Export a print PDF for KDP
The print PDF is the inside of your paperback, the file you upload to KDP or IngramSpark. Because you’ve been writing on the laid-out page, there’s nothing to format first. Check it, then export it.
Book title set
Author name set
No cover image
EPUB exports without a cover; KDP requires one at publish
No blurb
KDP asks for a book description
About 418 pages, inside KDP’s 24 to 828
No empty chapters
Table of contents page
KDP publishes in English (US)
Copyright page not reviewed
Still our default wording. Read it, because it publishes under your name.
3 of 12 chapters marked final
To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name.
He waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner.
* * *
“Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”
KDP preflight
1 blocking · 5 warnings
The things Amazon checks, checked before you upload: title, author, cover, blurb, page count, contents and more.
How to do it
- Run KDP preflight. Open the Toolkit and choose KDP preflight . Fix anything it flags, like a missing description or an empty chapter.
- Look at the print preview. In the Toolkit, choose Preview Book and switch to Print. Page through it, especially the chapter openings and the last page.
- Export the PDF. In the Toolkit, under Manuscript Exports, choose PDF . The file downloads, named after your book.
- Note the page count. The page count of the PDF is what your cover designer needs for the spine width.
What preflight checks
- The title, author name and description are filled in, and there’s a cover.
- The page count fits the trim size (a book can be too short or too long for a format).
- No chapter is empty, and there’s a table of contents.
- Every chapter is marked Final.
It doesn’t stop you exporting. It tells you what KDP is likely to reject so you can fix it first. For the question of whether the book itself is finished (open comments, a missing copyright page, quotes you haven’t cleared), run Delivery readiness from the same menu. Both are covered in publishing.
What’s in the file
- Pages at your trim size, with mirrored margins: 0.875″ on the inside, 0.625″ outside and 0.75″ at the top and bottom. That clears KDP’s minimum gutter for any page count it prints.
- Your typeface embedded, your chapter openings, scene breaks and running heads, and page numbers at the foot.
- Your front and back matter in order, with the contents page, copyright page, glossary and notes made for you.
- No bleed. A text novel doesn’t need it, so upload it to KDP with No bleed selected.
Uploading to KDP
In KDP, create the paperback, choose the same trim size you set in Galley, pick your paper and ink, and select No bleed. Upload the PDF as the manuscript. Then use KDP’s own previewer once before you publish, because it’s the last check before a printed proof.
For the spine and the full cover size, put the page count into the free spine width calculator. There’s more on the settings KDP checks in how to format a paperback for KDP.
Next
The ebook is a separate file: export the EPUB from the same menu, or Store-ready EPUBs for a version tuned to Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play and Nook. Every file is described in preview & export.