A print cover on KDP isn’t a front image: it’s one flat sheet with the back cover, the spine and the front cover, sized to your book’s trim, paper and final page count. Here is how the size is worked out, with an example you can check.
Paperback cover size
Width = bleed + back + spine + front + bleed. Height = trim height + bleed top and bottom. The bleed is 0.125 in (3.2 mm) on each outside edge.
Example: a 5.5 × 8.5 in novel with 240 pages on cream paper has a 0.6 in spine, so its cover is 0.125 in + 5.5 + 0.6 + 5.5 + 0.125 in = 11.85 in wide and 8.75 in tall.
Spine width
The spine is the page count times the thickness of one page, which depends on the paper:
| Ink & paper | Per page |
|---|---|
| Premium color · white paper | 0.002347 in |
| Standard color · white paper | 0.002252 in |
| Black & white · white paper | 0.002252 in |
| Black & white · cream paper | 0.0025 in |
| Black & white · groundwood paper | 0.00235 in |
Spine text is only allowed from 79 pages, and must stay 0.0625 in away from each fold. Details and a calculator on the spine width page.
Hardcover cover size
A KDP hardcover is case laminate: the printed cover wraps around rigid boards. The file has no bleed; instead it has a 15 mm wrap on every edge that folds around the boards. Each board is 5 mm wider and 6 mm taller than the trim, the spine gets an extra 4.8 mm, and a 10 mm hinge on each side of the spine must stay free of text.
The same 5.5 × 8.5 in, 240-page book needs a 13.364 × 9.917 in hardcover cover, with a 0.789 in spine.
Safe areas and barcode
- Keep text and important art at least 0.125 in inside the trim (paperback) or 0.125 in inside the board edge (hardcover).
- Leave a 2 × 1.2 in white area in the lower right of the back cover: KDP prints the ISBN barcode there unless you add your own.
- Text on the cover must be at least 7 pt.
- The title and author on the cover must match the book details you enter in KDP exactly.
Resolution and file
Images at 300 DPI: the example paperback cover is 3,555 × 2,625 pixels. Export a single-page PDF with fonts embedded, and remove every template guide and crop mark first. The cover size calculator gives you a template with every zone marked on separate layers.
Kindle cover
The Kindle eBook cover is a separate front-only JPEG. KDP’s ideal size is 1,600 × 2,560 pixels (height 1.6 times the width), at least 625 × 1,000. Light covers need a thin grey border so they stand out on Amazon’s white pages.