# How is KDP printing cost calculated?

Source: https://kdpbook.io/glossary/printing-cost · Updated 2026-10-15

**Printing cost**: What KDP charges to print each copy: a fixed fee plus a price per page (or a flat fee for short books), deducted from your royalty.

Checked against KDP Help on 2026-09-28.

Printing cost is what KDP charges to print each copy of a paperback or hardcover, taken out of your royalty. It's a fixed fee plus a per-page rate that depends on ink, paper, trim size and marketplace, with a flat fee for short books. On Amazon.com a black-and-white paperback on a regular trim costs $1.00 + $0.012 per page: $4.60 at 300 pages.

Also called: print cost, KDP printing fee.

## The numbers

Amazon.com printing cost:

| Binding and ink | Regular trim | Large trim |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Paperback, black and white (white or cream) | $2.30 flat for 24–108 pages, then $1.00 + $0.012 per page | $2.84 flat for 24–108 pages, then $1.00 + $0.017 per page |
| Paperback, black and white on groundwood | $2.23 flat for 24–108 pages, then $1.00 + $0.0114 per page | $2.75 flat for 24–108 pages, then $1.00 + $0.0162 per page |
| Paperback, standard color | $1.00 + $0.0255 per page | $1.00 + $0.0402 per page |
| Paperback, premium color | $3.60 flat for 24–40 pages, then $1.00 + $0.065 per page | $4.20 flat for 24–40 pages, then $1.00 + $0.08 per page |
| Hardcover, black and white | $6.80 flat for 75–108 pages, then $5.65 + $0.012 per page | $7.49 flat for 75–108 pages, then $5.65 + $0.017 per page |
| Hardcover, premium color | $5.65 + $0.065 per page | $5.65 + $0.08 per page |

Large trim: wider than 6.12 in or taller than 9 in. Flat-fee page ranges as applied by KDP's printing cost calculator.

## What changes the cost

- Ink: black and white is cheapest, then standard color, then premium color.
- Trim: large trims pay a higher rate per page and a higher flat fee.
- Page count: past the flat-fee range, every page adds the per-page rate. Odd counts are rounded up to even.
- Marketplace: KDP publishes rates for each of its 14 print marketplaces, in the local currency.
- Binding: a hardcover's fixed fee is $5.65 on Amazon.com, against $1.00 for a paperback.

## Where it shows up

The printing cost is subtracted from every print royalty, and it sets the minimum list price: the price at which your royalty covers it (see list price).

## The same book in other marketplaces

Each marketplace has its own table, so the same file costs different amounts to print. A 200-page, 6 × 9 in black-and-white paperback costs $3.40 on Amazon.com, £2.85 on Amazon.co.uk, €3.15 on the European stores and 4.46 CAD on Amazon.ca. Set each marketplace's list price with its own printing cost in mind.

## Example: a 120-page, 8.5 × 11 in workbook

On Amazon.com, the same 120-page, 8.5 × 11 in paperback (a large trim) costs $3.04 in black and white, $5.82 in standard color and $10.60 in premium color. For black and white that is $1.00 + 120 × $0.017.

## Common mistakes

- Forgetting that most picture book and workbook sizes are large trims.
- Comparing costs between marketplaces without converting currencies.
- Choosing premium color for a text-heavy book where standard color would do.
- Counting only the content pages: blank pages and front matter are printed and charged too.