Bleed decides how a page meets its edge. KDP asks you to choose it for the interior when you set up a paperback. A cover always has it.
What bleed is
KDP trims every page to the trim size by cutting 0.125″ from the top, the bottom and the outside edge. Anything meant to reach the edge, such as a photograph, a colored background or an illustration, has to be printed past that line. Otherwise a thin white border can appear after trimming.
The edge at the spine is not cut, so it takes no bleed.
Bleed or no bleed
| No bleed | Bleed | |
|---|---|---|
| For | Text, and pictures that sit inside the margins | Anything that runs to the edge of the page |
| Page size of the file | The trim size, for example 6 × 9″ | 0.125″ wider and 0.25″ taller, for example 6.125 × 9.25″ |
| Outside, top and bottom margins | At least 0.25″ | At least 0.375″ |
| Files KDP takes | PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTML or TXT | PDF only |
If even one page needs bleed, KDP asks for the whole file to be set up with bleed. A book of running text, with its pictures inside the margins, needs none.
Setting up a file with bleed
- Make the page 0.125″ wider and 0.25″ taller than the trim size. For 6 × 9 inches, that is 6.125 × 9.25.
- Extend every picture or background that reaches an edge 0.125″ past it.
- Keep text, and anything that must not be cut, at least 0.375″ from the top, bottom and outside edges.
- Export a PDF. KDP supports bleed only in print-ready PDFs.
- Choose bleed in the paperback's print options in KDP, so that the setting matches the file.
The setting and the file have to agree. A file at the plain trim size with bleed chosen carries no bleed, and a file with bleed and the setting left at no bleed is larger than the trim. The free PDF checker reads the page size of your file and says which of the two it matches, before you upload.
The cover always has bleed
“All book covers on KDP require bleed,” whatever you chose for the interior. A paperback cover is one PDF with 0.125″ of bleed on its outside edges. The spine calculator gives its full size for a page count.
What Torcul does
Torcul sets books of running text, and its pictures stay inside the text block. A book it makes therefore needs no bleed, and no bleed is the default. If you choose bleed, the page is made 0.125″ wider and 0.25″ taller, and nothing is moved into the bleed.
Sources
- Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins
- Paperback Submission Guidelines
- Fix Paperback and Hardcover Formatting Issues
- Create a Paperback Cover
None of this guarantees that KDP will accept a file. KDP changes its help pages, so check the date on this one and on any report a tool gives you.