| name | kdp-chatgpt-cover-creator |
| description | Create a KDP-ready coloring book cover (PNG + PDF) using the ChatGPT image renderer (image_providers.generate_image renderer=chatgpt) for front/back artwork, then deterministic Python composition for spine, back-cover text, barcode safe zone, bleed, DPI, and exact KDP page size. Fully automated — no manual steps. USE WHEN user says 'tao bia chatgpt', 'chatgpt cover', 'kdp cover with chatgpt', 'tao bia sach bang chatgpt', 'make kdp cover', 'rebuild cover', 'fix cover', 'regenerate cover', or asks to build/redo a KDP wrap cover. |
KDP ChatGPT Cover Creator
Build a full-wrap KDP paperback cover (back + spine + front) from artwork made
with the ChatGPT image renderer (image_providers.generate_image(renderer="chatgpt")),
while keeping every fragile production detail — cover math, bleed, DPI, PDF size,
barcode safe zone, spine blend, and back-cover text overlays — in deterministic Python.
Flow: Claude writes the prompts → Claude generates front/back art via the chatgpt
renderer Python script → Claude composes the wrap with
.claude/skills/kdp-chatgpt-cover-creator/scripts/compose_chatgpt_cover.py →
Claude QCs the PDF. No manual hand-off, no user intervention needed.
Two rules that prevent the two most common rejects
1. Keep ALL text away from the outer edge — the blade cuts ~0.375" in.
KDP prints the cover slightly larger than the book, then trims it. The outer
0.125" is bleed (cut off entirely) and the printer can drift another ~0.25", so
any letter within 0.375" of a cover edge can be sliced or shaved off. This is
the user's #1 concern. Because the front title/subtitle/author are baked into
the AI artwork, the only place to enforce it is the prompt: demand a generous
empty margin of "breathing room" around every word, with nothing important near
the four edges. Code overlays on the back (headline/badge/feature line) already
respect the 0.375" safe margin automatically — but the AI-generated front does not
unless you say so, every time.
The margin language that actually works (paste into every front prompt):
keep EVERY letter, badge, ribbon, speech bubble and preview card ENTIRELY inside
the central ~75% of the panel; leave a WIDE empty margin of ≥15% of the panel on
ALL FOUR edges and in ALL FOUR CORNERS, filled only with background glow/sparkles/
confetti; pull any upper-corner badges (e.g. "NEW 2026", a starburst) well INWARD
away from the corners; place the author name well above the bottom with a large
empty band (≥16% of panel height) of plain background BELOW it.
The two recurring failures, both fixed by the wording above:
- author name / bottom ribbon too low → it gets shaved at the bottom. Demand the
empty band below it.
- corner badges ("NEW 2026", starburst) touching a corner/edge → demand they sit
inward. The image model copies reference covers that put these flush to the corner;
you must explicitly override that.
A third failure mode, just as common: "empty margin" gets taken too literally.
If the prompt says "leave the bottom clear" or "nothing below the author name except
plain background," the model sometimes renders a big flat, undecorated color block —
looks broken/cheap, not like a margin (compare against butterfly_collection or
cottagecore_frogs, where the illustrated scene — rug, snow, floor, garden path —
visibly continues all the way to the edge, with the author name layered ON TOP of
that continuing art, not on empty space). Say it explicitly: "artwork/decoration
must fill the entire panel edge to edge, no flat empty background areas — the author
name sits on top of the continuing illustration." Also don't over-correct on the
edge-safety side: telling the model to push the author name down to ~85-90% of the
panel height (to "use the space") frequently overshoots and drops it below the red
safe line entirely. Target a baseline around 70-75% down the panel, not lower.
A fourth failure mode: banning all styling on the author name to "play it safe"
makes it look cheap and pasted-on. Don't tell the model to render the author name
as flat plain unstyled text — that reads as broken/inserted, not baked-in art
(compare a plain black sans-serif "BoBo Art" against butterfly_collection's
matching-font, small-heart-accented version — the plain one looks like a code
overlay even when it isn't). Instead say: "the author name is styled to MATCH the
title's lettering (same font family and a complementary color), with ONE small,
compact decorative accent (a tiny heart/leaf/paw print, no more than a few percent
of panel height tall) directly beside or just below it — the name AND its accent
together must end by ~78-80% of panel height, well clear of the safe line."
