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A print-ready checklist before you upload

The checks worth running on an interior and a cover before they go to KDP, in the order that catches the expensive mistakes first.

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Why order matters

Most print rejections are not exotic. They are a handful of issues — margins, fonts, page size, spine and cover dimensions — and several of them depend on each other. Checking in the right order means a fix to one does not undo another.

1. Settle the specification

Trim size, binding, paper and page count drive everything else. Change any of them and the margins, spine and cover all change. Settle these before finishing either file.

  • Trim size is one that KDP offers for your binding.
  • Page count is at least 24 for a paperback or 75 for a hardcover, and below 800.
  • Paper is chosen, because it sets the spine width.
  • You know whether the interior needs bleed.

2. Check the interior

Export the interior PDF, then confirm:

  • Every page is the same size: the trim, or trim plus bleed.
  • Outside, top and bottom margins are at least 0.25" (or 0.375" with bleed), and the gutter meets the minimum for your page count, on mirrored pages.
  • All fonts are embedded.
  • The PDF has no password or permission restrictions.
  • Images are at print resolution and transparency is flattened.

3. Build and check the cover

Only once the interior is final:

  • The full cover size was calculated from the interior's final page count and paper.
  • Background artwork reaches the 0.125" bleed on every outer edge.
  • Text and logos are at least 0.375" inside the trim and the spine folds.
  • Spine text is used only if the book has at least 79 pages, and it fits between the folds.
  • Nothing that must be read sits in the barcode area.
  • Artwork is at least the target resolution at printed size.

4. Run pre-flight, then order a proof

Put both files through the pre-flight checker and read every warning as well as every error; a warning is a property the checker could measure but that may be intentional. Where a property could not be read from the file, it is reported as unknown — check that one by hand.

After upload, use KDP's own previewer, and order a printed proof for anything you care about. No software check replaces holding the book.

What to do

  1. Fix the trim size, paper and binding first; every other figure depends on them.
  2. Confirm the page count is in range for the binding and is the count of the file you will upload.
  3. Export the interior with fonts embedded, no password, and one page size throughout.
  4. Build the cover from the final page count, then check spine, safety area and barcode zone.
  5. Run both files through pre-flight and read every warning, not just the errors.

Run pre-flight on your files — the tool in this app that settles it.

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