KDP says text is outside the margins

KDP's Print Previewer flags text that sits outside the margins, and it may scale a page down to make it fit. When the visible text is inside the margins, the cause is usually something you cannot see on the page.

First, rule out the visible causes

• The inside margin is below KDP's minimum for your page count. The minimum grows with the page count, and How KDP gutter margins work has the table.
• A background color or a picture reaches the edge of the page. For that case KDP suggests trying bleed first, and KDP bleed or no bleed gives the page size it needs.

Spaces count as text

KDP says so directly: “The spaces that extend outside the margins are considered text characters.” A run of spaces can reach past the margin although nothing is printed there.

Spaces typed to push words across the page are one source. Delete them, and use the paragraph's alignment or indent instead.

Empty text boxes and shapes

A text box or shape still counts when you can no longer see it. KDP asks you to delete “a blank text box or an art box that you forgot to remove” before you upload.

Italics at the margin

Some characters reach slightly past their own box. KDP's example is italic text whose characters “extend slightly outside of the text box and outside the margin”. Margins a little wider than the minimum avoid it.

Pages that scale differently

Print Previewer scales a page's content down when it does not fit the margins. If some pages come out smaller than others, KDP names the usual cause: invisible characters, spaces or text boxes on those pages.

Finding them in Word

The shortcuts are those of Word for Windows.

1. Turn on formatting marks with the ¶ button on the Home tab, or Ctrl+Shift+8. Spaces show as dots, so a line of dots past the text is easy to see.
2. Click on the flagged page and press Ctrl+A. Everything that can be selected is highlighted, including objects you cannot see.
3. Open the Selection Pane with Alt+F10, or from Home, then Select. It lists the shapes and text boxes in the document, hidden ones included. Delete the empty ones.
4. Select a stray passage and press Shift+F1 for Reveal Formatting, which shows formatting that overrides the paragraph's style. KDP's page gives Ctrl+F1, which in Word shows or hides the ribbon.
5. Export the PDF again, upload it, and look at the flagged pages in Print Previewer.

What Torcul does

Torcul reads the text and styles of a Word file, not its pages. It sets the text again, inside margins worked out from the page count, so the page layout of the Word file does not carry over.

The contents of text boxes are left out, and Torcul says how many when it reads the file, so you can move that text into the document. The free PDF checker reads page sizes and fonts, not where text sits, so it cannot catch these causes.

Sources

• KDP: Fix Paperback and Hardcover Formatting Issues
• KDP: Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins
• Microsoft: Keyboard shortcuts in Word
• Microsoft: Use the Selection pane to manage objects in documents