Book Cover Dimensions for KDP Paperbacks, Ebooks, and Hardcovers

The right book cover size depends on the kind of book you publish. KDP, Amazon’s service for publishing your own books, asks for a different cover file for each kind.

• A paperback cover is one wide image. It holds the back cover, the spine, and the front cover side by side. The spine is the narrow strip that joins the front and back covers. The cover’s size depends on how big your book is, how many pages it has, and the paper it’s printed on.
• An ebook cover is only the front cover. You upload it as one image. KDP’s ideal size is 1,600 pixels wide and 2,560 pixels tall. A pixel is one of the tiny squares of color that make up a digital image.
• A hardcover cover is one wide image too. It needs extra room to fold around the stiff boards of the book.

The facts in this guide come from Amazon’s KDP help pages as of October 2026. Print sizes are in inches (in). Each one gives the width before the height. For the exact size of your paperback cover, enter your book’s details in the free KDP cover calculator.

What size is a paperback book cover?

KDP prints a paperback cover as one flat sheet that folds around the pages. KDP calls this sheet the full cover.

Picture the cover taken off a paperback and laid flat with its outside facing up. The back cover is on the left. The spine is in the middle. The front cover is on the right.

KDP wants the full cover as one PDF file. A PDF is a file type that looks the same on every computer.

Three choices set the size of the full cover.

• Trim size is the width and height of your finished book. A common one is 6 × 9 in.
• Page count is the number of pages inside your book. More pages make a thicker book and a wider spine.
• Ink and paper are what KDP prints your pages with. KDP offers five mixes of the two. Each mix has its own page thickness. Thicker pages make a wider spine.

KDP also asks for bleed. Bleed is extra background art that runs 0.125 in (1/8 in) past the edges of the finished book. It goes around all four outer edges of the full cover. The printer cuts it off. Because the art runs past the cut, no thin white line shows at the edge.

The spine folds are where the cover bends around the spine. They get no bleed because the cover runs across them in one piece.

How do you calculate a paperback cover size?

KDP gives two formulas on its Create a Paperback Cover help page.

• Cover width = bleed + back cover width + spine width + front cover width + bleed
• Cover height = bleed + trim height + bleed

Each bleed is 0.125 in. The back and front covers are each as wide as your book. On a 6 × 9 in book, each one is 6 in wide.

For the spine, KDP multiplies your page count by the thickness of one page. This table gives that thickness for each mix of ink and paper.

Groundwood is a textured paper that KDP offers only for books printed in black ink.

KDP’s pages disagree about standard color. Create a Paperback Cover gives 0.002252 in per page. The Paperback Submission Guidelines give 0.002347 in for all color paper. This guide and the Proselis calculator use the first figure. The gap is small. On a 300-page book, the two figures differ by less than 0.03 in.

KDP rounds an odd page count up to the next even number. Each sheet of paper holds a page on each side. A 301-page book counts as 302 pages. Use that even number in the formula.

How big is the cover of a 300-page, 6 × 9 in book?

This example uses black ink on white paper.

1. Find the spine width. 300 pages × 0.002252 in = 0.6756 in. KDP’s own template rounds it to 0.676 in.
2. Find the width. 0.125 in of bleed + 6 in back cover + 0.676 in spine + 6 in front cover + 0.125 in of bleed = 12.926 in.
3. Find the height. 0.125 in of bleed + 9 in trim height + 0.125 in of bleed = 9.25 in.

The full cover is 12.926 × 9.25 in. KDP’s template for this book shows the same size.

Cream paper is thicker. On cream, the same book has a spine of 300 pages × 0.0025 in = 0.75 in. Its full cover is 0.125 in + 6 in + 0.75 in + 6 in + 0.125 in = 13 in wide. The height stays 9.25 in.

How many pixels does a paperback cover need?

DPI, or dots per inch, is how many pixels fill each inch of the printed cover. More pixels per inch print sharper. KDP asks for cover images of at least 300 DPI.

To find the size in pixels, multiply each side in inches by 300. Here is the math for the 6 × 9 in example above.

• 12.926 in wide × 300 = 3,877.8 pixels, which rounds to 3,878 pixels wide
• 9.25 in tall × 300 = 2,775 pixels tall

Your cover image should be at least 3,878 × 2,775 pixels.

KDP also says images on a print cover should be in CMYK color. CMYK is the mix of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink that printers use. Screens use RGB instead. RGB is a mix of red, green, and blue light.

File size is measured in megabytes (MB). KDP recommends a cover PDF of 40 MB or less. Large files can slow down printing. KDP can’t process a cover file over 650 MB.

What size is a paperback cover at each trim size and page count?

The tables below show five of KDP’s trim sizes. KDP calls 6 × 9 in the most common trim size for paperbacks in the US.

All sizes in the tables are in inches. The height is your trim height plus 0.25 in of bleed. It doesn’t change with page count. Each column headed with a page count gives the full-cover width for that many pages.

Black ink on white paper

Black ink on cream paper

The 6 × 9 rows at 300 pages match the two examples above.

Where do text and the barcode go on a paperback cover?

The trim lines are where the printer cuts the cover to its final size. The safe area is the part inside them where text won’t be cut off or slip around a fold.

KDP says to keep text on the front and back covers at least 0.125 in inside the trim lines. Keep that text off the spine too. KDP’s template also keeps it 0.125 in back from the spine folds.

