KDP Print Formatting Requirements: A Checklist From Amazon's Own Pages

KDP's own help pages set the numbers your print files must meet, and this checklist copies them as read on 2026-11-08 and works the arithmetic through. The pages show no revision date, and a few figures vary by trim size and paper, so confirm against the primary pages before you upload: trim size, bleed and margins, paperback submission guidelines and cover requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.

This page does not claim to have produced or proofed any print file. It lists KDP's stated limits, and the worked examples are arithmetic on those limits, labelled as estimates.

Settle four choices before you format

KDP says to set trim size before margins, because margin size depends on page count and on whether anything bleeds. Each choice below feeds the next, and KDP warns that changing page size shifts the text and changes the page count, so your margins need checking again afterward.

Checklist: trim size and page count

The limits below are KDP's for US paperbacks, as listed on 2026-11-08. KDP calls 6 x 9 inches the most common US size.

• Hardcover: 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 6.14 x 9.21, 7 x 10 and 8.25 x 11 are listed, 75 to 550 pages, in black ink on white or cream paper or in premium color.
• KDP calculates your page count from the file and rounds up to an even number if necessary.
• KDP calls sizes above 6.12 inches wide or 9 inches tall "large trim", with different printing costs. On Amazon.com as listed on 2026-11-08, a black-ink paperback of 110 to 828 pages costs $1.00 plus $0.012 a page at regular trim, or $1.00 plus $0.017 at large trim. Labelled estimate for 312 pages: $4.74 against $6.30, so choosing 6.14 x 9.21 over 6 x 9 adds about $1.56 a copy.
• KDP's Word templates come with page size and margins already set. KDP says leftover sample text can cause an upload error or a rejection.
• KDP limits how many new titles you can create and submit each week, per format, with a Sunday 12:00 AM UTC reset. The submission guidelines send you to its Create a Book page for the figures.

Checklist: bleed

Bleed is only for images, backgrounds or graphics that must reach the page edge. KDP does not allow text to bleed off the page, and every cover requires bleed whatever the interior does.

• Bleed is 0.125 inch past the trim on top, bottom and outside edges.
• Page height with bleed is trim height plus 0.25 inch. Page width with bleed is trim width plus 0.125 inch. A 6 x 9 book becomes 6.125 x 9.25 inches.
• If any page needs bleed, set up the whole interior with bleed.
• Bleed needs a fixed-format file such as a print-ready PDF.
• Bleed settings do not affect printing cost, per KDP's cost page.
• Trust the formula over KDP's example table: the table shows 5.626 inches for a 5.5-inch-wide book, where the formula gives 5.625.

Checklist: margins and gutter

KDP's minimums depend on page count, and the top, bottom and outside margins do not have to match each other.

• If your software has separate inside-margin and gutter fields, KDP says to enter the same value in both.
• These are floors. KDP notes that italic characters can overhang a text box and suggests setting margins slightly above the minimum. Stray spaces that run past a margin also count as text and trigger an error.
• Watch the page-count thresholds. A 6-inch-wide book at 300 pages can have a text block up to 5.25 inches wide (6 minus 0.5 minus 0.25). At 302 pages the limit falls to 5.125 inches, about 2.4% narrower (0.125 ÷ 5.25), so a late round of edits can reflow the book and add pages.

Worked examples

These are labelled estimates using KDP's formulas. The book specs are invented for illustration, and KDP's cover calculator should have the final word on a real file.

All dimensions are in inches. KDP's margin table does not say which edge the with-bleed margin is measured from. The workbook column measures from the file edge, which is our inference because the extra 0.125 inch matches the bleed. Measure from the trim line if you want the safer reading. The 0.145-inch workbook spine is about 10.4 points tall (0.145 × 72), so 7-point text fits but with little room.

Paper changes the spine as well. At 312 pages, white paper gives 0.703 inch and cream gives 0.78, a difference of 0.077 inch, so a cover built for one paper will not fit the other.

For image size, multiply inches by 300. A full-page bleed image for the workbook needs at least 2,588 x 3,375 pixels (8.625 × 300, rounded up; 11.25 × 300).

Checklist: interior file before upload

• Without bleed, KDP's submission guidelines list PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTML and TXT, converted to PDF. With bleed it must be a PDF.
• Files up to 650 MB, with file names free of emoji or unsupported special characters.
• Single pages, not spreads.
• Fonts embedded, minimum 7 point. KDP says an unembedded-font error can mean the font's licence does not allow embedding.
• Images at least 300 DPI, and KDP recommends no more than 600 DPI. To check, divide pixels by inches: KDP's example is 1200 x 1800 pixels at 4 x 6 inches, which is 300 DPI.
• Transparencies and layers flattened.
• No crop marks, trim marks, bookmarks, comments, invisible objects, annotations, placeholder text or metadata. No locks or encryption.
• Page numbers sequential, even on left pages and odd on right for left-to-right books.
• KDP's fix page allows no more than 4 consecutive blank pages at the beginning or middle, and 10 at the end.
• Title and author name match your KDP book details exactly. KDP's example of a mismatch is John T. Smith in the details and J.T. Smith on the title page.
• KDP recommends gray fills of at least 10% on black-ink books, and lines at least 0.75 point thick.

