The first option appears to be pretty simple. Nevertheless, excellent designers ask for good money. Each new boxshot or ebook cover will round up to $150. Using Photoshop is fine as long as you know how to make the program do what you want from it. To do everything properly additional action scripts could be needed that are not that cheap. And do not forget the cost of Photoshop, of course, which is about $700. A simpler 3rd solution is to get yourself nice boxshot software. It is good to know that the market of such solutions is competitive with the price range of $15-100. There is obviously plenty room for your taste. Actually, you may come across 3 sorts of such programs:
- Fixed templates, no free rotation
- Simple 3D rendering programs
- Sophisticated 3D ray tracing soft
Selecting the first option, you ensure that boxshots and e-book covers will look great, but the selection of modifications will be very small. You will not be able to greatly modify the angle or scale the software box or ebook cover. Choosing the simple 3D offered in the second option will result in unrealistic effects. It is easy to observe that the picture is somewhat unrealistic. The third choice does not have any drawbacks. FXs are calculated for every ray. In the end, you get a very realistic image. If you would like to have freedom and quality, you should employ the third type of boxshot software. Box Shot 3D is a nice example of a program of the kind. This soft is yours for 40 euros. It will help you make excellent pictures of your e-books and software, club cards and more. See for your self some pics of ebook covers and software boxes. The shadows, mirror images on the floor and on themselves could not be recreated in Photoshop without special scripts. You will not come across many programs that can produce a similar result. You will take advantage of many adjustable settings, for instance modifying the power of light and reflections, and fine tuning all other visual elements. No boxshot or ebook cover should be developed without Box Shot 3D. It will give your product a nice wrapping. Attract the customer with fancy looks. I am certain that Box Shot 3D is the right solution for you.