Banning the accent entirely just trades an edge-safety bug for a visual-quality bug;
constraining its size is what actually fixes both.
A fifth failure mode: the title banner's own shape can cross the edges even when
the lettering doesn't. Ribbon-style banners often have raised "flag" ends or
curled corners that sit higher/wider than the flat center where the text lives — a
prompt that only constrains the text position can still produce a banner outline
that pokes into the top or side margins. Say explicitly: "the ENTIRE title text
including the widest word fits within the central ~72% of panel width, with visible
margin on both left AND right of the banner — shrink the font as needed" AND "the
banner's outline itself, including any raised ribbon-end/curl at its corners — not
just the flat center — starts no higher than ~10-12% down from the top edge."
Always check a zoomed crop, not just the full-panel overview. After every
compose, check_cover_safezone.py's printed ink-% flags an outlier edge, but the
full cover_safe_check.png thumbnail is too small to see a marginal crossing.
Crop the flagged edge(s) with PIL (e.g. bottom-center for the author name, or the
top-left/top-right corners for a wide banner) and Read the crop before deciding
it's clean.
Always verify after composing — the compose script auto-writes
output/<theme>/cover_safe_check.png (green trim line, red text-safe line) and prints
per-edge ink %. OPEN it and confirm no text crosses the red line (decoration crossing
it is fine). If text crosses, re-roll the front with the margin wording above — do not
ship it.
The official KDP number is 0.25" inside the trim line; since the trim line
sits 0.125" inside the full-wrap PDF edge, that equals 0.375" from the PDF
edge — which is exactly the SAFE_MARGIN = 0.375" the compose script uses.
2. Never ask the image model to leave a blank barcode/stamp box.
Models place it at the wrong size, in the wrong spot, or draw several. Generate
full edge-to-edge artwork, then let the compose script stamp exactly one
white barcode zone into the back cover by code.
Workflow
1. Read the book context
output/<theme>/plan.json — title, subtitle, author, audience,
page_size (8.5x11 → portrait 3:4 front; 8.5x8.5 → square 1:1 front).
If cover_prompt and back_cover_prompt already exist in plan.json AND the
front prompt already bakes in the title as text, use them verbatim — the
current plan-writing skills emit both in the detailed "ads-marketing" format
below, with an explicit Text (verbatim): "<title>"; ... clause.
Do not trust an existing cover_prompt on sight — check it for a baked
title first. Older plan.json files (written before the baked-text
convention) often hold a plain scene-only prompt with no title/subtitle/author
text at all, or explicitly say "DO NOT include any text" — reusing one of
those verbatim silently ships an off-brand, textless cover that doesn't match
the rest of the catalog (compare any such cover against butterfly_collection
or cottagecore_frogs, which do bake in the title). Treat a cover_prompt
that lacks baked title text as stale, not present — rewrite it following
the pattern below and save the corrected prompt back into plan.json so the
fix persists. Only ship a textless cover when the user explicitly asks for one
for this specific book.output/<theme>/interior.pdf — the real page count drives spine width; trust
this over counting images/page_*.png.- existing
output/<theme>/cover.png if you are fixing an old cover.
- Read
scripts/generate_cover.py / scripts/kdp_config.py only if a dimension
or barcode convention is unclear.
2. Get the FRONT and BACK prompts
Prefer plan.json.cover_prompt (front) and plan.json.back_cover_prompt (back)
if present and the front prompt already bakes in the title as text (see the
staleness check in step 1). Otherwise write them following the patterns below.
Front — one panel matching plan.json.page_size (portrait 3:4 for 8.5×11,
square 1:1 for 8.5×8.5):
- Bake the title/subtitle/taglines/author INTO the art (marketplace-ready —
this is the default for these covers, it sells far better than a plain
illustration). Spell every word EXACTLY (author names like
BoBoArt garble
easily). Only skip baked text on explicit request.
