.ai is free with registration
perchance is free totally (up to 12 images at a crack!)
junia.ai is okay (you get a small number per month)
MS Bing image creator is free (use your microsoft account to sign in, 15 prompts a day, in sets of four images)

Hope those help to get you started.

Thank you, will for sure look them up!

 

[pmmg]

Why don't you just ask AI for a list of good free AI generators?

 

[Fyri]

I'm curious how we are vetting these AI art generators... You know... Since there are a lot of artists getting their work stolen and regurgitated by AI these days. Idk, would make me a little nervous to support. Murky water there...

 

[Fyri]

*Sucks in air through teeth* Yeahhhhh. That definitely sounds sketchy...

My sister has friends who try to make a living off their art through commissions. Many of them are struggling a lot more since AI art has taken off. Part of that can be attributed to the fact that AI art is free and accessible. Sure. Fine. No one can stop the technology giant from evolving.

However. This becomes morally questionable (and legally) when you look at where the AI is getting it's ability to offer you artwork "in X artist's style". When you tell the program to generate art in a major artist's style, it is highly likely that the program then goes through that artist's already created works and regurgitates something based on what it used. In this way, we enter the very current and controversial debate about using AI art. The artist whose artwork was used often hasn't given this program permission to use their art at all, let alone like this. There is copyright issue: Creating derivative works from art that does not belong to you.

This can get very messy if you then use that AI generated art as something that you now make money off of.

AI is a very new reality. Right now, we are in a sandbox stage, more or less. We have yet to create regulations around how it should be used, and therefore, there are a lot of...issues surrounding the way the sandbox is being used.

Sorry if this was too much info or tangent-y. Apparently I have opinions about this subject. XD *fans away stinky opinions*

 

[Fyri]

Hmm. I think we have to keep in mind that if the AI can respond to a prompt of "do X in [artist's] style" clearly enough, then it is safe to assume it is doing this same thing for less specific prompts. Even if it is just landscapes, it's probably using a conglomerate of other people's or even just one person's art without permission. Like, the AI had to be trained on some sort of existing art, and lots of it, to create what it can. So far, I don't know if there are any AI programs that don't do this... :/ Murky water, tread carefully...

Parts of this article may be useful here! Specifically the Copyright Infringement by Generative AI section.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10922#:~:text=AI%20programs%20might%20also%20infringe,created%20%E2%80%9Csubstantially%20similar%E2%80%9D%20outputs.

It may also be good to note that as soon as something it put onto a tangible (or digital) form, it is considered copywritten by the creator. This goes for anything from landscapes to specific characters.

Sorry if any of this is stuff you already know and stuff. I just wasn't sure and want to make sure people are well informed so they can know what they might be getting into before they get too deep. Not that...I know what I'm doing at all. XD

And if you're talking about NFTs, yeah. Those suck and are evil. XD

 

[Dankolisic]

No problemo! We should really put together a maintained thread for free ai generators. I'd be willing to help contribute and prune it every once in a while.

We could have it subdivided in the OP by category (Art) (Textual) (Video/GIF), etc.

Ban A. E. Lowan

that is a great idea. I have tried parchment, it is cool, but it offers limited choice.
The real book cover is nearly finished, it is hand drawn by a local artist from my town.
Will post it soon

 

[Dankolisic]

Hmm. I think we have to keep in mind that if the AI can respond to a prompt of "do X in [artist's] style" clearly enough, then it is safe to assume it is doing this same thing for less specific prompts. Even if it is just landscapes, it's probably using a conglomerate of other people's or even just one person's art without permission. Like, the AI had to be trained on some sort of existing art, and lots of it, to create what it can. So far, I don't know if there are any AI programs that don't do this... :/ Murky water, tread carefully...

Parts of this article may be useful here! Specifically the Copyright Infringement by Generative AI section.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10922#:~:text=AI%20programs%20might%20also%20infringe,created%20%E2%80%9Csubstantially%20similar%E2%80%9D%20outputs.

It may also be good to note that as soon as something it put onto a tangible (or digital) form, it is considered copywritten by the creator. This goes for anything from landscapes to specific characters.

Sorry if any of this is stuff you already know and stuff. I just wasn't sure and want to make sure people are well informed so they can know what they might be getting into before they get too deep. Not that...I know what I'm doing at all. XD

And if you're talking about NFTs, yeah. Those suck and are evil. XD

I usually use AI generator to make portraits or scenes for my book, better than contacting a bunch of artist to do that, of course all the pictures that will be in the book will be either made in Inkarnate pro mode or by artist, but some AI photos are good so maybe I will include them.

 

[Finchbearer]

It is in my opinion that should anyone choose to use AI generated ‘art’ for their work, then it does risk losing something more important that copyright infringement - credibility. The cheapening of art and design was inevitable, but with the rise and rise of AI, there will be a clear distinction between the wheat and the chaff. Try creating original work. You will thank your future self.

