KDP ebook cover requirements: size, format and what to avoid
A Kindle ebook needs a cover image that you upload separately from the manuscript; it is shown on your Amazon detail page. This guide collects KDP's specifications from two of its help pages, notes where they differ, and ends with KDP's own pre-publish checklist. Paperback and hardcover covers follow different rules (see the links at the end).
1. Size and shape
- Ideal size: 2,560 pixels high by 1,600 pixels wide. KDP adds: "For best quality, particularly on high definition devices, your image should be 2500 pixels in height."
- Shape: a height-to-width ratio of at least 1.6:1, meaning 1,600 pixels of height for every 1,000 pixels of width.
- Minimum: 1,000 pixels high and 625 pixels wide. Maximum: 10,000 pixels in height or width.
- Too small: covers under the 2,560 x 1,600 recommendation trigger a reminder at upload, and covers with fewer than 500 pixels on the shortest side are not displayed on the website. KDP says not to stretch a small image to meet the size, because that can lower quality; make a new image instead.
2. File format, color and file size
- Format: JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg) or TIFF (.tif/.tiff). KDP's publishing guidelines call JPEG the preferred format.
- Color: save in RGB. Kindle does not support CMYK, and KDP asks you to save without color separation.
- Compression: upload with minimal compression. KDP applies its own compression when it displays images on the website.
Where KDP's pages differ
| KDP cover FAQ (for the upload step) | Kindle Publishing Guidelines | |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | Lists 72 dpi, and also says: "For the best results, images should have a minimum resolution of 300 PPI (pixels per inch)." | 300 DPI/PPI minimum |
| File size | Must be less than 50 MB | 5 MB or less recommended |
A cover saved at 300 PPI and 5 MB or less fits the figures on both pages.
3. Light backgrounds
White or very light cover art can seem to disappear against Amazon's white page. KDP suggests a narrow border, 3 to 4 pixels wide, in medium gray.
4. What the cover must not include
- Content that infringes another publisher's or artist's copyright.
- Prices or temporary promotional offers.
- The spine, a bar code, the back cover or an (optional) inside flap.
Make sure the cover meets KDP's Content Guidelines and that you hold the rights to everything on it.
5. KDP's pre-publish checklist
- The cover shows the title and the author or contributor name.
- No typos, watermarks, or placeholder or template text.
- The text on the cover matches your detail page (for example, the same spelling of the author name and title).
- The cover language matches the book's language.
- All text is clear, not blurred, cut off or fading into the background.
6. The cover inside the book file
Separately from the uploaded cover, KDP's publishing guidelines say a Kindle ebook must also have an internal cover image inside the book content. If you build your own EPUB:
- Use a large, high-resolution image. KDP says its quality checks will fail the book if the internal cover is too small.
- Its title and author must match the detail page and the uploaded cover, with no pricing or promotional text.
- It should take up at least 50% of the space allotted to it.
- Don't add an HTML cover page as well as the cover image. KDP says the cover may then appear twice or the book may fail conversion.
7. If you don't design your own
KDP's free Cover Creator can design a cover for a Kindle ebook or paperback. It runs in Chrome 70+, Edge 79+, Firefox 63+ and Safari 14+. For other options, see our cover and promo graphics tools.
Related
- How to format an ebook manuscript for KDP
- KDP paperback setup: trim size, bleed, margins and spine
- KDP hardcover setup: trim sizes, page counts and cover wrap