Start here: the free rejection check
Rejected and don't know which guide you need? Skip the reading. Email us your interior and cover PDFs and we'll run all 13 checks — 6 for KDP, 7 for IngramSpark — and send you the problem list in plain English, free, within 48 hours. No account, no password, files deleted after the check.
Free calculators & tools
- Spine width calculator — page count + paper + platform → spine width, spine-text verdict, full cover size
- KDP royalty calculator — list price + specs → print cost and royalty per copy, using KDP's published US tables
Coming soon: print-cost estimator by page count, bleed & trim visualizer, gutter lookup, cover-size-by-trim tables.
Error library — what the rejection actually means
- Spine text error — too close to the edge, or a spine too thin for text
- Bleed error — “your file does not include bleed”
- Margin error — text or important elements outside the margins
- Page size does not match the trim size you selected
- Fonts are not embedded — how to check and fix
- Images below 300 DPI — effective DPI, explained honestly
- IngramSpark: your final page must be blank
- IngramSpark spine width — pages ÷ PPI (white 444, cream 400)
- IngramSpark barcode placement — the 1.75 × 1″ zone, and your own ISBN
- IngramSpark minimum margins — 0.5″ on every side
- IngramSpark fonts must be embedded — no exceptions
- IngramSpark black & white interiors — the grayscale rule
- IngramSpark revision fees in 2026 — the $25 fee is gone
- IngramSpark cover bleed — 0.125″ on all four sides
- IngramSpark PDF/X — what it is, and when you need it
- “Disappointing content” — KDP's quality rejection, explained (fall 2026 policy)
- KDP's limit: 2 new titles per format per week (fall 2026 policy)
In the queue: barcode/ISBN mismatch, multi-page cover files, transparency and layer errors, encrypted PDFs, page-count limits, cover-vs-metadata title mismatches, Ingram's spine and barcode-zone rules.
Spec guides — the numbers, once and correctly
- ISBN & barcode rules — who provides it, where it goes, what must match
- KDP trim sizes compared — 6×9, 8.5×11, and everything between
- Hardcover vs paperback — specs, page limits, and the real print-cost gap
In the queue: complete spine tables (KDP + Ingram PPI), bleed vs no-bleed, premium vs standard color economics, paper choices, cover-template guides for both platforms.
PDF export guides — the right settings for your tool
- Canva → KDP: PDF Print, bleed, and the CMYK question
- Word → KDP: the two settings that prevent the classic Word rejections
- InDesign → KDP: presets, bleed marks, and font embedding done right
- Apple Pages → KDP: export settings, and the margins Pages hides from you
In the queue: LibreOffice, Affinity Publisher, Atticus, Vellum, Draft2Digital, Reedsy.
Decisions & book types
- KDP vs IngramSpark — fees, reach, ISBN rules, and using both
- Low-content book specs — journals & planners that pass first time
In the queue: KDP and Ingram upload checklists, proof copies & author copies, expanded distribution, children's/cookbook/comic specs, dual publishing on both platforms, Ingram returnability and wholesale discounts explained.
Rather have it checked than read about it? The free check runs your actual files against all 13 KDP and IngramSpark checks and reports back in plain English — free, within 48 hours. Get the free check →
Every number in this library is taken from KDP's and IngramSpark's published specifications or from the same checking engines we run on client files — never copied from another blog. If a platform changes a spec, the guides are updated and the date below moves.
Library last updated: October 19, 2026. Built and maintained by Ren Studio.