Audiobook Cover Art: Audible's Specs and Design Differences

Your print cover is finished, your audiobook is recorded, and then ACX rejects your upload over the cover art. An audiobook cover is not your print cover resized: Audible requires a square image at least 2,400 × 2,400 pixels, in JPG, PNG or TIF, in RGB colour, under 8 MB, with the title and author name clearly legible and matching your metadata exactly.

Audiobooks keep growing — part of publishing a nonfiction book in every format. The Book Designer, citing WordsRated data, notes US audiobook sales revenue rose 50% over five years. Below is the full spec list, the content rules that trigger rejections, and a process for adapting a print cover into a square that sells at thumbnail size.

What Are Audible's Audiobook Cover Requirements?

Audible's cover art must be square, filling the entire 1:1 ratio, at least 2,400 × 2,400 pixels, in JPG, PNG or TIF format, at a minimum of 72 dpi, in 24-bit colour, in RGB (not CMYK), and the file cannot exceed 8 MB. That is the complete technical list in ACX's cover art requirements, validated during submission.

Three details in that list catch authors out. First, the square must be a real square: a rectangle with white bars added to fake the shape is explicitly rejected. Second, RGB matters: print files are built in CMYK, and a cover exported from a print-ready file will shift colour — most visibly in saturated reds and oranges. Third, 2,400 pixels is the minimum, not the target — most guides recommend a 3,000 × 3,000 pixel master, exported down to 2,400. If you are still planning the print edition, build the layered files with the square version in mind.

What Gets an Audiobook Cover Rejected by ACX?

Passing the pixel dimensions is only half the test: ACX also reviews the content. Your cover must clearly show the title and author name, matching your metadata exactly — a cover that says one thing while the listing says another is rejected for incorrect title. Blurry text is rejected too: upscaling a low-resolution file to 2,400 pixels adds pixels, not sharpness.

The content rules:

• No Audible branding. No Audible logos, badges or marketplace branding.
• No watermarks or third-party copyright images.
• No references to physical media. No photos of CDs, cassettes, books or box sets.
• No book jackets. Do not show the front and back cover of the physical book as a 3D mockup.
• No running time or pricing on the cover.
• No barcodes or QR codes — they belong on print editions.
• No references to competing marketplaces or external websites, and no pornographic or offensive material.

For exclusive-distribution titles only, Audible may add an "Only from Audible" graphic in the lower right corner — 41% of the way from the edge in both directions, or 984 pixels up from the bottom right corner on a 2,400-pixel cover. Keep that corner clear of essential text or faces.

How Is an Audiobook Cover Different From a Print Cover?

The obvious difference is shape — a print cover is a tall rectangle, an audiobook cover is a square — but the practical differences go deeper: a print cover is held in the hand at full size, while an audiobook cover is usually first seen as a thumbnail in a search grid or on a phone's now-playing screen.

The Book Designer's guide to adapting book covers for audio puts it plainly: you cannot just upload your print cover as-is. Proportions shift when a rectangle becomes a square, so the scale of the image changes — a ship that dominated a tall cover can look small and lost once the frame widens. Element placement has to move: a face or focal object that sat comfortably on the rectangle may be cropped out of the square entirely. And the narrator's name belongs on an audiobook cover, even when the author narrates, because listeners choose by voice as much as by subject.

Thumbnail legibility is the test that matters most. A title set in an elegant thin serif may look refined at full size and vanish at 150 pixels wide. Test your design at roughly 150 × 150 pixels: if the title cannot be read there, the type is too small, too thin, or too low-contrast. The same test applies to the print cover — see how to test your book cover before you publish.

How Do You Adapt a Print Cover Into a Square Audiobook Cover?

Start from the layered master file of your print cover, not from a flattened export — the adaptation is a redesign of the same artwork for a new shape. If you are planning the audio edition alongside production, our audiobook production guide covers the recording and distribution steps this cover will accompany.

1. Set up a 3,000 × 3,000 pixel square canvas in RGB. A 3,000-pixel master passes everywhere; export the 2,400-pixel ACX version from it.
2. Extend the background, don't squash the art. Widen the background to fill the extra width. Squashing the rectangle into a square distorts every face, object and letterform.
3. Reposition the focal point. Move the main image or portrait so it sits comfortably in the square, cropping the top and bottom of a tall image — the composition has to be rebalanced, not just resized.
4. Re-set the type for the square. Title, author and narrator credits need new sizes and positions. Keep the same fonts, but enlarge the title: it must read at thumbnail size (our book cover typography guide explains which pairings hold up at small sizes).
5. Leave the lower right corner clear. If your title is under exclusive distribution, Audible's "Only from Audible" graphic lands there.
6. Test at thumbnail size, then export and verify. Shrink the design to about 150 × 150 pixels and check the title and author are still readable. Then export as a baseline JPG (or PNG/TIF) in RGB at 2,400 × 2,400 pixels or larger, confirm the file is under 8 MB, and check the title and author against your ACX metadata.

