KDP Paperback Formatting Guide to Margins, Bleed, and Page Count

KDP, short for Kindle Direct Publishing, is Amazon’s service for publishing your own books. To publish a paperback with KDP, you upload two files. One is your cover. The other holds your book’s inside pages. KDP calls it your manuscript.

This guide covers the manuscript file in the order you’ll set it up. Its steps are for Microsoft Word on Windows. The rules come from Amazon’s KDP help pages as of October 2026. KDP can change them. Check its pages before you publish.

What trim size should your KDP paperback be?

Your trim size is the width and height of your finished book. After printing, KDP trims, or cuts, every page to this size.

The most common size for US paperbacks is 6 × 9 in. A custom size can be 4 to 8.5 in wide and 6 to 11.69 in tall. KDP calls a book large if it’s more than 6.12 in wide or more than 9 in tall. Large sizes cost more to print.

Choose your trim size first. Your page size and margins depend on it. Our guide to standard book sizes can help you pick. KDP also offers free Word templates in each standard size. The blank ones have the page size and margins already set.

What page size should your file be, with or without bleed?

Bleed means a picture or color runs all the way to the edge of a printed page. To do that, it has to reach a little past the trim line, the place where KDP cuts the page. Otherwise, a thin white strip can show at the edge.

If nothing on your pages touches the edge, your book has no bleed. Set your page size to your trim size. A 6 × 9 in book uses a 6 × 9 in page.

If anything on even one page should touch the edge, KDP says the whole file needs bleed. Make your page bigger than your trim size. The table below shows how much. Then extend anything that should touch the edge 0.125 in past the trim line.

A file with bleed must be a PDF. When you set up the book on KDP, also choose Bleed for the Bleed Settings option.

Why does bleed add 0.125 in to the width but 0.25 in to the height?

KDP trims 0.125 in from the top, bottom, and outside edge of each page. It doesn’t trim the inside edge, which is bound into the spine.

• The height gets 0.125 in for the top and 0.125 in for the bottom. That’s 0.125 + 0.125 = 0.25 in.
• The width gets 0.125 in for the outside edge only.

So a 6 × 9 in page with bleed is 6 + 0.125 = 6.125 in wide. It’s 9 + 0.25 = 9.25 in tall.

In metric, the bleed is 0.125 × 25.4 = 3.175 mm. KDP rounds it up to 3.2 mm. Two KDP help pages give the 6 × 9 in page with bleed as 15.54 × 23.46 cm. That’s a typo. KDP’s own bleed table gives the correct 15.56 × 23.50 cm.

What margins does KDP require for a paperback?

A margin is the blank space between your text and the edge of the page. Each page has four. The inside margin sits next to the spine, the edge where the pages are glued together. KDP also calls it the gutter.

KDP sets only minimums. You can always make margins bigger.

• The top, bottom, and outside margins need at least 0.25 in without bleed.
• With bleed, they need at least 0.375 in.
• These three margins don’t have to match each other.
• The inside margin depends on your page count. A thicker book needs more room at the spine.

This table is the same for every trim size. KDP rounds its metric values up to the next 0.1 mm. That’s why 0.375 in, which is 0.375 × 25.4 = 9.525 mm, shows as 9.6 mm.

For example, a 6 × 9 in novel with 280 pages and no bleed needs an inside margin of at least 0.5 in. Its other three margins need at least 0.25 in each.

KDP suggests making margins a little bigger than the minimums. Italic letters can lean past the edge of the text area. Print Previewer, KDP’s tool that shows your pages on screen and checks them, can flag that as text outside the margin.

What are mirror margins?

On a right-hand page, the inside margin is on the left. On a left-hand page, it’s on the right. Mirror margins is a setting that swaps the inside and outside margins on every other page to match.

If your program doesn’t offer mirror margins, set both side margins to at least your inside margin.

How do you set the page size and margins in Word?

These steps follow KDP’s help for Word on Windows. Step 6 is our addition. Some menus differ in Word for Mac.

1. On the Layout tab, click Size. Then click More Paper Sizes.
2. Enter your page width and height. Use your trim size plus any bleed. Click OK.
3. Click Margins. Then click Custom Margins.
4. Under Pages, choose Mirror margins from the Multiple pages menu. The Left and Right boxes become Inside and Outside.
5. Enter your top, bottom, inside, and outside margins.
6. Set Gutter to 0. The next section explains why.
7. Under Preview, choose Whole document from the Apply to menu. Click OK.

What should you put in Word’s Gutter box?

Put 0 in the Gutter box. Put your whole inside margin in the Inside box.

KDP’s margin page seems to say otherwise. It says that if a program has separate fields for the inside margin and the gutter, you should enter the same value in both. That advice doesn’t fit Word. Microsoft’s help explains that Word’s gutter adds extra space to the inside margin. If you enter 0.5 in both boxes, your text starts 0.5 + 0.5 = 1 in from the spine.

