- Full cover
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- Spine width
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- Pixels at 300 dpi
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- Bleed
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- Safe area
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- Spine text
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Enter a page count to see your cover.
How a print cover is measured
A paperback cover is one flat image: back cover, spine and front cover side by side, with a strip of bleed round the outside that is trimmed off after printing.
Width = bleed + trim width + spine + trim width + bleed
Height = bleed + trim height + bleed
Spine = page count × paper thickness per page
On KDP the bleed is 0.125 in (3.2 mm) on every outside edge. A 6 x 9 in paperback with 250 pages on cream paper has a 0.625 in spine (250 × 0.0025), so the full cover is 0.125 + 6 + 0.625 + 6 + 0.125 = 12.875 x 9.25 in.
KDP spine width by page count
| Pages | Black & white, white paper0.002252 in a page | Black & white, cream paper0.0025 in a page | Premium color0.002347 in a page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0.225 in | 0.250 in | 0.235 in |
| 200 | 0.450 in | 0.500 in | 0.469 in |
| 300 | 0.676 in | 0.750 in | 0.704 in |
| 400 | 0.901 in | 1.000 in | 0.939 in |
| 500 | 1.126 in | 1.250 in | 1.174 in |
| 600 | 1.351 in | 1.500 in | 1.408 in |
Standard color uses the same thickness as black and white on white paper, from 72 pages.
Hardcover covers
A KDP hardcover is a case-laminate cover glued round two boards. Each board is the trim plus 5 mm wide and 6 mm tall, the spine adds 4.8 mm for the case, and the cover wraps 15 mm (0.591 in) round every outer edge. A 6 x 9 in hardcover with 200 white pages has a 0.639 in spine and a 14.214 x 10.417 in cover. A 10 mm hinge runs down each board beside the spine, where the cover bends: keep text off it.
Why our safe lines sit further in
KDP's minimum is 0.125 in of clear space inside the trim. Our templates mark 0.25 in on a paperback and 0.75 in on a hardcover, and allow spine text only on spines of 0.375 in or more. The cover size is exactly KDP's; the extra room just keeps titles and faces well clear of the cut, the fold and the boards, so the printed book looks the way you designed it.
Designing with the template
Pick your file
PDF for Canva, Illustrator, Affinity or InDesign. SVG for Inkscape or Figma. PNG to lay over artwork in Photoshop, GIMP or any image editor.
Design on the guides
Run background art into the pink bleed. Keep titles, names and faces inside the green safe lines, spine text inside its lane, and leave the barcode box clear.
Export without guides
Hide or delete the guide layers, then export one PDF at exactly the full cover size shown above, at 300 dpi.
In Canva
Create a custom design at the full cover size, upload the PDF template and place it on top. Every guide comes in as its own element. Keep Show print bleed off: the bleed is already in the size.
In Illustrator or Affinity
Open the PDF. The guides sit on their own layers, so you can lock them, design underneath and switch them off before export.
On KDP
Upload the finished cover as a single PDF at 300 dpi. If you leave the barcode box empty, KDP prints the barcode there for you.
LiberScript
Write it, format it and design the cover in one place
The calculator gives you a canvas. LiberScript gives you the whole book: a print interior and an EPUB from the same manuscript, and a cover that always fits the book you actually printed.
- Import your manuscriptDOCX, EPUB, PDF, Markdown or text, with chapters and front matter detected for you.
- Print interior at any trim sizeMargins, headers, page numbers and chapter openings set for print.
- Full-wrap cover designerFront, spine and back on one canvas, with the spine sized from your real page count.
- Every file, one clickPrint PDF, cover PDF, EPUB and DOCX, no watermark, as often as you like.
Rather hand it over? Our designers can make the cover for you.
Cover calculator questions
How do I work out the spine width for KDP?
Multiply your page count by KDP's paper thickness: 0.002252 in a page for black and white on white paper, 0.0025 on cream, 0.002347 for premium color and 0.002252 for standard color. A 300-page book on white paper has a 0.676 in spine.
What size should my KDP paperback cover be?
Width is 0.125 in bleed + back cover + spine + front cover + 0.125 in bleed, and height is the trim height plus 0.25 in. For a 6 x 9 in book with 300 white pages that is 12.926 x 9.25 in, or 3878 x 2775 pixels at 300 dpi.
Which page count should I enter?
The page count of your final, formatted interior PDF, including the title page, copyright page and any blank pages. A different font size, margin or trim size changes the page count, and the spine changes with it, so size the cover after the interior is done.
Can my book have text on the spine?
KDP allows spine text from 80 pages, but a spine that thin is barely 0.18 in wide and the fold can move up to 0.125 in. We mark a spine text lane only when the spine is 0.375 in or wider and the book has more than 80 pages, with the text kept 0.125 in from each fold.
How much safe area do I need?
KDP's minimum is 0.125 in inside the trim. Our templates mark 0.25 in on a paperback, measured from the trim and from both spine folds, and 0.75 in from the board edges on a hardcover, so nothing important sits near a cut or a fold. Background art should still run all the way to the outer edge of the bleed or wrap.
Where does the barcode go?
On the back cover, in the bottom corner next to the spine: a 2 x 1.2 in box 0.25 in from the spine and the bottom trim. Leave it empty and KDP adds the barcode, or place your own there.
How big is a KDP hardcover cover?
Width is 0.591 in wrap + board + spine + board + 0.591 in wrap, where each board is the trim plus 5 mm wide, and the spine is the page count times the paper thickness plus 4.8 mm. Height is the trim plus 6 mm plus the two wraps. KDP prints hardcovers from 75 to 550 pages at 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 6.14 x 9.21, 7 x 10 and 8.25 x 11 in.
What is "Other print-on-demand"?
Paperback and hardcover sizes taken live from a large print-on-demand printer, for books printed outside KDP. Every printer measures its own paper and board, so spines vary by a fraction of an inch between services: check the final size against your printer's own specifications before you upload.
Can I edit the template in Canva?
Yes. Upload the PDF to Canva and every guide line and label arrives as its own element you can move, lock or delete. You can also lay the transparent PNG over your design as a guide.
What size should an ebook cover be?
KDP recommends 1600 x 2560 pixels, a 1:1.6 ratio, as a JPG or TIFF in RGB. Choose Ebook as the binding to download a front cover template with the safe area marked.
Is the calculator really free?
Yes. No account, no email and no limit on templates.
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