A worked example shows why the layered file matters. A 6 × 9 inch print cover at 300 dpi is 1,800 × 2,700 pixels. To fill a 2,400 × 2,400 square you are 600 pixels short on width and 300 over on height — and cropping the height to the 1,800-pixel width throws away a third of the image, 900 pixels of artwork. The clean fix is to return to the layered design, extend the background by 600 pixels, and re-crop the height by only 300. Ask your designer for the layered files — and the audiobook version — before the project closes.

What Do Other Audiobook Platforms Require?

ACX is the default for most authors because it feeds Audible, Amazon and Apple Books, but the others publish their own minimums. The numbers below come from The Book Designer's distributor table — verify the current spec on each platform before you upload.

The practical takeaway: a single 3,000 × 3,000 pixel RGB master clears every minimum in that table, so design once and derive each distributor's version from it. One caution: file-size caps differ, so check the cap for the platform you are uploading to rather than assuming ACX's 8 MB applies everywhere.

What Are the Most Common Audiobook Cover Mistakes?

Most rejections come from a handful of avoidable errors. Run through this list before you submit.

• Squashing the rectangle. Stretching a tall cover into a square distorts type and imagery.
• Faking the square with borders — an explicit ACX rejection.
• Upscaling a small file. Enlarging a 1,200-pixel image to 2,400 adds blur, not detail.
• Title or author mismatch. If the cover says a different title or author name than your metadata, the upload is rejected — check character for character.
• Type too small for thumbnails. If the title cannot be read at 150 pixels wide, it cannot sell.
• Leaving the narrator off. Listeners choose by narrator — credit them on the cover.
• Reusing print back-matter elements. Barcodes, QR codes and "also by" text have no place on audio artwork.

Key Takeaways

• Audible requires a square audiobook cover of at least 2,400 × 2,400 pixels in JPG, PNG or TIF, at 72 dpi or higher, in RGB colour, under 8 MB — and the file is validated during ACX submission.
• The title and author name must match your ACX metadata exactly, and the cover must contain no Audible branding, watermarks, barcodes, QR codes, running-time or pricing references, physical-media imagery, or book-jacket mockups.
• An audiobook cover is a redesign, not a resize: extend the background, reposition the focal point, re-set the type for thumbnails, and credit the narrator.
• Design once at a 3,000 × 3,000 pixel RGB master — that single file clears the minimums for ACX, Findaway Voices, Google Play, PublishDrive and Kobo.
• Test the finished cover at roughly 150 × 150 pixels and keep the lower right corner clear for Audible's "Only from Audible" graphic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I just use my ebook cover for my audiobook?

No. Ebook covers are tall rectangles; Audible requires a square 1:1 image, and a rectangle with side bars added to fake the square is rejected. Adapt the design from the layered master file instead.

What size should I design my audiobook cover at?

Work from a 3,000 × 3,000 pixel RGB master and export at 2,400 × 2,400 pixels or larger for ACX — designing at 3,000 keeps the artwork sharp and lets you derive every other distributor's version from one file.

Does Audible add anything to my cover?

For exclusive-distribution titles, Audible may add an "Only from Audible" graphic in the lower right corner — keep that area clear.

Why was my audiobook cover rejected?

The most common reasons are a non-square image, a file smaller than 2,400 × 2,400 pixels, blurry text, a title or author name that does not match the metadata, added borders, Audible branding, or prohibited elements such as barcodes or QR codes. Check the file against ACX's requirements and resubmit.

Should the narrator's name be on the audiobook cover?

Yes — listeners choose partly by narrator, so credit them on the cover even when the author narrates.

Conclusion

An audiobook cover is a small square doing a large job: it must pass ACX's technical validation, read clearly at thumbnail size, and carry the same authority as the print edition it came from. The spec is simple — square, at least 2,400 × 2,400 pixels, JPG, PNG or TIF, RGB, under 8 MB, title and author matching your metadata — but the design work starts from the layered master file, not from a flattened export.

If your book is heading into audio and you want the cover handled alongside the manuscript, the publishing and design work can be done as one project. Our Amazon KDP publishing services show how the print, ebook and audiobook editions fit together — and if you would rather talk it through, reach out and tell us about the book.