How to Ensure Your Illustrations Print Perfectly on Amazon

Publishing a beautifully illustrated children’s book or picture book on Amazon KDP requires more than good artwork. To ensure your illustrations print crisp, vibrant, and professional, you must follow Amazon’s exact technical requirements for print files.

Even a small formatting mistake—like low resolution or incorrect bleed—can cause blurry images, dull colors, or even rejection of your interior file.

This guide walks you through the essential steps to prepare your illustrations properly so they print flawlessly on Amazon.

1. Use High-Resolution Images (300 DPI Minimum)

Amazon KDP requires 300 DPI for all print images. Anything lower—like 72 DPI or 150 DPI—will look blurry or pixelated.

✔ Best Practices:

• Create illustrations at 300 DPI from the beginning, not scaled later

• For an 8.5" x 8.5" book with bleed, create pages at 8.75" x 8.75" at 300 DPI

• Never enlarge a small image to fit a big page (causes blur)

• Avoid screenshots or compressed JPEGs

Recommended file formats before placing in your layout:

• PNG

• TIFF

• High-quality JPEG (minimum 10 quality)

2. Work in CMYK or Convert Final Files Correctly

Amazon prints in CMYK, not RGB.
If your images remain in RGB, colors may shift—especially reds, greens, and neon tones.

✔ The correct workflow:

1. Illustrate in RGB (better for drawing tools like Procreate, Photoshop)

2. Convert to CMYK during final export

3. Export your print-ready PDF as PDF/X-1a:2001 or PDF Print (CMYK)

✔ Important:

Amazon automatically converts RGB to CMYK if you upload RGB—but automatic conversion may dull your colors.
Manual conversion gives you more control over the final look.

3. Set Up Bleed Correctly (Very Important)

If your illustrations go to the edge of the page, you MUST set up bleed.

KDP Bleed Requirement:

• Add 0.125" (3.2 mm) on all sides

Example:

For an 8.5" x 11" book:

• Final file size = 8.625" x 11.25"

Without bleed, Amazon may reject the file or leave a thin white border on the edges.

4. Keep Important Content in the Safe Margin

The “safe zone” ensures that nothing important gets cut off during trimming.
KDP recommends keeping all essential elements:

• 0.25" (6.4 mm) inside the trim line

• 0.375" (9.6 mm) inside the gutter (binding side)

Keep these OUT of the edge:

• Faces

• Text bubbles

• Titles

• Key visual details

5. Avoid Thin Borders

Borders often print unevenly because trimming varies slightly (known as mechanical tolerance).

Avoid:

• Thin frames around illustrations

• Full-page borders less than 0.25" thick

• Perfect circles or shapes too close to the edge

If a border must be used:

• Make it thick (at least 0.25")

• Keep it well inside the safe zone

6. Embed All Fonts if You Use Text

If your illustrations include text:

• Always embed fonts during PDF export

• Use system-safe fonts to avoid substitution

• Convert text to curves/outlines if using Procreate or Illustrator

Unembedded fonts are one of the main reasons KDP rejects PDFs.

7. Avoid Overly Dark Blacks (KDP Black Point)

Pure black (RGB 0,0,0 or CMYK 0,0,0,100) can print too heavy.

Use:

• CMYK 60/40/40/100 for rich black (for large dark areas)

• CMYK 0/0/0/100 for simple line text

This keeps details clean and prevents ink bleeding.

8. Export a Print-Ready PDF With Correct Settings

These are the optimal KDP PDF settings:

Interior PDF Settings

• PDF/X-1a:2001 or High-Quality Print

• CMYK color

• 300 DPI images

• All fonts embedded

• Bleed included (if needed)

Cover PDF Settings

• CMYK

• Correct spine size (based on page count + paper type)

• 300 DPI

• No text or important elements in the barcode area (2” x 1.2”)

9. Double-Check the Final PDF in KDP Previewer

Even if everything looks correct on your screen, Amazon’s previewer is the final authority.

Look for:

• White edges

• Cropped images

• Text too close to trim

• Page order mistakes

• Gutter issues

• Color shifts

If the Previewer gives an error, fix the interior before publishing.

10. Use the Correct Color Profiles (Optional but Ideal)

For the most accurate print results:

• Convert to U.S. Web Coated SWOP v2

• Use this profile when exporting from Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop

This is the closest match to KDP’s real printing output.

Conclusion

Ensuring your illustrations print perfectly on Amazon requires careful attention to DPI, bleed, color mode, margins, and export settings. When everything is set up correctly, your book will print crisp, vibrant, and professional—just as you envisioned.

If you want your book formatted exactly to KDP’s standards, Whimsy Studios offers:

• Print-ready interiors

• CMYK-optimized illustrations

• Perfectly sized bleed files

• KDP + IngramSpark compliant covers

• Smooth, error-free publishing

Visit WhimsyStudios.net to get your illustrations ready for perfect printing on Amazon.