KDP’s Paperback Submission Guidelines say to keep content 0.25 in from the “outside cover edge.” That is the same line if you measure from the outer edge of your file. The math is 0.125 in of bleed + 0.125 in = 0.25 in. KDP’s template draws the safe area there.

KDP asks for a font size of at least 7 points for cover text. A point is a unit for font size, and 72 points make 1 inch.

Spine text is the title and author name printed down the spine. It needs at least 0.0625 in (1/16 in) of space on each side. Otherwise, it can slip onto the front or back cover when the book is put together.

How many pages do you need for spine text?

KDP’s pages don’t agree on the exact number.

• Create a Paperback Cover says a book needs “at least 79 pages” for spine text.
• The same page and the Paperback Submission Guidelines also say KDP prints spine text only on books with “more than 79 pages.”
• Cover Creator, KDP’s free tool for designing covers, asks for 80 pages.

KDP rounds odd page counts up to even numbers. A book never counts as exactly 79 pages. In practice, every version of the rule starts at 80 pages.

Where does the barcode go?

A barcode is the box of black bars that store scanners read. It holds your book’s ISBN. An ISBN is the 13-digit number that identifies one edition of a book.

You don’t have to add a barcode. If your cover has none, KDP adds one at no extra cost. KDP puts it in a 2 × 1.2 in white box near the spine. The box sits in the lower right-hand corner of the back cover. KDP rejects covers with images or text in that spot. Fill it with your background color or art instead.

If you add your own barcode, KDP suggests a size of 2 × 1.2 in. The smallest it allows is 1.4 × 0.8 in. Place it at least 0.25 in from the spine and the trim lines. Its bars must be 100% black, not a mix of colors, on a solid white background. The free ISBN barcode generator makes one from your ISBN.

What size should an ebook cover be?

A Kindle ebook cover is only the front cover. It has no spine, back cover, or barcode. You upload it as its own image. It is a separate file from the one with your book’s text.

KDP’s ideal size is 1,600 pixels wide and 2,560 pixels tall. Aspect ratio compares an image’s height with its width. For KDP’s ideal size, 2,560 pixels ÷ 1,600 pixels = 1.6. KDP writes this ratio as 1.6:1.

KDP accepts covers as small as 625 pixels wide and 1,000 pixels tall. Neither side may be over 10,000 pixels.

KDP takes JPEG or TIFF files and prefers JPEG. Both are common file types for photos. Save the cover in RGB color. KDP’s Cover Image Guidelines for Kindle eBooks say Kindle doesn’t support CMYK.

KDP has two help pages on ebook covers. One is Cover Image Guidelines for Kindle eBooks. The other lists cover specifications in a table. Their limits on file size differ. The guidelines page asks for 5 MB or less. The specifications page says the file must be under 50 MB. A file of 5 MB or less meets both.

The two pages also give mixed advice on DPI. The specifications page lists 72 DPI in its table, but a note on the same page suggests at least 300 DPI. The guidelines page asks for at least 300 DPI. On a screen, only the pixel size matters.

A 6 × 9 in front cover has a ratio of 9 ÷ 6 = 1.5. That shape is a little wider than KDP’s ideal of 1.6. Cut a little off the sides, or add art to the top or bottom. Don’t stretch the image to fit. KDP warns that stretching can lower the image quality.

For the full list of ebook cover rules, read Kindle eBook marketing cover image size and requirements.

How is a hardcover cover different?

A KDP hardcover cover is also one PDF. It holds the back cover, spine, and front cover as one image. It needs more room around the edges than a paperback.

• Wrap. Your art should run 0.51 in past the edge of the front cover. KDP calls this strip the wrap. It folds around the stiff board inside the cover and is glued down on the inside.
• Text and images. Keep them at least 0.635 in from the edge of the book.
• Hinge. The hinge is the strip where the cover bends when you open the book. It is 0.4 in wide and sits between the spine and the safe area on the front and back covers. Keep text and the barcode out of it.
• Barcode. KDP puts the barcode in a 2 × 1.2 in white box in the lower right-hand corner of the back cover. Your own barcode must be that same size and 300 DPI. Place it at least 0.76 in from the bottom and at least 0.25 in from the hinge. If it doesn’t meet KDP’s rules, KDP replaces it.

KDP’s Create a Hardcover Cover page gives no formula for the full size. It sends you to KDP’s own calculator instead. On KDP’s Print Cover Calculator and Templates page, set Binding type to Hardcover. Fill in the rest of your book’s details and click Calculate dimensions. The Proselis calculator covers paperbacks only.

How do you get the exact cover size for your book?

The free KDP cover calculator uses the same formulas as this guide. Enter your trim size, page count, ink, and paper. It shows your full-cover size in inches and in pixels. It also shows the spine width and where the safe area and barcode box fall.

A template is a guide image that you design over. The calculator gives you one for free. You can download it as a PNG, PDF, or SVG file. Pick whichever file type your design app opens. Hide the template before you save your final cover. KDP can reject a cover that still shows it.

Finish your book’s inside pages before you finish the cover. Adding or cutting pages changes the spine width. Recalculate whenever your page count changes.

If you’re still writing, you can do it in Proselis for free. A one-time $20 pass per book lets you save that book as an EPUB. EPUB is a common file type for ebooks. Proselis can’t make a print-ready PDF yet. That is the file of your pages that KDP prints from.