Podcast Cover Art Maker

Design square podcast cover art with title, host name, and artwork within Apple Podcasts specs.

Tested tool guide Tested browser tools Checked August 16, 2026

What Podcast Cover Art Maker does and how it behaves

A podcast cover has one job: stay legible at the size of a phone-screen thumbnail. This tool builds a square, 1:1 cover from the three things you supply - a title, a host name, and an artwork image - and exports it at a size that satisfies Apple Podcasts' artwork rules: at least 1400 x 1400 pixels, no more than 3000 x 3000, JPEG or PNG, no transparency. The thing people get wrong most often is treating the pixel minimum as the whole battle. A file can pass the spec and still fail as a cover, because text that reads fine in the editor vanishes at thumbnail size.

How the result is produced

Composing the square canvas

Everything lands on a fixed 1:1 canvas. The title becomes the primary text layer, the host name a secondary one, and the artwork image sits behind or beside them. The layout and styling keep the show name legible first, then the host name, when the cover is scaled down to the small size where most listeners first see it.

Exporting within Apple's rules

Apple Podcasts requires square artwork between 1400 x 1400 and 3000 x 3000 pixels, saved as JPEG or PNG in RGB color with no alpha channel. The export step produces a file that meets those limits, with transparency removed so the result is ready to attach to the RSS feed when the show is submitted. Nothing is uploaded; the cover is rendered and saved from the browser.

Good uses

You are about to submit a new show's RSS feed to Apple Podcasts and need a square cover that will pass validation; the exported file is what you reference from the feed's artwork tag.
Your show launched with a placeholder cover or needs a rebrand for a new season; generate a replacement at the same spec and swap the image URL in the feed without touching episodes.
You need a cover for a series or client deliverable but have no design tooling; title, host name, and a photo become an intentional-looking square instead of text pasted over an image.

Limits and checks

Passing the size rule is not the same as Apple accepting the cover. The file must also be square, RGB, and free of an alpha channel, and Apple reviews submitted artwork against its content guidelines, so a technically valid cover can still be rejected for reasons no tool can predict.
The 1400-pixel minimum is an acceptance rule, not a readability rule. Most listeners see the cover as a small library thumbnail, so judge the design scaled down rather than at full size, where text always looks legible.
The export follows Apple Podcasts' rules, but other platforms set their own. Spotify, YouTube, and other directories each publish current artwork guidance, and video-first shows need a different shape; the square file often works elsewhere, but verify against each destination before reusing it.

Common questions

Why must the artwork be at least 1400 x 1400 pixels when it is displayed so small?

Apple Podcasts rejects submitted feeds whose artwork is smaller than 1400 x 1400 pixels, so the minimum exists for validation, not display. The same file is rendered at many sizes, down to a small library thumbnail. Meeting the minimum gets the feed accepted; designing for the thumbnail is what gets the cover noticed.

Can I reuse the exported cover on Spotify and other directories?

Usually, yes: most major podcast platforms ask for similar square artwork, and Apple's dimensions have become the de facto standard. But each platform publishes its own current requirements and can change them, so check the artwork guidance of the specific directory before submitting the same file to it.

References and verification

The behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.