KDP Coloring Book Trim Size, Bleed and Margins

What is the best trim size for a KDP coloring book?

For most coloring books, 8.5 × 11 inches. It is one of KDP’s largest paperback trims (only A4, 8.27 × 11.69 in, is taller), it gives colorists the most room, and it is the size most coloring books are made at. Smaller trims work for specific products: pocket books for travel, small gift books, or square books that pair with a picture book. KDP’s full list is on its Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins page.

ColorCraft coloring books can be created at 8.5 × 11, 8 × 10, 7 × 10, 6 × 9, 5.5 × 8.5, and 5 × 8 inches; the size is set when you create the book and drives both the interior and the cover.

Does trim size change the printing cost?

Yes. KDP prices printing by size class: a trim wider than 6.12" or taller than 9" counts as large. On Amazon.com a black-ink paperback of 24 to 110 pages costs a flat $2.84 to print on a large trim and $2.30 on a regular one, per KDP’s printing cost page. The difference is real but small next to the royalty jump at a $9.99 list price, covered in KDP coloring book royalties.

What is bleed, and does a coloring book need it?

Bleed is extra artwork beyond the trim line. KDP prints on larger sheets and cuts 0.125" off the top, bottom and outside edge of every page. If anything on your page should touch the edge, such as a full-page background, a frame or a pattern, it must extend into that strip or a thin white sliver can appear after cutting.

Plenty of coloring books have no bleed at all: a white border around each design is normal. Whichever you choose, the file and the KDP setting must agree. KDP checks the page size against the setting, and a mismatch is a common reason an upload is flagged.

ColorCraft exports interiors in the bleed format (trim plus 0.125" on the top, bottom and outer edge, none on the binding edge), so choose Bleed (PDF only) when you upload.

What margins does KDP require for a paperback interior?

KDP sets two kinds of minimum. Outside margins (top, bottom and the outer edge) must be at least 0.25" without bleed and 0.375" with bleed; on a bleed-size page the extra 0.125" is the strip that gets trimmed away. The inside margin, or gutter, is on the binding edge and depends on the total page count, because thicker books curve more into the spine. These figures come from KDP’s trim, bleed and margins and formatting issues pages.

Treat these as minimums and leave a little extra so nothing important sits right on the line. Coloring books benefit from generous space anyway: nobody enjoys coloring into the spine.

How do blank backs and page count affect the layout?

KDP counts every page in the PDF, blank ones included. Printing single-sided, with a blank back behind every design, doubles the count: 80 designs become 160 pages, which moves the book from the 0.375" gutter bracket into the 0.5" one, and the spine gets wider. Page 1 is always a right-hand page, so odd pages bind on the left and even pages on the right; the gutter flips sides from page to page. Page count has a ceiling too: on 8.5 × 11, KDP prints up to 590 pages on white paper and 550 on cream, so the two widest gutter brackets never apply to a letter-size book.

In ColorCraft the export works out the final page count, blank backs included, then sizes the gutter for it and places each picture inside the safe area for its side of the spread. If you change the page count afterwards, export the cover again too: see how to make a KDP paperback cover.

What trim, bleed and margin errors does KDP flag?

• Page size doesn’t match the trim: usually No Bleed chosen for a bleed-size file, or the reverse. Match the setting to the file.
• Content outside the margins: art too close to the edge or the gutter. Move or shrink it and export again.
• Interior uploaded as the cover: the error quotes a single page’s size as the “submitted file size”. Upload the cover wrap in the cover slot.
• Low resolution: KDP asks for images of at least 300 DPI; lower ones can print soft. Export at print resolution.

KDP’s Print Previewer shows dashed guides for its margins. Page through the whole book with Guides on before you approve. Every screen is covered in the KDP upload guide.

Steps: setting up a KDP coloring book interior

1. 1

   Choose the trim size

   Pick 8.5 x 11 in unless you have a reason not to, and use the same size for the interior, the cover and KDP’s Trim Size setting.

2. 2

   Decide on blank backs

   Decide whether each design prints on its own sheet, because single-sided printing doubles the page count.

3. 3

   Size the pages for bleed

   Make each page the trim width plus 0.125 in and the trim height plus 0.25 in if anything reaches the edge.

4. 4

   Keep art inside the margins

   Keep art at least 0.375 in from the outside edges of a bleed page and at least the gutter minimum for your page count from the binding edge.

5. 5

   Export at 300 DPI

   Export a PDF with images at 300 DPI and fonts embedded.

6. 6

   Match the settings on KDP

   On the Paperback Content page choose your trim size and Bleed (PDF only), then check every page against the dashed guides in the Print Previewer.

Frequently asked questions