EPUB covers for your Xteink
A coverless EPUB gets a cover at the exact screen size, so the library and the sleep screen show it full instead of a small square.
- Xteink X4, X4 Classic
- Cover 480 × 800
- .epub
The cover as the reader shows it: 4 grays. The file keeps smooth grays; the reader dithers them.
Title, author and series are also written into the book, so the library matches the cover.
Choose an EPUB first; it is opened here, never uploaded.
How to put it on the reader
- Copy the new EPUB over the old one on the SD card (same file name), or send it with File Transfer.
- Open the book once, then check the library: the new cover and the new title show.
- On CrossPoint or CrossInk, Settings → Display → Sleep Screen Cover shows it when the reader sleeps.
Want the cover fixed but the text kept? This tool only replaces the cover and the library details. To shrink pictures or strip fonts, use the EPUB optimizer.
What it does to the file
Everything below can be checked against the file you get back.
- Both cover markers are written
- properties="cover-image" and the legacy meta name="cover": readers disagree about which to trust, and the library grid reads the first.
- The cover is the sleep screen
- On CrossPoint the cover of the last book opened is what shows when the device sleeps, so a cover at the panel's exact size is also a wallpaper.
- Batch keeps the file names
- Drop a shelf and the same names come back with new covers, so they overwrite the copies on the SD card rather than piling up duplicates.
- Type and art are drawn here
- Both draw the title, author and series into the image at full resolution, so no picture and no editor are needed.
What it changes in the book
| In the EPUB | What happens |
|---|---|
| Cover image | Replaced, or added when the book has none, at 480×800 (X4 / X4 Classic / X4 Pro) or 528×792 (X3) |
| Cover markers | properties="cover-image" and <meta name="cover"> both point at it, for CrossPoint, CrossInk, Licorice and Calibre |
| Title and author | Written to dc:title and dc:creator when you edit them |
| Series | belongs-to-collection on EPUB 3, calibre:series on EPUB 2 |
| Everything else | Untouched: text, chapters, pictures, CSS, fonts |
For AO3, Calibre and a shelf of coverless books
Fanfic files usually arrive without a cover, and a library of thirty blank tiles is hard to scan. A text cover fixes that in one pass: the cover uses each book's own title, author and series, so every book gets a distinct cover without thirty separate edits. Art mode goes further than a template: a genre picks a palette, a template, a pattern, a typeface and a layout, and the four directions on screen are four seeds of that combination — Shuffle draws four more. Each book's own title seeds its shapes, so a shelf shares a style without any two covers being identical, and a pinned axis stays put while you shuffle. Colour is kept for phones and colour readers, or cut to the panel's four grays for an Xteink. For a picture cover, put the art in once and the whole batch gets it; use one book at a time when each needs its own.
The same size rule applies to the sleep screen: with Sleep Screen set to Cover, the reader shows the book's cover full screen. A cover at exactly 480×800 has nothing to letterbox, which is why the EPUB optimizer and this tool use the panel's pixels rather than a generic 1600×2400.
One picture, type only, or generated art?
Both are drawn in your browser. A picture is converted to grayscale and cropped (or fitted) to the screen; a text cover is drawn from scratch at full resolution, so the type is sharp even at 4 grays. The file itself keeps smooth grays; the preview dithers to the panel, and the reader dithers again when it draws the cover. If a text cover looks too light on the device, the Zine preset uses heavier type and a full border.
No Xteink yet, or want a second one? The X4, X4 Pro and X3 are sold on xteink.com. Already have one? There are magnetic cases for the X4, X4 Pro and X3, and a charging stand that fits all three. Those are affiliate links: if you buy through one, einktools earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Questions
›Why does the cover not show on my Xteink?
The reader looks for a specific cover marker inside the EPUB: a manifest item with properties="cover-image", or the item <meta name="cover"> points at. Books exported from some tools, and many fanfic files converted from AO3 pages, have no proper marker at all. This tool writes both markers and adds a cover image if the book has none.
›What size should the cover be?
480×800 pixels for the X4, X4 Classic and X4 Pro, and 528×792 for the X3. The tool always writes that size, so the cover fills the library tile and the Cover sleep screen without bars. A portrait picture fills the screen; choose “Whole picture” to keep the edges and get white bars.
›Does it change the text or the layout?
No. Only the cover image and the title, author and series in the book's metadata are touched. Chapters, text, images and the table of contents stay exactly as they were. For the rest (pictures, fonts, broken CSS), use the EPUB optimizer.
›Can I use one cover for 30 fanfics?
Yes. Type only gives all 30 the same preset, and Art gives them one genre, palette and style with each book's title seeding its own shapes, so no two look identical. A picture is the same picture for every book in the batch; do those one at a time when each needs a different one.
›Does it work with DRM-protected books?
No. A book with DRM can't be rewritten, and the tool says so. DRM-free books from AO3, Calibre, Standard Ebooks and Project Gutenberg work.
›Will the new title and author show in the library?
On CrossPoint and CrossInk, yes: the library reads dc:title and dc:creator from the book. Series is written as belongs-to-collection (EPUB 3) or calibre:series (EPUB 2), which Calibre and most readers understand. Some readers cache the old metadata until the book is opened again.
›Can I use it for Kindle or Kobo?
The EPUB it writes is valid everywhere, and a Kindle sent an EPUB gets a cover from it. The exact 480×800 size is tuned for Xteink panels, though; for Kindle lock screens use the Kindle lock screen maker, which builds a one-page book at the right size.
›Is it free?
Yes, with no sign-up and no limit.