- Keep all text inside the safe zone — see Rule 1.
- No barcode, ISBN, QR code, watermark, or blank boxes. Full-bleed art edge to edge.
Back — complete decorative panel, full-bleed, no barcode placeholder:
- Use a 2×3 grid of six sample preview cards showing the book's actual scenes.
- Match the card shape to
page_size: square book (8.5×8.5) → the six cards
must be square (1:1), same size, evenly spaced; portrait book (8.5×11) →
portrait cards.
- Top row = 3 fully COLORED finished examples (shows the buyer the colored
result), bottom row = 3 black-and-white line-art previews (the real coloring
pages). This before/after split is a proven KDP back-cover layout.
- Bake in a short headline/tagline near the top of the panel, above/around
the grid (e.g. "See What's Inside!" or a theme-specific line) — a fully
text-free back cover reads as less compelling; a little selling copy on the
back increases appeal. Keep it short, on-brand, and inside the same safe
margins as the front (≥15–18% from every edge, nothing in the bottom strip).
- Surround the grid with on-theme decorations.
- Because all text (front + back headline) is baked into the AI art, compose
with
--no-back-text (the barcode zone is still stamped automatically) —
the code overlay flags (--headline etc.) are only for the rare case where
the back art was deliberately generated with empty reserved space for them.
3. Generate both artworks with the chatgpt renderer
Run this Python snippet directly. It reads the prompts straight from plan.json
(falls back to inline prompts if those keys are missing) and picks the aspect
ratio from page_size — "1:1" for 8.5×8.5, "3:4" for 8.5×11. A square book
returns ~1254×1254 square panels, so the six back-cover cards and any baked-in
front text are never cropped.
import sys, json; sys.path.insert(0, "scripts")
from dotenv import load_dotenv; load_dotenv(".env")
from image_providers import generate_image
THEME = "<theme>"
plan = json.load(open(f"output/{THEME}/plan.json", encoding="utf-8"))
ASPECT = "1:1" if plan.get("page_size") == "8.5x8.5" else "3:4"
FRONT_PROMPT = plan["cover_prompt"]
BACK_PROMPT = plan["back_cover_prompt"]
front = generate_image(FRONT_PROMPT, renderer="chatgpt", aspect_ratio=ASPECT)
if front: front.save(f"output/{THEME}/front_artwork.png")
back = generate_image(BACK_PROMPT, renderer="chatgpt", aspect_ratio=ASPECT)
if back: back.save(f"output/{THEME}/back_artwork.png")
If a render is garbled or off-style, re-run the snippet for just that panel.
Never ask the user to save the files manually — generate them automatically.
5. Compose the wrap
Default — front text baked in, self-contained back grid, so --no-back-text
(barcode is still stamped):
python .claude/skills/kdp-chatgpt-cover-creator/scripts/compose_chatgpt_cover.py \
--theme <theme> \
--front output/<theme>/front_artwork.png \
--back output/<theme>/back_artwork.png \
--no-back-text
The script reads page count from interior.pdf, computes spine + bleed + full
dimensions, resizes the panels, blends the spine, stamps one barcode zone
bottom-right, and writes PNG + PDF at 300 DPI. Existing cover files are backed up
to output/<theme>/backups/ first.
Only if the back art was made with deliberate empty space for code text, add the
overlays instead of --no-back-text:
--headline "A SUPER CUTE|COLORING ADVENTURE" \
--feature-line "36 bold and easy pages for ages 3-7" \
--badge-top "BIRTHDAY PARTY" --badge-bottom "Coloring Book"
If KDP shows an exact required wrap size in the upload dialog, pass
--kdp-width and --kdp-height to match it precisely.
6. Color, flattening & file size (KDP print rules)
The compose script rasterizes everything to one flat image embedded in the
PDF — so transparency, layers, crop marks, and unembedded fonts (all common
reject reasons) are impossible by construction. Two things still need attention:
- Color mode. KDP prints in CMYK and recommends CMYK files with no
embedded color profile. The script outputs RGB; KDP accepts RGB and
auto-converts, but very vivid/neon RGB and pure blacks can shift on press.
