For low-content KDP publishers
Will Amazon accept your KDP cover?
Check your paperback cover's size, spine, and bleed against Amazon's exact spec — before you upload and get that rejection email. Free, no login, no subscription.
Your book
Enter your specs
Verdict
This is the exact cover size Amazon needs.
Full cover size — with bleed
12.52" × 9.25"
3756 × 2775 px @ 300 DPI · spine 0.27"
- Page count. 120 pages is within KDP's printable range (24–828).
- Spine text. At 120 pages your spine is wide enough for text (KDP allows it at 79+ pages). Keep text 0.0625" off each spine edge.
- Color mode. Export the print cover in CMYK, not RGB (RGB is for eBooks). Convert spot colors to CMYK.
- Fonts. Embed all fonts in the PDF before uploading, or Amazon may reject the file.
Get this exact size as a ready-to-use template
A print-ready PDF guide layer at 6×9, 120pp — trim, bleed, spine and safe-zone lines already placed. Drop it into Canva, Photoshop or Affinity and design inside the lines. Free.
One-time email. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Built from KDP's own spec
Every number is verified against Amazon's live Cover Calculator.
The #1 rejection, caught
Wrong full-cover size — because the spine and bleed weren't counted.
Pay-once, not monthly
A free wedge from someone building one-time KDP tools, not another subscription.
The spec, in plain English
KDP cover sizing, answered
What size does a KDP paperback cover need to be?
Your full cover is wider than the book itself. KDP needs back cover + spine + front cover, plus 0.125" of bleed on every outside edge. Width = (2 × trim width) + spine + 0.25". Height = trim height + 0.25". The spine grows with your page count, so the exact size is different for every book.
Why does Amazon reject KDP covers?
Almost always the file is the wrong full-cover size because the spine or bleed wasn't included, so it's a few hundred pixels short. The other common rejections: resolution under 300 DPI, RGB color instead of CMYK, no bleed, or fonts that weren't embedded in the PDF. The checker above flags each of these before you upload.
How wide is the spine for my page count?
Spine width = page count × paper thickness. Black ink on white paper is 0.002252" per page, cream is 0.0025", and premium color is 0.002347". So a 120-page black-and-white book on white paper has a 0.27" spine. Fewer pages means a thinner spine and less room for spine text.
Can I put text on the spine of my book?
Only if your book has 79 pages or more. Below that, KDP prints the spine blank because it's too narrow to hold text cleanly. If you do have 79+ pages, keep spine text at least 0.0625" away from each fold so it doesn't wrap onto the front or back.
What is bleed and why does my cover need it?
Bleed is the 0.125" of extra artwork past the trim line on each outside edge. Printers can't cut perfectly to the millimeter, so your background art has to run into the bleed. If it doesn't, you risk thin white slivers along the edges of the printed book.
Is this really free, or is it a trial?
The check and the cover-size template are free, no account needed. We built it because we're making one-time, pay-once KDP tools, not another monthly subscription. Bring your own keyword research; this handles the part where Amazon rejects your file over a size you couldn't see.
Worked example: a 120-page 6×9 journal
- Spine = 120 × 0.002252" = 0.270"
- Width = (2 × 6") + 0.270" + 0.25" = 12.52"
- Height = 9" + 0.25" = 9.25"
- At 300 DPI = 3756 × 2775 px
Design a cover at 12" × 9" and Amazon rejects it — you're 156 px short on width because the spine and bleed weren't counted. That's the mistake this tool exists to catch.