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Getting Started with Kindle Create

Use Kindle Create (PC or Mac) to turn your completed manuscript, of any trim size, into a beautiful book. You can make three types of books with Kindle Create: reflowable, interactive print replica, and comics with Guided View. Learn more about the book formats available in Kindle Create.



Download Kindle Create

(Windows 10 or later)
(macOS 10.15 or later)


Requirements and supported features

System requirements

  • RAM - 8 GB recommended, 4 GB minimum
  • Processor - 1.2 GHz minimum, 2 GHz recommended
  • Windows 10 or later 
  • Intel Mac OSX 10.15 or later
  • Apple M1 macOS 11 or later

Supported languages

  • Kindle Create user interface is available in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese.
  • The tool supports eBooks written in Dutch, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Malayalam, Marathi, Portuguese, Spanish, and Tamil. 
  • Print books are not available in Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, or Tamil.

Supported features

This chart summarizes what Kindle Create does well and what we're working on to make the tool even better. Learn more about book types and pre-release features.

Book typeSupportedUnsupportedPre-release (beta)
All
  • Built-in previewer that shows reading experience on tablets, phones, and E-readers
  • Publishing outside of Kindle
  • Cover formatting

Reflowable books
  • Four high-quality themes to customize your book's look and feel
  • Image features like bleed, chapter start, and full-page images
  • Automatic detection of chapters and simple table of contents creation
  • Insert, edit or delete hyperlinks
  • Typesetting for your book so it reads well on tablets, phones, or E-readers

  • Editing of tables, lists, footnotes, and certain paragraphs with complex formatting
  • Image captions
  • Reflowable books are unsupported in Japanese.
  • Insertion of images with bleed to eBooks based on a DOC(X) file
  • Preparation of a text-heavy eBook and paperback with the same manuscript file
Print Replica eBooks

  • Print Replica books are unsupported in Japanese.
Comic eBooks
  • Preparation of graphic books with Guided View panels from a PDF or multiple JPEG files
  • Automatic panel and mask color detection
  • Build a Table of Contents
  • Add, delete, reorganize, and replace pages
  • Set pages as facing pages so that readers can see them side by side when reading on landscape orientation on enabled devices



Install Kindle Create

Follow the step-by-step guide to install Kindle Create either on your Mac or PC.

Windows MacOS
  1. Click the Download Now button. A confirmation box appears. Click Save File.
  2. You will be prompted to save the installer to your Downloads folder, but you can change the location. Click Save.
  3. Open your Downloads folder (or the location you saved the installer to) and double-click the installer file. The installation wizard opens. Review the License Agreement and click I Agree.
  4. You will be prompted to install Kindle Create in a default location, but you can change the location. Click Install.
  5. You will receive a success message when installation is complete. The Run Kindle Create box is checked by default, but you can change this. Click Finish.
  1. Click the Download Now button. Download begins. Click the Show Downloads button.
  2. Double-click the installer file. The installation wizard opens. Click Continue.
  3. Review the License Agreement, click Continue, and then click Agree.
  4. You will be prompted to install Kindle Create in a default location, but you can change the location. Click Continue and then click Install.
  5. You will receive a success message when installation is complete. Click Close.

After installation, you can launch Kindle Create by selecting Windows key > Amazon > Kindle Create (Windows) or Launchpad > Kindle Create (Mac).



Get started with the Kindle Create tutorial

Test out Kindle Create on a sample file. See what you can do with the tool and how to use it to prepare your own eBooks. Go to the tutorial.



Choose your book type

This chart describes the book formats available in Kindle Create. Only one format can be used for each Kindle book.

If your book is Use this type of source file To build this type of eBook Detailed instructions here
Text-heavy book, such as a novel, essay, or memoir
DOC or DOCX Your DOC(x) file is converted into a "reflowable" eBook. Reflowable eBooks allow the reader to resize text and are available on all Kindle devices and free Kindle reading applications. You can also submit it as a print book and select the trim size on KDP.

