Hardcover or hardback?

The same thing: hardcover is the American word and hardback the British one. We use both.

Can I show a case laminate hardback with no jacket?

Yes, that's the plain hardback: your artwork printed straight on the boards, like KDP's hardcovers.

Do I need a different file?

No. A paperback full wrap works. A KDP hardcover file works too, with the KDP hardcover file type.

Yes, to start, with no account and no watermark: the 3D paperback and hardback, turned up to 45° either way, exported at up to twice the size. Pro adds the full turn to the back, the dust jacket, read and well loved copies, the scenes and three times the size. You can try every Pro option on the canvas first; the export then carries a small preview tape.

Hardcover book mockup with real boards

A hardback with boards that stand proud of the pages, a rounded spine and the hinge groove beside it, from your paperback or hardcover file.

Make a hardback mockup See pricing

Free to start. No signup to try. Nothing stamped on your exports.

Notes from Paraspace as a 3D hardback over a navy and gold marbled backdrop — Notes from Paraspace as a hardback, on a marbled backdrop in the cover's own navy and gold.

What the hardcover book mockup does

A hardback is a different object from a paperback, and a mockup that just makes a paperback thicker doesn't fool anyone. The boards are a few millimetres bigger than the pages on three sides, the spine is rounded, and there's a groove where the board meets the spine so the cover can open.

DudeCovers builds all of that. Your cover wraps the boards, round the rounded spine and into the hinge, and the page block sits back inside the boards the way it does on the shelf.

You don't need a hardcover file to show one. Your paperback wrap works as a hardback, which is handy when you're planning a special edition and want to see it before ordering a proof. If you do have KDP's hardcover file, pick that file type and the extra wrap round the boards is taken off for you.

Hardbacks in the wild

Killing It as a hardback face out on a walnut home bookshelf in warm lamp light — Killing It as a hardback on a home bookshelf, lit by a lamp.

Smashed as a hardback lying on a wooden writer's desk next to a notebook and a mug — Smashed as a hardback, lying on a writer's desk in a photo scene.

Hardcover book mockup features

Boards, hinge, rounded spine

The details that make a hardback read as a hardback in a small picture.

From a paperback file

Try a hardback edition before you commit to one.

Dust jacket next

Switch the binding to jacket and the same file becomes a jacket with flaps (Pro).

Free

Hardbacks are free, like paperbacks, up to 45° either way.

Straight answers.

Hardcover or hardback?: The same thing: hardcover is the American word and hardback the British one. We use both.
Can I show a case laminate hardback with no jacket?: Yes, that's the plain hardback: your artwork printed straight on the boards, like KDP's hardcovers.
Do I need a different file?: No. A paperback full wrap works. A KDP hardcover file works too, with the KDP hardcover file type.
Is it free?: Yes, to start, with no account and no watermark: the 3D paperback and hardback, turned up to 45° either way, exported at up to twice the size. Pro adds the full turn to the back, the dust jacket, read and well loved copies, the scenes and three times the size. You can try every Pro option on the canvas first; the export then carries a small preview tape.

Try the hardcover book mockup free.

Free to start, no account, no watermark. Drop in your cover and turn it to the light.

Make a hardback mockup

Hardcover book mockup with real boardsHardcover book mockup with real boards