That’s allowed, but it wastes room on every page and can add pages. KDP’s own Word steps don’t mention the gutter. Its blank Word templates set the gutter to 0 and put the whole inside margin in the Inside box.

If you do use the gutter, make Inside plus Gutter add up to at least your minimum.

Why do your margins and page count depend on each other?

Your inside margin depends on your page count. But your page count depends on your margins. Wider margins fit fewer words on each page. That adds pages.

Say your book has 148 pages with an inside margin of 0.375 in. Then you add a 4-page author bio. Now it has 148 + 4 = 152 pages. That puts it in the 151 to 300 row, which needs 0.5 in. The wider margin pushes text onto more pages. Your page count rises again.

You can break the circle in four steps.

1. Estimate your page count with our word count to pages calculator.
2. Set your margins for that estimate. If it’s near the top of a row, use the next row’s inside margin. Bigger is always allowed.
3. Lay out the whole book. Save a PDF and check its page count.
4. If the count moved into a new row, change your inside margin. Check the count once more.

What are KDP’s rules for page count?

KDP counts the pages in your file. Each sheet of paper has two sides, and each side is one page. That’s why KDP rounds an odd count up to the next even number. A file with 151 pages counts as 151 + 1 = 152.

The minimum is 24 pages. Standard color ink needs at least 72. The maximum depends on your trim size, ink, and paper. Groundwood, one of the paper choices, is a lighter paper that costs about 5% less per page to print. This table covers every KDP size up to 8 in wide, including 6 × 9 in.

Wider sizes allow fewer pages. For example, an 8.5 × 11 in book on white paper with black ink can have at most 590 pages. KDP’s Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins page lists every size.

Blank pages have limits too. KDP allows no more than 4 blank pages in a row at the start or middle of your file. It allows no more than 10 in a row at the end.

How many pages do you need for spine text?

Spine text means the words printed on the book’s spine, such as the title. KDP’s help pages give the minimum as 79 pages, more than 79, or 80. Since KDP rounds odd counts up, no book has exactly 79 pages. In practice, you need at least 80. Our KDP cover calculator calculates your spine width and cover size from your page count.

Which pages go on the right in the front and back matter?

Front matter is everything before chapter one, such as the title page. Back matter is everything after the last chapter, such as an author bio.

KDP checks that your page numbers run in order and don’t skip. Even numbers go on left-hand pages. Odd numbers go on right-hand pages. You can number the front matter with Roman numerals (i, ii, iii). Then switch to standard numbers (1, 2, 3).

KDP’s formatting guide gives the usual order for front matter. It’s the half title, title page, copyright page, reviews and praise, dedication, table of contents, preface, acknowledgments, prologue, and introduction. KDP calls many of these pages optional. Its guide places them like this.

A header is a line of text at the top of each page, such as the book title. A footer is a line at the bottom. KDP’s guide leaves page numbers and headers off the half title, title, copyright, and contents pages.

The title and author name in your file must match what you enter on KDP exactly. Check your title page, copyright page, headers, and footers. Our copyright page generator can make your copyright page for you.

How do you start page numbers at chapter one in Word?

You use a section break, a marker that divides your file into parts. Each part can have its own page numbers. Steps 1 to 5 come from KDP. Step 6 comes from Microsoft’s help.

1. Click at the end of your front matter.
2. On the Layout tab, click Breaks. Under Section Breaks, choose Next Page.
3. Go to the first page of chapter one. Double-click the header or footer that will hold the page number.
4. Click Link to Previous to turn it off. Now this part no longer copies the front matter’s header or footer.
5. Click Page Number and choose where the numbers go.
6. To make chapter one page 1, click Page Number again. Choose Format Page Numbers, set Start at to 1, and click OK.

For a page to land on the right, you may need a blank left-hand page before it. KDP warns that Word doesn’t always show such blank pages on screen, but the PDF does. Check your PDF page by page.

Which fonts can you use in a KDP paperback?

Font size is measured in points. KDP’s smallest allowed font size is 7 points. That includes text inside images.

You must also embed your fonts. An embedded font is stored inside your file. That way, KDP’s printer has the font it needs. KDP gives these steps for Word.

1. Click File, then Options, then Save.
2. Check Embed fonts in the file.
3. Uncheck Embed only the characters used in the document and Do not embed common system fonts.
4. Click OK.

To check a PDF, open it in Adobe Acrobat. Click File, then Properties. Then open the Fonts tab. Every font in the list should say it’s embedded.

A font subset stores only the letters your book uses. KDP’s Paperback Fonts page accepts subsets. Its other pages recommend full embedding and say subsets can cause problems. To be safe, embed fonts fully.