You can use Kindle Create to:
  • Format your text with styles and themes
  • Build a table of contents
  • Add or edit text
  • Add, delete, resize, and/or align images
  • Edit your eBook at a later date
  • Preview your eBook and create a file to publish to KDP
  • Publish on KDP as a print book of any trim size (print preview with headers and page numbering is available after uploading on KDP)
Prepare Reflowable Books with Kindle Create
Book with lots of images and complex formatting, such as a textbook, travel book, or cookbook
PDF Your PDF is converted into a Print Replica eBook. Print Replica eBooks maintain the look of their print editions and offer many of the advantages of standard Kindle eBooks, but they do not allow the reader to resize text and are only
Fire Tablets
  • Kindle Fire HDX 8.9''
  • Kindle Fire HDX
  • Kindle Fire HD(2nd Generation)
  • Fire HDX 8.9 Tablet
  • Fire HD 7 Tablet
  • Fire HD 6 Tablet
  • Kindle Fire HD 8.9"
  • Kindle Fire HD(1st Generation)
  • Kindle Fire(2nd Generation)
  • Kindle Fire(1st Generation)
  • Fire HD 10
  • Fire HD 8
  • Fire
Free Kindle Reading Apps
  • Kindle for Android Phones
  • Kindle for Android Tablets
  • Kindle for iPhone
  • Kindle for iPod Touch
  • Kindle for iPad
  • Kindle for Mac
  • Kindle for PC
available on certain devices.

You can use Kindle Create to:
  • Build a table of contents
  • Add interactive content, such as audio, video, images, and hyperlinks
  • Edit your eBook at a later date
  • Preview your eBook and create a file to publish to KDP
Prepare Print Replica Books with Kindle Create
Comic or graphic novel of low complexity
PDF Your PDF is converted into a comic eBook. Comic eBooks include Guided View, which animates panel-to-panel movement with each swipe to give a clear indication of how the story progresses across each page.

You can use Kindle Create to:
  • Add Guided View panels
  • Build a Table of Contents
  • Add, delete, reorganize and replace pages
  • Set pages as facing pages so they appear side-by-side when reading in landscape orientation on enabled devices
  • Edit your eBook at a later date
  • Preview your eBook and create a file to publish to KDP
Prepare Comic eBooks with Kindle Create


Having trouble importing a file?

 If you have issues with Kindle Create, ensure that the software's lasts updated date is less than 3 months from the present date.


To verify your version of Kindle Create:

  1. In Kindle Create, navigate to Help
  2. Select About Kindle Create and check the Last Updated date 

You can update it to the latest version by downloading Kindle Create

If you've verified your Kindle Create software is up to date and you continue to see error messages that stop you before you start editing, use the troubleshooting tips below.

Error message Troubleshooting steps
Invalid source fileIf you have a different version of the file that you can open, try importing that version. If you can open the file but Kindle Create cannot, please contact us.
File name If your file name has more than 250 characters in the name field it'll produce import error. To resolve this issue, rename the file, and save the file in a new location, namely desktop. Then attempt to import file on Kindle Create again.
Password-protected fileMake sure the file doesn't require a password to open it. In the editing software (e.g., Microsoft Word) you used to open the file, remove the password requirement from the file.
Empty fileThe file you're trying to upload doesn't appear to have any content in it. Make sure you're uploading the complete version of your manuscript that's ready to prepare for publishing.
Corrupt fileSomething happened to the file that makes it impossible for Kindle Create (and maybe other programs) to open it.

Here is what we recommend so you can import your file:
  1. Open your file in Microsoft Word.
  2. Click the File tab.
  3. Click Save As.
  4. Choose a file location.
  5. In the File name box, enter a new name for the file.
  6. In the Save as type list, click the file format and Word 97-2003 (*.doc).
  7. Save your file import it into Kindle Create.
If you still see an error message after following the troubleshooting above, please contact us.
Unsupported file formatThe file you're attempting to open is not in a format Kindle Create supports. If you open your file in Microsoft Word and Adobe software, among others, you can save it in one of the formats that Kindle Create supports: DOC, DOCX, PDF.
Generic errorRefer to the information below for troubleshooting generic error messages.
When importing the file, Kindle Create had an error it couldn't solve. Try importing the file one more time or saving a different version and importing it again. If that doesn't work, contact us.You might be importing your file from an external source such as a pen drive, an external hard disk, or a cloud drive.

Here is what we recommend so you can import your file:
  1. Download the file to your desktop.
  2. If needed, rename the file so you can easily locate it.
  3. Import the file from your desktop to Kindle Create.
If you still see an error message after following the troubleshooting above, please contact us.
When importing the file, Kindle Create had an error it couldn't solve. Try importing the file one more time or saving a different version and importing it again. If that doesn't work, contact us.If you file contains special characters on the name you will receive this message. To resolve this issue please rename the file without special characters.

