MyClawn Book Formatting › KDP cover size
KDP cover size: spine width and full-wrap dimensions for your page count
A paperback cover is one wide picture: back cover, spine and front cover, plus a margin that is cut off. Its size depends on your trim size, your page count and your paper. Here is the calculation, with KDP's own numbers.
Calculate your cover
KDP prints paperbacks from 24 pages.
- Spine width
- Full cover width
- Full cover height
KDP prints text on the spine from 79 pages.
Every formatted book from us comes with this template drawn to size.
The formula
Spine width = page count x paper thickness. KDP gives the thickness per page: 0.002252 in for white paper, 0.0025 in for cream paper and 0.002347 in for premium colour.
Full cover width = 0.125 in bleed + back cover (trim width) + spine + front cover (trim width) + 0.125 in bleed.
Full cover height = 0.125 in bleed + trim height + 0.125 in bleed.
For pixels, multiply inches by 300.
Spine width by page count
| Pages | White paper | Cream paper |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0.225 in | 0.250 in |
| 150 | 0.338 in | 0.375 in |
| 200 | 0.450 in | 0.500 in |
| 250 | 0.563 in | 0.625 in |
| 300 | 0.676 in | 0.750 in |
| 350 | 0.788 in | 0.875 in |
| 400 | 0.901 in | 1.000 in |
| 500 | 1.126 in | 1.250 in |
| 600 | 1.351 in | 1.500 in |
Upload your Word file and look at your own first chapter, typeset for print, before you pay anything. One book $39 per book · Three books $99 for three books. Refund within 14 days if it misses.
Show me my bookA worked example
A 6 x 9 in novel with 320 pages on cream paper:
- Spine: 320 x 0.0025 = 0.8 in
- Width: 0.125 + 6 + 0.8 + 6 + 0.125 = 13.05 in, which is 3,915 pixels at 300 DPI
- Height: 0.125 + 9 + 0.125 = 9.25 in, which is 2,775 pixels
Keep titles and other important things at least 0.125 in inside the trim lines, and leave the lower right of the back cover free for the barcode KDP prints there.
Why the page count comes first
The spine cannot be drawn before the interior is finished, because one more or fewer page changes its width. Changing the trim size or the font changes the page count, and with it the cover. That is why a cover template belongs to the formatted interior: when we format your book, the template is drawn for the final page count on white and on cream paper, with spine, bleed, safe zones and barcode area marked.
Upload your manuscript to see how many pages your book has at each trim size. The preview is free.
Questions
Does my page count have to be even?
KDP rounds the count up to an even number if needed. Use the count KDP shows after you upload the interior.
White or cream paper?
Cream is usual for novels and memoir, white for non-fiction with pictures or tables. Cream is slightly thicker, so the spine is wider.
Can I put the title on the spine?
From 79 pages, says KDP. Below that the spine is too narrow.
Upload your Word file and look at your own first chapter, typeset for print, before you pay anything. One book $39 per book · Three books $99 for three books. Refund within 14 days if it misses.
Show me my bookMore about Book Formatting
Sources (checked 2026-11-12): kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201953020 · kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201857950