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Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins

This page details how to format your book’s trim size and margins, depending on whether your book requires bleed, to ensure your book prints correctly. Without proper sizing, your manuscript may be rejected on upload, or you may see print quality issues with your printed book.

Contents:


A few key terms before you start:

  • Trim size. Your printed book's width and height. The most common trim size for books in the US is 6" x 9" (152.4 x 228.6 mm), but you have several other options. Books with a measurement more than 6.12 inches (155.5 mm) or more than 9 inches (228.6 mm) in height are considered large trim sizes.
  • Bleed. Bleed is a printing term that refers to when printed objects on a page, such as images, background color, or graphics, extend past where the publication will be trimmed. Setting your bleed properly ensures printed objects reach all the way to the edge of the page. Accounting for bleed is important, because it prevents a white border from appearing at the edge of the page when the book is trimmed.
  • Margins. Every page has three outside margins (top, bottom, and side) and one inside margin (also called the gutter). Margins ensure your text isn’t cut off during manufacturing. Set your trim size before you set your margins, since margin size depends on page count and on whether you have elements that bleed.


Trim Size




You can choose from a variety of trim sizes to set the size of your printed book. The most common trim size for paperbacks in the U.S. is 6 x 9 inches (152.4 x 228.6 mm) and is a regular trim size. The size of your book will determine its page count, and there are minimum and maximum page counts by size, which are listed in the Trim Size Specifications table below.

Books with a measurement more than 6.12 inches (155.5 mm) in width or more than 9 inches (228.6 mm) in height are considered large trim sizes and have different printing costs than regular trim sizes. Learn more about printing costs for paperback and hardcover books.

Note: To set your trim size, you typically need to adjust the page or paper size setting in your chosen software (for example, Microsoft Word).

You can download a Microsoft Word template in the trim size you need with or without sample content.

Trim size specifications (width x height) with minimum and maximum page counts(kdp.amazon.com)

Trim size specifications (width x height) with minimum and maximum page counts(kdp.amazon.co.jp)

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Bleed




Bleed is a printing term that refers to when printed items on a page, such as images or illustrations, reach all the way to the edge of the page. All book covers on KDP require bleed. However, you can choose whether your interior has bleed or not.

Note: Bleed is only supported for fixed-format files like print-ready PDFs.


Book interior during file setup:
No bleed (left) and with bleed (right)		 Book interior after final trim:
No bleed (left) and with bleed (right)
Book interior during file setup Book interior after final trim


When a book is printed, all pages are trimmed to the selected trim size by cutting 0.125” (3.2 mm) from the top, bottom, and outside edges. In order for objects on your page to reach all the way to the edge of the page, those objects must extend past where the page will be trimmed by 0.125” (3.2 mm). This means you need to increase your page size beyond where it will be trimmed.

Examples of page size with and without bleed(kdp.amazon.com)

Examples of page size with and without bleed (kdp.amazon.co.jp)


When to choose bleed for your interior


You should include bleed in your interior file if you have any images, backgrounds, or illustrations in your book that you want to reach the edge of the page.

Note: Even if just one page in your interior requires bleed, then your entire file should be set up with bleed.

Your paperback manuscript file must be sized correctly for bleed to prevent a white border from appearing at the edge of the page when the book is trimmed. To prevent the white border, increase your page size and ensure that the image extends beyond the trim line. This way, when the book is trimmed to size, the image will reach all the way to the edge. For help calculating your book dimensions, try our calculator. Alternatively, use the following formula to calculate your page width and height with bleed:

Inches

Centimeters

(Trim height) + (0.125" x 2 (bleed)) = Page height with bleed
(Trim width) +(0.125" (bleed)) = Page width with bleed

(Trim Height) + (3.2 mm x 2 (bleed)) = Page height with bleed
(Trim Width) + (3.2 mm (bleed)) = Page width with bleed

For example, if your trim size is 6 x 9 inches (15.24 x 22.86 cm), set the page size to 6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.54 x 23.46 cm).

Bleed manuscript layout for a 6 x 9 inch (15.24 x 22.86 cm) book:


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Margins




Margins protect your content from running off the page and being cut off during the manufacturing process. The top, bottom, and outside margins must be a minimum of 0.25 inches  for books without bleed and 0.375 inches (9.6mm) for books with bleed. The inside margin size depends on the page count because the higher the number of pages, the thicker the book will become, which means the inside margin must also increase to allow enough space for the spine.

Note: The inside margin is sometimes called the “gutter.” Some software programs will have separate fields for both the inside margin and the gutter. Make sure to input the same value for your inside margin and the gutter.

Minimum margin size by page count (with and without bleed):

Page count

Inside (gutter) margins

Outside margins (no bleed)

Outside margins (with bleed)

24 to 150 pages

0.375" in (9.6 mm)

at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm)

at least 0.375 in (9.6 mm)

151 to 300 pages

0.5 in (12.7 mm)

at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm)

at least 0.375 in (9.6 mm)

301 to 500 pages

0.625 in (15.9 mm)

at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm)

at least 0.375 in (9.6 mm)

501 to 700 pages

0.75 in (19.1 mm)

at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm)

at least 0.375 in (9.6 mm)

701 to 828 pages

0.875 in (22.3 mm)

at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm)

at least 0.375 in (9.6 mm)

Note: your top, bottom, and outside margins do not have to be the same. For example, you can set the top and bottom margin to 1 inch, and the outside margin to 0.375 inches as long as they all meet the required minimum.

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Formatting in Microsoft Word or Pages for Mac

See our step-by-step guides for formatting using Microsoft Word, or Pages for Mac.

Note: These guides may not be up to date for your current software version.


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