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I sell a PDF e-book in my online store; how do I turn its first page into a cover image for the product listing?

Type 1 in the Pages field, choose JPEG at a high quality and 150 DPI, and convert. An A4 cover comes out at 1241 × 1754 px, plenty for a product page. Then fit it to the shape your store theme uses and compress it, checking your platform's current guidance rather than assuming a size.

Published · 3 min read

Why take the cover from the file itself?

Plenty of digital product sellers, of e-books, CV templates or training guides, design the cover inside the PDF and never keep it as a separate image. Or they update the cover in the file and forget to update the product photo. Taking the cover from page 1 guarantees that what shoppers see in the store is exactly what they download after paying.

Settings that suit a cover

  1. Open PDF to images and choose the book file.
  2. Type 1 in the Pages field. No need to convert the whole book.
  3. Choose JPEG and move the quality slider to about 90. Covers usually carry photos and gradients, where JPEG beats PNG on size.
  4. Choose 150 DPI. The size line will read Pages 1: 1241 × 1754 px for an A4 cover.
  5. Convert and download. For an 86 page file called ebook, the image arrives as ebook-p01.jpg.

JPEG draws the page on a white background, which rarely matters for a cover because the design fills the page.

Matching the shape of your store's images

A book cover is portrait, roughly 1 to 1.41 for A4. Store themes show product images in various shapes, and many are square. Upload the cover as it is and the theme may crop off the top and bottom, title included. Prepare the image yourself instead:

  • Open it in the Image resizer and set the size your theme displays.
  • Choose fit inside with a background rather than cropping, with a background colour that suits the cover, so the whole cover sits centred in the frame.
  • Run the result through the Image compressor so the product page loads fast on phones.
  • Check your platform's current guidance on image sizes; the tools accept any value you enter.

Extra images from inside the book

A cover alone does not tell buyers what is inside. Convert the contents page and a couple of sample pages the same way, for example 1 3 12, and add them as extra product images. Choose pages that give a clear idea without giving away the paid content.

Common questions

The cover font looks different from my design. Why?

If the font is not embedded in the PDF, the tool swaps in the closest one available. Export from your design program with fonts embedded, then convert.

Should I upload the cover at 300 DPI?

For an on-screen product page, 150 is usually enough. 300 DPI gives 2481 × 3508 px, more than a product image generally needs.

Is my paid e-book uploaded anywhere while converting?

No. The file is read only inside your browser.