Checklist: cover file before upload

• One PDF containing back, spine and front. Over 650 MB will not convert; 40 MB or less is recommended.
• Cover width is bleed + back + spine + front + bleed. Cover height is bleed + trim height + bleed, with bleed at 0.125 inch.
• Spine width per page: 0.002252 inch for black ink on white and 0.0025 for cream. KDP's cover page gives 0.002347 for premium color and 0.002252 for standard color, while its submission guidelines give one color figure of 0.002347 and add 0.00235 for groundwood. Use KDP's calculator if your book is standard color.
• Images at least 300 DPI, in CMYK, sized at 100% and flattened, with artwork extending 0.125 inch past trim. KDP advises against spot colors, color profiles and mixed color spaces.
• Front and back text at least 0.125 inch inside the trim lines, and at least 7 point. No front or back text in the spine area.
• Spine text: KDP's cover page uses both "at least 79" and "more than 79" pages for spine text, and its Cover Creator needs 80, so treat 80 pages as the safe threshold. Leave at least 0.0625 inch of space between spine text and the spine edge.
• KDP does not recommend borders because of production variance. If you use one, it should sit at least 0.25 inch inside the trim line.
• A barcode is optional; KDP adds one if you omit it.
• Remove crop marks, color bars, template text and PDF creation guides. KDP lists a title missing from the front cover among common points of failure.

What Print Previewer checks

Print Previewer is KDP's automated check, and you open it from Edit paperback content, then Book Preview, then Launch Previewer. KDP says its main checks include margins, cover size and fonts, and that a person checks the interior and cover after you submit and emails any problems.

Review its output even when it passes, because KDP says it may try to fix issues by scaling or reflowing text to fit the margins. Pages that scale unevenly usually point to invisible characters, spaces or text boxes. KDP's pages describe checks of a file's structure. They do not say it reviews typos or the look of your chapter openings.

KDP also recommends downloading your current files before uploading new versions, because previous versions cannot be downloaded afterward.

How to order a proof

A proof is the only check here that puts ink on paper. KDP's ordering steps as read on 2026-11-08:

1. Approve the book in Print Previewer. Draft status is fine, but proofs cannot be ordered while the book is in Review or Publishing status.
2. On your Bookshelf, open the ellipsis menu and choose Request Printed Proofs. You can order up to 5.
3. Choose the marketplace that matches your shipping address.
4. Watch for an email within 4 hours, then complete the purchase within 24 hours of receiving it or the copies leave your cart.

You pay the print cost multiplied by the number of copies, plus shipping, which KDP covers on a separate help topic (not read for this page), so check the shipping cost at checkout. Labelled estimate: one proof of the 312-page, regular-trim example would be about $4.74 on Amazon.com before shipping and tax. Proofs carry a "Not for Resale" watermark and a unique barcode with no ISBN, earn no royalties and do not appear in KDP Reports.

How to read a proof

Check a proof against your file and against what KDP treats as normal variation, because several things that look like errors are not defects. The middle column below is a suggested routine. The right column is from KDP's printing-errors page and the formatting pages cited above.

If you find a real defect, KDP requires images of it to request a refund and asks for the Product ID under the barcode on the last interior page. Any fix to your file means reloading it and rechecking the page count, because a change of even two pages can cross a gutter threshold or alter the spine.

Which software gets you there

Most formatters export a PDF, but none of the pages we read publishes a table showing its settings meet KDP's gutter minimums at each page count, so check trim, bleed and gutter yourself. Atticus lists PDF export, as does Reedsy Studio (compared here); Vellum Press is the edition that lists paperbacks (Vellum review), and Vellum's page lists 24 trim sizes, full-bleed pages and automatic margin setup. Atticus's support page says it does not export a print cover, so plan a separate cover file whichever tool you choose. See Atticus. For the full comparison see best book formatting software.

If you plan an audiobook later

Narration does not use your print PDF. The pages below describe the ebook-file requirements. For Google Play's auto-narration, the policy page asks for an .epub, uploaded or taken from your Partner Center account, and you must own the audiobook rights; see also the Learning Center page. KDP's Virtual Voice beta, invite-only, requires a reflowable title with an NCX or Kindle Interactive table of contents. See prepare a manuscript for AI narration, and return to the formatting software hub.

Last verified 2026-11-08. Rules and prices change: check the linked primary page before you rely on this.