What size should a Kindle ebook cover be?

What size does KDP want for a Kindle cover?

KDP's help page gives an ideal size and a minimum. Both are in pixels, because a Kindle cover only ever lives on a screen.

Aim for the ideal. The minimum has 15% of the ideal's pixels, so a minimum-size cover looks noticeably softer on a tablet or a large phone. You can use the ebook cover resizer to make an exact 1,600 x 2,560 px file from any cover image, in your browser.

What does the 1.6:1 ratio mean?

It means the cover is 1.6 times as tall as it is wide. Divide the height by the width to check any file:

ratio = height / width
2,560 / 1,600 = 1.6:1
1,000 / 625 = 1.6:1

Both KDP sizes share the same shape, so any cover at 1.6:1 scales cleanly between them. A cover at another shape has to be cropped, padded or stretched to fit.

How do you turn a print cover into a Kindle cover?

A print front cover is rarely 1.6:1. A 6 x 9 in front exported at 1,800 x 2,700 px is 1.5:1, a little wider than KDP's shape. You have two honest options:

• Crop the sides to 1,688 x 2,700 px, losing 113 px of width, then scale to 1,600 x 2,560 px. Keep the title and any faces inside the crop.
• Pad the top and bottom to 1,800 x 2,880 px with a color from the cover's edge. Nothing is cut, at the cost of bands above and below.

Stretching the art to fit is the third option, and the one to avoid: it squashes type and faces. Export the front from your full wrap first; the KDP cover calculator shows where the front panel starts and ends.

What size do other ebook stores want?

What each store's help page states. "Not stated" means the page gives no rule for that item.

A 1,600 x 2,560 px JPEG made for KDP already meets what Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Press and Google Play Books state. Kobo asks for a 3:4 shape, wider than KDP's, so make a separate copy for Kobo.

What are the most common ebook cover mistakes?

Upscaling a small image

Enlarging a file adds pixels, not detail. A 1,000 x 1,600 px cover is above KDP's minimum but below the ideal: it needs 1.60x to reach 1,600 x 2,560 px, and at that scale fine lines and small type turn soft. Apple Books says outright not to enlarge a smaller image to meet its 1,400 px minimum. Go back to the original artwork or the designer's source file instead.

The wrong shape

A cover made for another store, or a square social image, will not fit 1.6:1. A 3:4 Kobo-shaped cover at 1,920 x 2,560 px keeps only 1,600 x 2,560 px when cropped to KDP's shape, a loss of 320 px of width. Plan the crop before you upload, or KDP's preview may cut through the title.

Text too small at thumbnail size

Most shoppers first see your cover as a thumbnail in search results. A practical check, not an Amazon rule: shrink the cover to a tenth of its width. At 1,600 x 2,560 px that is 160 px wide, and a title 128 px tall on the full cover becomes 13 px. If you cannot read the title and author name at that size, make them bigger or cut words.

Wrong file type or color

KDP lists JPEG and TIFF, in RGB. A PNG or a CMYK file exported for print is the wrong starting point. Save a JPEG with minimal compression; KDP's limit is 50 MB, far above what a 1,600 x 2,560 px JPEG needs.

How do you check your cover before uploading?

1. Open the file's info and read the pixel width and height, not the DPI or the size in inches.
2. Divide the height by the width. It should be 1.6:1 or taller.
3. Check the width is at least 625 px and, for the ideal, 1,600 px.
4. Check the file is a JPEG or TIFF in RGB, under 50 MB.
5. View it at thumbnail size and read the title.