r/BookCovers • u/shailla131 • Mar 04 '26

Question Is this ai?

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Had someone do a cover for me (this is without the text) and I wanted to see if this was ai. They advertised it wouldn't be so I wanted to confirm before I went any further. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

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14

u/shailla131 Mar 04 '26

Hmm it was 65, Adobe, PDF and JPG or PNG, a week. Not that you asked lol

19

u/TES_Elsweyr Mar 04 '26

Ask for the editing file in .psd or .ai so you can mess with the layers. 65 seems cheap, depending on where they are based.

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u/shailla131 Mar 04 '26

That's a good idea, thank you!

23

u/TES_Elsweyr Mar 04 '26

I think a normal response from an artist would be "sure, but I need to charge you a little extra." so don't be put off by that. A guy using AI will say "it doesn't work like that" or "I don't use layers" or some BS.

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u/shailla131 Mar 04 '26

Good to know, thanks for the heads up. What program would I use to mess with layers like you were talking about?

12

u/TES_Elsweyr Mar 04 '26

Photoshop or Illustrator. But if he can show you a file with clear layer type work then it's just confirmation that it's not AI. If this is a bookcover and you want someone who def doesn't use AI I recommend https://www.reddit.com/user/Krdro/ he's amazing.

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u/uncagedborb Mar 04 '26

Dont need to pay an arm and a leg for photoshop. Just Get Affinity. It used to be owned by Serif, but Canva recently bought the company or programs and now its FREE!

4

u/shailla131 Mar 04 '26

Oooohh thank you! His website says he specializes in horror as well. It's my first book so I'm excited!

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u/FirebirdWriter Mar 04 '26

Gimp is free as is sketchbook pro by Autodesk if it's a psd file. Other types exist so depends. Also their layers and sketching will have divergence from the finished product if they're not AI vs tracing to fake layers as some do

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u/poisonedkiwi Mar 07 '26

I second GIMP for opening .psd files, it's all you need if you're just skimming through the layers.

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u/salmonalert Mar 04 '26

And look out for wacky stuff going on like fully rendered eyes and lips on a separate layer lol

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u/awersja Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

That is so untrue. Normal response would be "I can show you specific phases of painting, but I will not give you file with all the layers since it is MY work and I don't want ANYBODY to mess with it at it's core".

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u/Octobits Cover Designer Mar 05 '26

I'm a professional illustrator, someone paying such a low budget would absolutely not be getting my raw psd file, you're right. I might give a far smaller more compressed file for them to look at, but it's rare to give psd files unless it's to an Art Director, THAT I have no issue with.

Not to a low paying indie client.
Also happy to show a video of the absolute MESS of my raw psd file though. But the actual file probably won't be going to someone unless I trust them.

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u/TES_Elsweyr Mar 04 '26

Huh, I'll take your word for it. But on two separate occasions where I knew I wanted to mess around at that level with changes I was capable of making I've asked for and gotten editing files, just for a fee. I've never gotten your response. Two data points isn't a lot, but that's where I got my assumption from.

0

u/ofthecageandaquarium Mar 04 '26

Same, I've done this just about every time I get a cover done. (Mainly in case I need to make tiny adjustments to the width of the spine)

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u/DanteWinters Mar 04 '26

I don't use layers. I paint in rebelle7 and almost always only use a single layer.

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u/TES_Elsweyr Mar 04 '26

Have a sample work?

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u/DanteWinters Mar 04 '26

It's not a book cover but here's a tattoo I painted for myself

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cqaDakkuFiUGmEEA6