---
title: "Book cover template generator for paperbacks"
description: "Trim size, page count and paper stock in. A print-ready PDF wrap out, with the spine folds, the bleed, the safe area and the barcode zone drawn on it."
source: https://usegalley.com/resources/book-cover-template-generator
---
[Home](https://usegalley.com/) [Resources](https://usegalley.com/resources) Cover template generator

# Book cover template generator

Page count, trim size and paper stock in. A PDF at the exact wrap size out, with the spine folds, the bleed line, the safe area and the barcode zone already on it. Open it in whatever you design in and draw over the top.

Trim size

Page count Off the final interior PDF, not the manuscript.

Paper Most novels print black on cream.

Barcode zone All three are normal. It has to be empty.

Full wrap, with bleed

13.05 in × 9.25 in 331.5 mm × 234.9 mm

One page, at the exact wrap size, with the guides drawn on it and nothing
else. Your artwork goes on top of it in your own design app.
**KDP takes a PDF and only a PDF for a print cover**, so the
PDF is the one to work towards. The PNG is for drawing over in Photoshop,
Canva or Procreate.

This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and
there is no account to make.

## How the wrap is measured

**Wrap width = trim width × 2 + spine + 0.25 inches.** Wrap
height is the trim height plus the same quarter inch. That quarter inch is
an eighth of bleed on each outside edge. There is no bleed at the folds,
because nothing is cut there.

**Spine width = page count × paper thickness.** Cream is 0.0025
inches a page, white and standard colour are 0.002252, premium colour is
0.002347. Those are Amazon's own figures. The trim size is not in that sum,
so a wider book has the same spine at the same page count. Trim changes the
spine only by changing the page count first, which
[the page count estimator](https://usegalley.com/resources/word-count-to-page-count)
works out, and there is more on the sum alone on
[the spine width calculator](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-spine-width-calculator).

**The safe area is a quarter inch in from the trim.** Text and
anything you cannot afford to lose goes inside it, on each panel
separately. The blue dashed rectangles on the template are those. Between
the safe area and the page edge is three eighths of an inch of material
that may or may not survive the cut.

**The barcode zone is 2 by 1.2 inches and it is a hole rather than a
picture.** Amazon prints the barcode on the copies it sells, so the
requirement is an empty area and not a supplied symbol. Three positions are
offered because all three are in print: bottom right against the spine,
which is the commonest, bottom centre, and bottom left against the fore
edge. Hold a few paperbacks and you will find all of them. If you are
printing elsewhere and need the symbol itself,
[the barcode generator](https://usegalley.com/resources/isbn-barcode-generator)
draws a scannable EAN-13 from your ISBN.

**What you get, and which file to use.** One page at the exact
wrap size, with the trim line in red, the safe areas in blue, the spine
folds in black, the barcode zone dotted, and the numbers printed along the
bottom edge inside the bleed so they get cut off. It is a guide to draw
over. There is no artwork in it and no way to put artwork into it here,
because placing images, setting type and getting a print cover into shape is
a design job and this is a ruler.

**KDP takes a PDF and only a PDF for a print cover.** The JPEG
you may have read about is the ebook cover, which is a different file at a
different size. So work towards the PDF. The 300 dpi PNG is the same
template rasterised, for anyone who would rather drop a layer into
Photoshop, Canva or Procreate than open a vector file. Both come out of the
same drawing, so they cannot disagree with each other.

**Hardcover is not here.** Amazon publishes the wrap, the hinge
and the safe area for a case laminate cover, but not how far the board
overhangs the book block, so the finished canvas comes out of their own
tool. Guessing it would put your spine text in the hinge.
[The spine width calculator](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-spine-width-calculator)
gives you the hardcover allowances that are published.

**Nothing is stored.** The PDF is written in this tab. There is
no server behind the page, no account, and nothing kept between visits.

Galley lays out the interior that decides your page count, and
[book design](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design) covers the trim, the type size
and the margins that move it.

**For working things out, not for signing anything.** Printers
and retailers set their own rates and specifications, change them without
notice, and none of them is affiliated with me or with Galley.
I checked these figures by hand in September 2026
against [KDP's paperback cover specification](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201953020) and [its paper and page count limits](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201834180).
Confirm on the official page before you commit money to a price, a
print run or a contract.

## Questions

What size does a paperback cover need to be? Twice the trim width, plus the spine, plus a quarter inch for bleed. A 6 by 9 inch book of 320 pages on cream paper comes to 13.05 by 9.25 inches. The spine is the only part that moves, and it moves with the page count.

What is bleed, and why is it an eighth of an inch? Bleed is the artwork that runs past the trim line so a cut a hair off centre still lands on your design instead of on white paper. KDP wants 0.125 inches on all four outside edges of the wrap. There is no bleed at the spine folds, because nothing is cut there.

Where does the barcode go? On the back cover, in an area 2 by 1.2 inches with nothing in it. Bottom right is the commonest, next to the spine, and bottom centre and bottom left are both normal too. Amazon prints the barcode itself on the copies it sells, so what it checks is that the space is clear. The template marks the area and you pick which of the three it sits in.

Can I use this for a hardcover? No. Amazon does not publish the board overhang a case laminate cover needs, so the finished canvas comes out of their own template tool rather than out of a sum. The spine width and the published allowances are on the spine width calculator.

Does this work for IngramSpark? The layout does, but the numbers do not. Ingram prints on its own paper at its own thicknesses, so a spine worked out from Amazon paper will be wrong there. Use Ingram’s generator for an Ingram cover.

What do I open the PDF in? Anything that reads a PDF. Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Illustrator, Affinity Designer, InDesign, GIMP and Inkscape all place it as a layer or a template you draw over. The page is the exact wrap size, so nothing needs scaling.

## Next

[Spine width calculatorThe sum on its own, with hardcover allowances.](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-spine-width-calculator) [Trim size comparisonEvery common trim drawn at true scale.](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-trim-size-comparison) [ISBN barcode generatorThe symbol itself, if you are printing outside Amazon.](https://usegalley.com/resources/isbn-barcode-generator) [KDP royalty calculatorWhat the page count does to your printing cost.](https://usegalley.com/resources/kdp-royalty-calculator)

More at [the resources index](https://usegalley.com/resources).

Put all this into practice when you write your novel in Galley.

[Launch Galley](https://app.usegalley.com)