Some fonts won’t embed for technical or legal reasons, such as a license that doesn’t allow it. KDP says this happens with some free fonts found online. Test a new font in a short PDF first.

What is a faux bold or italic?

A faux bold or italic is a fake one. Your program makes it when you click Bold or Italic for a font that has no real bold or italic version on your computer. Print Previewer can show an error for it.

To fix it, check whether the real bold or italic version is installed. If it is, embed your fonts. If it isn’t, remove the bold or italic. Either way, save the file under a new name.

How do you make images print sharply?

A digital image is made of tiny dots called pixels. DPI, or dots per inch, is how many of those pixels print in each inch of paper. More DPI means a sharper picture. KDP recommends at least 300 DPI. It calls anything under 200 DPI low resolution. Such images can print blurry.

To calculate DPI, divide the image’s size in pixels by its printed size in inches. KDP’s example is a 1,200 × 1,800-pixel image printed at 4 × 6 in. Across, that’s 1,200 ÷ 4 = 300 DPI. Down, it’s 1,800 ÷ 6 = 300 DPI.

To find the pixels you need, multiply the printed size by 300. A photo printed 5 in wide needs 5 × 300 = 1,500 pixels across. If you print that photo 6 in wide, it falls to 1,500 ÷ 6 = 250 DPI.

KDP also gives these tips.

• In Word, add each image with Insert, then Pictures. Don’t copy and paste it.
• Size each image to its printed size before you insert it. Enlarging it afterward lowers its DPI.
• In Word, click File, then Options, then Advanced. Check Do not compress images in file.
• Don’t just raise the DPI number in an image editor. That doesn’t add detail.
• Color photos print in color only if you choose color ink.
• Flatten each image into one layer. Transparent areas can print in a slightly different color.
• Stay at or under 600 DPI. That helps keep your file within KDP’s limit of 650 MB.

How do you save your paperback file as a PDF?

Without bleed, KDP accepts a PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTML, or TXT file. DOC and DOCX are Word files. KDP turns any of these into a PDF itself. With bleed, it accepts only a PDF. KDP recommends a PDF either way. A PDF looks the same on every computer.

When you make the PDF, follow these steps.

1. Save it as a new file. Don’t save over an old PDF.
2. Choose PDF/X-1a, a kind of PDF made for printing, if your program offers it. KDP prefers it but doesn’t require it.
3. Embed all fonts.
4. Turn off downsampling, which shrinks images to make the file smaller. It also lowers their DPI.
5. Leave out crop marks, the small lines in the corners that show a printer where to cut. Leave out other printer’s marks too.
6. Remove comments, bookmarks, annotations, hidden objects, and metadata. Metadata is hidden information about the file.
7. Remove any logo or watermark your PDF program adds.
8. Don’t lock the file or add a password.
9. Save single pages. Don’t save spreads, which show two facing pages side by side.
10. Keep the file at 650 MB or less. Leave emoji and unusual symbols out of its name.
11. Open the PDF and page through it.

How do you upload and check your file on KDP?

1. Go to your Bookshelf, the page in KDP that lists your books.
2. Click the “…” button next to your book. Choose Edit paperback content.
3. In the Manuscript section, click Upload paperback manuscript and choose your PDF.
4. In the Book Preview section, click Launch Previewer.

Print Previewer lists errors and shows where they are. It may also shrink text to fit your margins. Check those pages closely.

After you submit, KDP checks your files by hand. It emails you about any problem. KDP also recommends ordering a printed test copy, called a proof, before you publish. Our guide to KDP proof copies and author copies explains how.

Why does KDP reject paperback files?

These are the most common reasons in KDP’s help pages. Check each one before you upload.

• The page size doesn’t match your trim size plus any bleed.
• Text sits outside the margins. Stray spaces and empty text boxes count too.
• A font isn’t embedded, or a bold or italic is faux.
• Text is under 7 points, cut off, or hard to see against its background.
• The title or author name differs from what you entered on KDP.
• Template placeholder text is still in the file.
• Page numbers skip or put odd numbers on left-hand pages.
• The file has too many blank pages in a row.
• Images are blurry or under 300 DPI.
• The PDF has crop marks, comments, a password, or a PDF program’s logo.
• Layers aren’t flattened, or the file holds spreads instead of single pages.
• The file names a different binding, such as “spiral” or “leather bound.”
• The file says the book is part of a bundled set.

Can Proselis make your KDP paperback file?

Proselis can’t make it yet. Proselis is a browser app for writing and formatting books, and we make it. Writing in it is free. A one-time $20 pass per book lets you save that book as an EPUB, a common ebook file type. Proselis can’t export a print-ready PDF yet. That’s a file of your pages that a printer can use as it is.