---
title: "Export a print PDF for KDP"
description: "Check the book with KDP preflight, look at the print preview, then export the print-ready interior PDF with mirrored margins and a gutter, sized to your trim."
source: https://usegalley.com/docs/export-a-print-pdf
---
# 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.

*The Galley KDP preflight check listing publishing requirements as passed, flagged for review, or needing a fix.*

KDP preflight on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: each requirement ticked, or flagged with what to fix.

## How to do it

1. **Run KDP preflight.** Open the **Toolkit** and choose
**KDP preflight**. Fix anything it flags, like a missing description or an empty
chapter.
2. **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.
3. **Export the PDF.** In the Toolkit, under Manuscript Exports, choose
**PDF**. The file downloads, named after your book.
4. **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](https://usegalley.com/docs/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](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-spine-width-calculator). There’s more on the settings KDP checks in
[how to format a paperback for KDP](https://usegalley.com/blog/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](https://usegalley.com/docs/preview-and-export).

[PreviousPreview & export](https://usegalley.com/docs/preview-and-export) [NextSend copies to beta readers](https://usegalley.com/docs/share-a-copy)

## Go on, write a page in it.

Opens straight into a book. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.

[Open the demo](https://demo.usegalley.com) [See what €199 gets you](https://usegalley.com/buy?from=site)