Special characters can be quotes, exclamation marks, pound symbols, percent symbols, asterisk, parenthesis, brackets, questions marks, and more.
When importing the file, Kindle Create had an error it couldn't solve. Try importing the file one more time or saving a different version and importing it again. If that doesn't work, contact us.You might be using styles. Styles in Microsoft Word are the ones used as "Heading 1,” "Heading 2,” "Heading 3," instead of "Normal."

Here is what we recommend so you can import your file:
  1. On your file, go to the page where you applied the styles. From the Home tab, under Styles, select Normal.
  2. Then go to the Insert tab, and under the Text section, select Drop Cap.
  3. From the dropdown menu, select Drop Cap Options.
  4. Click Dropped, choose your font, lines to drop, and the distance from the text.
  5. Click Ok.
  6. Save your file and try again to import it into Kindle Create.
If you still see an error message after following the troubleshooting above, please contact us.
When importing the file, Kindle Create had an error it couldn't solve. Try importing the file one more time or saving a different version and importing it again. If that doesn't work, contact us. Your file might have a table embedded on it. Tables, lists, and footnotes cannot be edited in Kindle Create.

Here is what we recommend so you can import your file:
  1. Open your file in Microsoft Word.
  2. Press F5 on your keyboard. A dialog box will open, from the Go to tab select Table. Click Previous or Next, appropriately.
  3. If you see a symbol with four arrows, this means that a table is on your document.
  4. Now, you need to replace the table with a text box. So first, right click on the four arrow symbol and click on Delete Table. Then go to the Insert tab and click on Text box.
  5. Save your file and import it into Kindle Create.
If you still see an error message after following the troubleshooting above, please contact us.

If you try to download the tool and your computer flags it as harmful, check your anti-virus software or firewall settings. You may need to add kdp.amazon.com to your list of trusted sites. Or, if your web browser displays a security warning, set it to allow downloads from kdp.amazon.com. Make sure your anti-virus and spyware software are up to date.

Note: All KDP tools and software downloads go through a review process that includes virus and spyware scanning. If your download is flagged as harmful, you may need to contact your anti-virus software publisher to report the issue. In this case, we would also appreciate more information about where you saw this message so we can investigate. Contact us and tell us the operating system and anti-virus software you're using.

Available formats to export files

Kindle Create allows you to export your manuscript in two formats: Kindle Package Format (KPF) and EPUB. KPF is the preferred format for Kindle eBook and print books. EPUB export is available for only reflowable books.

Both KPF and EPUB formats support most book formatting features such as table of contents, book themes, etc. However, EPUB format doesn’t support all interactive features available in Kindle, like image bleeds, drop caps, and chapter start imagery. See below the differences between these features with each of these formats:


Image Bleeds Drop Caps Chapter start imagery
Image doesn’t extend to the edge of the viewable window.Drop cap height over 3 lines doesn't render correctly.Image placement at the beginning of each chapter is not available.
We recommend KPF files to publish eBooks through KDP as it offers the best reading experience on Kindle apps and devices, supporting all Kindle formatting features.


Having trouble exporting a file?

When you export a file from Kindle Create, you may see error messages that will not allow you to save your file. Use the troubleshooting tips below.
  1. Create a new folder on your desktop, you can name this folder "Book" for example.
  2. Open the KCB file in Kindle Create, and from the File tab click on Save Project As and save the book with a different file name, for example "Booktest" into the folder created in step 1.
  3. Now click the Export button and again change the file name to “Booktest" and save it into the folder created in step 1.


Pre-release features (beta)

With Early Access, you can choose to try pre-release (beta) features and provide feedback. Our current pre-release features are:

  • Preparing eBooks in Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, or Gujarati)
To try pre-release features, select Help > Settings > Early Access (Windows) or Kindle Create > Preferences > Early Access (Mac) and then check the Enable Beta Features box. Kindle Create restarts to complete the process.

To contact us about your experience with this beta, select Help > Provide Feedback.



Update books prepared with Kindle Create

Amazon does not keep copies of your Kindle Create file. Please note, when you save your project, Kindle Create stores a work file (in KCB format) and other resources in the folder you choose. We recommend saving and backing up this folder (including the KCB file), which you need to update to your book.

To update your book, open Kindle Create and click Open an Existing File and choose the relevant KCB file. You can also select the file from the Recents column or from File > Open Recent.

When you click Export, Kindle Create produces a publishable KPF file to submit to KDP. The KPF file is only used for publishing. The KCB file is used for updates. Kindle Create also allows you to export your reflowable files in EPUB format, but we recommend using KPF submit your files to KDP.


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