For coloring-book covers this is normally fine — just expect slightly muted
print colors, and don't promise the author screen-exact color.
- File size. Keep the cover PDF ≤ 40 MB (KDP's recommendation; hard limit
650 MB). A full-bleed 300-DPI PNG can balloon past 25 MB — if it does, regen
the artwork a touch smaller or re-export the PDF with JPEG compression rather
than uploading a 200 MB file.
- Spine text = 79+ pages, no exceptions. Below 79 pages KDP rejects any spine
text. The script never draws spine text (it blends a clean spine), so the
default is always safe — only add spine text on an explicit request for a
79+ page book, and keep 0.0625" clearance each side.
- Legibility. KDP rejects illegible / low-contrast text. Keep front title
and back copy high-contrast against the art behind them.
7. Validate before delivery
python scripts/pdf_qc.py --pdf output/<theme>/cover.pdf --cover \
--expected-width <full_width_in> --expected-height <full_height_in>
python scripts/check_cover_safezone.py <theme>
Then READ output/<theme>/cover_safe_check.png and confirm visually:
Prompt patterns
These are the proven "ads-marketing" patterns the plan-writing skills now emit
into plan.json as cover_prompt / back_cover_prompt. Reuse them when writing
prompts by hand.
Front cover — bake all text into the art:
Use case: ads-marketing. Asset type: Amazon KDP <square|portrait> coloring book FRONT
COVER artwork, <8.5 x 8.5|8.5 x 11> inch front panel with bleed-safe composition.
Primary request: a complete full-color front cover illustration for a <audience> coloring
book. All cover text must be generated as part of the image artwork, not added later.
Scene/backdrop: <setting, mood, palette>.
Subject: <main kawaii character + props>.
Style/medium: polished professional <audience> coloring book cover, cute kawaii cartoon,
<palette>, soft clean outlines, marketplace-ready.
Composition/framing: <square|portrait> cover. Big readable title at the top on a soft banner.
Subtitle stacked below, not covering the subject. Small rounded badges for taglines.
Subject centered lower-middle. Author name at bottom center.
Text (verbatim): "<title>"; "<subtitle>"; "<tagline1>"; "<tagline2>"; "<author>".
Spell author exactly <spelled out>.
Constraints: all text part of the image; keep all text inside safe margins with generous
padding from every edge; no barcode; no mockup; no watermark; no publisher marks.
Avoid: misspelled/distorted letters, cropped title, text near the edges, realistic photo.
Back cover — 2×3 grid, top row colored, cards match book shape:
Use case: ads-marketing. Asset type: Amazon KDP <square|portrait> coloring book BACK COVER
artwork, <8.5 x 8.5|8.5 x 11> inch back panel.
Primary request: a complete decorative back cover with NO blank barcode area and NO empty
white rectangle.
Scene/backdrop: <on-theme background texture + decorations> covering the entire page.
Subject: a tidy 2 by 3 grid of six <SQUARE for 8.5x8.5 | portrait for 8.5x11> sample preview
cards, all the same size and evenly spaced. The TOP ROW of three cards are fully COLORED
finished examples in <palette> (show how a colored page looks). The BOTTOM ROW of three cards
are clean black-and-white line-art coloring-page previews. Surround the cards with on-theme
decorations and a kawaii animal near the lower area.
Composition/framing: keep cards inside safe margins; fill the lower-right with normal
decoration (do not reserve blank space — the barcode is stamped by code).
Constraints: cards must match the book shape (square for a square book), same size; top three
colored, bottom three line art; no title/author text; no barcode; no white rectangle; no blank
stamp area anywhere.
Avoid: rectangular cards on a square book, uneven cards, stray text, blank boxes, busy clutter.
References
references/cover-pitfalls.md — the recurring failure modes (trim-safe text,
prompt-generated barcode boxes, page-count source, spine text, backups). Read
it the first time you build or fix a cover.