For gaming, for recreational use and for fun, AI is fine, but as an ‘art’ it is a non entity.

 

[pmmg]

Im sorry, but you attach that word AI to your art and i have no interest. For me, i will avoid.

 

[Fyri]

I usually use AI generator to make portraits or scenes for my book, better than contacting a bunch of artist to do that, of course all the pictures that will be in the book will be either made in Inkarnate pro mode or by artist, but some AI photos are good so maybe I will include them.

Do what you want, but I would really stress against using AI images in something that you then sell. Beyond copyright dangers, it hurts the artists that the AI likely stole work from to provide you with free images.

It is similar to if someone started getting money off a book, but when you read the book you find out some of the scenes were paraphrased exactly from a book that you spent years perfecting. And the person selling this new book barely spent less than a day shifting through AI responses to get that scene rewritten in a way they liked. And people are saying that new book is really cool and how they love those scenes and don't even know you or your book exists. The person selling this book doesn't even know you, but the AI they used does.

These images can look amazing and original, but I don't know of a single AI program out there that is capable of being original. It is paraphrasing/editing usually copyrighted images it found online or that the programmers used from online to train it. Using them for inspiration is great, but don't include them in the actual product.

On another note, have you guys checked out Fiverr for artists? There are so many artists on there that love making art and working with storytellers! I'd recommend finding one that you love and jive with and then sticking with them. After showing some loyalty, they may even offer you a discount down the road. Finding a bunch of artists sounds exhausting and a little unnecessary.

 

[Devor]

On another note, have you guys checked out Fiverr for artists? There are so many artists on there that love making art and working with storytellers! I'd recommend finding one that you love and jive with and then sticking with them. After showing some loyalty, they may even offer you a discount down the road. Finding a bunch of artists sounds exhausting and a little unnecessary.

I've worked with Fiverr for artists and had some great experiences (and a couple not-so-great). The last time I checked Fiverr, though, it was swamped with artists who were offering to create the best AI art and fix it up for you. The number of people offering regular art has gone way down, and their prices have gone way up.

 

[Finchbearer]

I've worked with Fiverr for artists and had some great experiences (and a couple not-so-great). The last time I checked Fiverr, though, it was swamped with artists who were offering to create the best AI art and fix it up for you. The number of people offering regular art has gone way down, and their prices have gone way up.

Maybe they’re now charging more than a fiver…

 

[Devor]

Maybe they’re now charging more than a fiver…

The phoenix in my avatar cost me $40, including tip, ten years ago. Today it would be about $120-150.

 

[Finchbearer]

Not everyone can afford $1,000 commissions, or know how to navigate the contractual paperwork. Nor does everyone have the ability to make passable artwork for their books. I can't do organic drawing for crap. Faces and bodies elude me. I'm much better at maps and floorpans, so that's what I stick with. But I can't just stick maps and floorplans throughout the book as filler art because it wouldn't make sense to do.

If the material is good enough, the art doesn't matter. I present Strange Girl the comic series as direct evidence of this.

If that is all that it takes to turn you off of some material, it's your loss. I've seen AI artists on dA that spend weeks generating, tweaking, layering, and generating some more art, bashing it into an amazing whole. They use AI as a tool, with each variable like a different color added to the palette. Some of the images use dozens of variables in a single prompt. But that effort and ability to prompt engineer is apparently derailed with a single, "AI sucks," comment. Inb4 you say, "That's not what I said," let me ask you what the implication is, then, that you avoid it? You only avoid something you find distasteful.

Again, not everyone can afford $1,000 commissions. Especially not multiple ones to build the rapport you are suggesting. Even if we assume the commissions are only $100 a piece, there are hundreds of illustrations in a book like the Player's Handbook. That equals tens of thousands that most people do not have the luxury of affording.

There are plenty of book cover templates on Canva (for example) but that are available to use specifically as commercial books covers costing £0 upwards and are royalty free. As Fyri was pointing out, should you choose AI ‘art’ as a background for your book cover, then you would need to check on the copyright laws, which are no doubt subject to change over the next few years in the advent of all this new tech. So it would hurt you more than it would an AI company. If your book cover image gets tied to the specific generator that you pulled the image from, it could be that they decide that you now owe them money for using their intellectual property - the jury is out on how this will evolve.

Not all book covers need cost as much as £750 / $1000 - if you were serious about publishing your book then I’d implore you to save up and find designers that are charging around £100 - £300 per book cover. This is only applicable if you’re self publishing anyway, and remember that you don’t need a detailed book cover with an illustrated main character on the front - simple can be just as impactful. The typography is more of what matters anyway seeing as that is what is communicating what the book is called.

Plus…all I will go back to all AI has a sort of wonky off-kilter look to it that will not age well. You don’t want your book cover to look like the era it was made in in years to come. Every single self published AI fantasy book cover looks like this:

And