KDP spine width calculator and paperback cover template
A KDP paperback's spine is its page count times the paper's thickness: 0.002252 in a page on white paper, 0.0025 in on cream. The cover is bleed, back, spine, front and bleed across, 0.125 in of bleed all round. So about 104 pages at 6 × 9 in on white paper make a 0.234 in spine and a 12.484 × 9.25 in cover.
KDP spine width and cover template calculator
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Spine width
0.234 in
5.95 mm, for 104 pages on black & white, white paper
- Full cover, bleed included
- 12.484 × 9.25 in
- At 300 DPI
- 3,745 × 2,775 px
- Spine text
- Allowed, in a band 0.109 in wide, up to 7 pt
- Barcode area
- 2 × 1.2 in, kept clear
Chapbook makes this cover for you: the front from your book’s cover, the description and your bio on the back, the spine sized from the interior it builds. It becomes the start of a brief; nothing runs until you choose Generate.
Checked against KDP’s paperback cover guide and its barcode rules on 30 October 2026.
KDP’s spine width per page
| Ink and paper | Per page | Prints from |
|---|---|---|
| Black & white, white paper | 0.002252 in (0.06 mm) | 24 pages |
| Black & white, cream paper | 0.0025 in (0.06 mm) | 24 pages |
| Standard colour, white paper | 0.002252 in (0.06 mm) | 72 pages |
| Premium colour, white paper | 0.002347 in (0.06 mm) | 24 pages |
- The cover is bleed, back, spine, front and bleed across, and bleed, trim and bleed down. The bleed is 0.125 in on every side.
- Keep text 0.125 in inside the trim and the folds, and set it at 7 pt or larger.
- Spine text only on books of more than 79 pages, with 0.063 in between it and each fold.
- Leave the barcode area clear: 2 × 1.2 in at the foot of the back cover, by the spine, 0.25 in from the spine and the trim. KDP prints its own barcode there.
How it works it out
The spine is the interior’s page count times the thickness of one page on the paper you will choose on KDP. KDP counts every page of the interior PDF, blank ones included, and rounds an odd count up, so a 101-page file prints as 102 pages. Standard colour prints from 72 pages; the other inks and papers from 24.
The full cover is one image across the back, the spine and the front, with bleed on every side. The template marks where the trim falls, where the cover folds round the spine, the area to keep text inside, and the barcode area at the foot of the back cover.
What it leaves out
The calculator covers the four trims Chapbook makes a paperback in. KDP offers more, and each trim, ink and paper has its own most pages. KDP’s own cover calculator gives the official template; check your file against it, and order a printed proof before you publish.
