Kindle eBook Cover Size Calculator

Enter your cover image's pixel size to check it against KDP's ebook cover rules, or pick a paperback trim to see how to crop its front cover to the 1.6:1 Kindle shape.

KDP's ebook cover rules

Ideal: 2,560 px tall × 1,600 px wide.
Minimum: 1,000 × 625 px. Maximum: 10,000 px on either side.
Ratio: at least 1.6:1 height to width.
JPEG or TIFF, RGB colour, under 50 MB, saved with minimal compression.

ratio = height ÷ width
crop width = height ÷ 1.6 (rounded down)
extended height = width × 1.6 (rounded up)

Worked example: a 6" x 9" paperback

At 300 DPI the front panel of a 6" x 9" paperback is 1800 × 2700 pixels, a ratio of 1.50:1. Keeping the full height, the Kindle cover is 2700 ÷ 1.6 = 1687 pixels wide, so 113 pixels come off the width, about 57 from each side. That is roughly 0.19" per side at print size, so keep the author name and title clear of the outer edges when designing the paperback, and the same artwork works for both editions.

Worked example: an 8.5" x 11" workbook

A letter-size front cover at 300 DPI is 2550 × 3300 pixels, a ratio of only 1.29:1. Cropping to 1.6:1 would remove 488 pixels, nearly a fifth of the width, which usually cuts into the title. For wide trims, extend instead: place the front cover on a 2550 × 4080 pixel canvas and fill the extra height with the background colour or a band for the series name. A 2400 × 2400 square picture-book cover has the same problem at a ratio of 1.00:1 and needs 3840 pixels of height to reach 1.6:1.

The 5" x 8" trim is the exception: its front cover is 1500 × 2400 at 300 DPI, already exactly 1.6:1.

Common trims at 300 DPI

Trim	Front cover	Ratio	Kindle crop
5" x 8"	1500 × 2400	1.60:1	1500 × 2400
5.5" x 8.5"	1650 × 2550	1.55:1	1593 × 2550
6" x 9"	1800 × 2700	1.50:1	1687 × 2700
7" x 10"	2100 × 3000	1.43:1	1875 × 3000
8.5" x 11"	2550 × 3300	1.29:1	2062 × 3300
8.5" x 8.5"	2550 × 2550	1.00:1	1593 × 2550

Making the cover work as a thumbnail

Shoppers usually first see your cover as a small thumbnail in search results or on a phone, so the title has to survive being shrunk. Check by scaling the image down to about 160 pixels tall: if you can't read the title, make it bigger or cut the subtitle from the ebook cover (the subtitle still appears in the listing). White or very light covers can disappear against the store page; KDP suggests a 3 to 4 pixel medium-grey border. For the full paperback wrap with spine and bleed, use the paperback cover size calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What size should a Kindle cover be?

KDP's cover guidelines give 2,560 pixels tall by 1,600 pixels wide as the ideal size, a height-to-width ratio of 1.6:1. The minimum is 1,000 x 625 pixels and neither side may exceed 10,000 pixels. The file must be a JPEG or TIFF in RGB, under 50 MB.

Can I use my paperback cover for the Kindle edition?

Use the front panel only, never the full wrap with spine and back cover. Most paperback trims are shorter than 1.6:1 (a 6" x 9" book is 1.5:1), so either trim a little off the width or add to the height. This calculator shows the exact crop for your trim.

Does the ebook cover need to be 300 DPI?

No. Screens only care about pixels. KDP's page lists 72 dpi as the setting, while recommending 300 PPI for the best results; in practice, if the pixel dimensions are right, the DPI field in the file makes no difference to how it looks.

Will a square or landscape cover be rejected?

KDP describes 1.6:1 as the ideal ratio rather than a hard rule, but a cover wider than that shows with empty space around it in the store and on devices, and it looks small in search results. Picture books in square formats still work best with a cover cropped or extended toward 1.6:1.

Sources

KDP: eBook cover image criteria

Rates last checked against KDP's help pages on 2026-10-16.

Guides that use this calculator

From Page Count to Print-Ready Cover: One Book's Dimensions, Step by Step