Printing the cover of a book comes with very specific needs for the design. There are a variety of factors that influence the layout of every cover, including the width of the spine and the gutters and bleed.
Below is a simple diagram (based on an Amazon KDP template). LightningSource/IngramSpark templates are similar in appearance, but with a few cosmetic differences (blue guides instead of red for example). An interesting fact to keep in mind is that a KDP template and LS/IS template for the exact same book (trim size, page count, etc.) typically have a few differences that have to be accounted for in the design. So if you’d like to print with KDP and LightningSource/IngramSpark, please let us know so we can discuss formatting the layout for both and additional cost.
Want to learn more about print layouts? Visit our article on trim sizes here.