2026-11-10 · all guides

How to Publish a Photo Book on Amazon KDP When It Was Made on a Photo Book Site

Why the book can't simply be moved over

Photo book sites are built to print on their own presses. The layout lives inside their editor, and what you ordered was a printed book, not a file.

Amazon KDP works the other way around. You give it two finished PDF files:

• The interior: every page of the book, at the exact page size, in order.
• The cover: one wide image with the back cover, spine and front cover joined.

So the job is a rebuild. The photos and the wording carry over. The layout is made again at a size KDP prints.

What you need to start

• The original photo files. Use the photos you uploaded to the site, taken from your phone, camera or computer. Screenshots of the finished pages are too low in quality to print well. KDP recommends images of at least 300 DPI at the size they will print.
• The text. Captions, stories and dedications, typed out or copied from the site's editor.
• A copy of the printed book or its preview. This is the guide to what goes on which page.

If someone started the conversion for you and had to stop, ask for their working files. A half-built layout in Word, Canva, Affinity or InDesign saves real time.

Pick a size KDP can print

This is the step that surprises people. Photo book sites sell large formats such as 10 x 10 and 12 x 12. KDP paperbacks have limits: the width must be between 4 and 8.5 inches and the height between 6 and 11.69 inches.

Sizes that suit photo books on KDP:

A square book stays square, only smaller. A wide landscape book loses the most, because 8.25 x 6 is the main landscape size on offer, so some pages may need a new arrangement.

Every one of these counts as a large trim size, which costs more to print than a standard novel size. The free paperback royalty calculator shows the print cost and what is left at your list price before you commit to a size.

Bleed: photos that touch the edge

If any photo runs to the edge of a page, the interior needs bleed. That means the image extends past the trim line so no white sliver shows after cutting.

KDP's rule is to add 0.125 inches to the page width and 0.25 inches to the height. An 8.5 x 8.5 book with bleed has pages of 8.625 x 8.75. Keep text and faces at least 0.375 inches inside the trim edge, and well clear of the inside edge where the pages are bound.

If you built the pages in Canva, its bleed setting adds the extra on all four sides, which KDP rejects. Our post on Canva and the insufficient bleed message has the correct page size and export settings.

Page count, color and paper

• At least 24 pages. That is KDP's paperback minimum. A short photo book may need a title page, a dedication and a closing page to reach it.
• Premium color for photos. It prints on heavier, brighter paper than standard color, and standard color is only available from 72 pages up.
• Paperback, usually. KDP hardcovers need 75 pages or more, which rules out most photo books.
• The ink type locks. After the book is published, KDP does not let you switch between black ink, standard color and premium color. Choose before you publish.

Color pages cost much more to print than black ink, and the cost rises with every page. Our comparison of premium color, standard color and black and white has the current numbers and worked examples.

The cover is a separate file

The cover PDF is one piece: back, spine, front. Its width depends on the page count, because the spine grows with every page. Settle the interior first, then size the cover. The spine width calculator gives the spine and the full cover dimensions.

KDP allows text on the spine only from 79 pages up. A thin photo book has a plain spine.

The order to work in

1. Gather the original photos and the text.
2. Choose the trim size and whether pages have bleed.
3. Rebuild the pages at that size and export one PDF with fonts embedded.
4. Build the cover to match the final page count.
5. Upload both files and go through every page in KDP's previewer.
6. Order a printed proof and check the photos on paper. Screens are brighter than print, so dark photos often need lightening.
7. Fix what the proof shows, then publish.

If the book is meant as a gift for a certain date, leave room for the proof to arrive and for one round of corrections. Printing and shipping are slower late in the year.

Publishing only for family

A KDP book is a public listing that anyone can buy. If you want copies for relatives and nothing more, you can order author copies at print cost once the book is published. Check that you have the right to publish every photo, and think about whether living people in them would want to appear in a book sold on Amazon.

If you would like the rebuild done for you from your photos and text, see manuscript formatting.

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