Print Book Formatting Checklist: Everything to Verify Before You Hit Upload (So You Don’t Hit Your Head on the Desk)

I maintain a formatting checklist because I have trust issues — specifically, I don’t trust myself to remember whether I set the gutter to 0.75″ or 0.375″ at 3 AM on a Tuesday. Print book formatting has too many interdependent specifications for anyone to hold in working memory, and the cost of getting any single one wrong is a rejected file, a reprinted proof, or a published book that makes readers squint.

This checklist is what I run through before uploading to KDP or IngramSpark. It covers every production specification, structural element, and typographic detail that affects whether your print book looks professionally published or obviously self-made. Print it out. Tape it to your wall. Thank me later.

Trim Size and Page Dimensions

☐ Trim size selected and confirmed. The most common trim sizes are 5″ × 8″ (popular fiction), 5.5″ × 8.5″ (general nonfiction), and 6″ × 9″ (standard trade paperback). Your genre has conventions — check the physical dimensions of comparable books on your shelf. According to KDP’s trim size specifications, the most common size for US books is 6″ × 9″.

☐ Page size matches trim size (or trim size + bleed). If your interior has no bleed (text-only books), your PDF page size should exactly match your trim size. If your interior has bleed (images that extend to the page edge), add 0.125″ to each edge: a 6″ × 9″ book with bleed becomes a 6.125″ × 9.25″ PDF.

☐ Page count is even. Printed books must have an even number of pages. If your content ends on an odd page, add a blank page at the end.

Margins and Gutters

☐ Margins meet minimum requirements for your page count. KDP’s gutter (inside margin) minimums increase with page count to prevent text from disappearing into the spine binding. For a standard 6″ × 9″ book: 24–150 pages requires 0.375″ inside margin; 151–300 pages requires 0.75″; 301–500 pages requires 0.875″. Outside, top, and bottom margins have a 0.25″ minimum, though professional formatters typically use 0.5″ or more for comfortable reading.

☐ Mirror margins enabled. Print books use mirrored (facing) margins — the inside margin (gutter) alternates between left and right depending on whether the page is verso (left) or recto (right).

☐ No content in the bleed or gutter danger zones. Text should never extend into the gutter area or closer than 0.25″ from the trim edge. Images intended to bleed should extend 0.125″ past the trim line.

Typography

☐ Body text font is readable and professionally licensed. Standard choices include Garamond, Minion Pro, Palatino, Caslon, and other book-weight serifs. Body text should be 10–12pt with appropriate leading (line spacing) — typically 120–145% of the font size.

☐ All fonts are embedded in the PDF. Missing font embedding is the second most common cause of KDP file rejections. Every font used in your manuscript — body, headers, special characters — must be embedded. Formatting software handles this automatically; if you’re exporting from Word or InDesign, verify embedding in your PDF export settings.

☐ Consistent paragraph styling. First-line indent or block paragraph style (not both mixed). Standard indent is 0.25″–0.5″. First paragraphs after chapter openers and section breaks traditionally have no indent (or use a drop cap).

☐ Widow and orphan control active. Widows (single last line at the top of a page) and orphans (single first line at the bottom) should be eliminated or minimized. Check every page. Good print formatting software handles this automatically; manual formatting requires a page-by-page review.

Chapter Structure

☐ Chapter openers are consistent. Every chapter should use the same visual treatment: chapter number style, title formatting, opening paragraph treatment (drop cap, small caps, or standard), and vertical spacing from the top of the page.

☐ Chapters start on the correct page. In most professionally published books, chapters start on recto (right-hand) pages. This may require inserting blank verso pages before some chapters.

☐ Scene breaks are marked consistently. Use the same visual treatment for every scene break — centered ornament, blank line, or other marker. Three asterisks (***) work but look amateur; a simple ornamental glyph or a blank line with increased spacing looks more professional.

Front Matter

☐ Half title page (optional but professional — book title only, no author name)

☐ Title page (full title, subtitle, author name — required)

☐ Copyright page (copyright notice, ISBN, edition information, publisher name, rights statement, disclaimer if applicable)

☐ Dedication (optional, traditionally on its own recto page)

☐ Table of contents (required for nonfiction; optional but recommended for fiction with titled chapters)

☐ Front matter pages numbered with Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) or no numbers, separate from body text numbering

Back Matter

☐ Acknowledgments (optional)

☐ About the Author (recommended — include a professional bio and photo if possible)

☐ Also By (if applicable — list other books with title and subtitle)

☐ Index (nonfiction — optional but expected for academic and reference works)

Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers

☐ Running headers or footers present and correctly alternating. Standard convention: book title on verso (left) pages, chapter title on recto (right) pages. Author name can substitute for book title.

☐ Page numbers in a consistent position. Common placements: bottom center, bottom outside corner, or top outside corner. Be consistent throughout.

☐ Headers/footers suppressed on appropriate pages. No running header or page number on: chapter opening pages, blank pages, title page, copyright page, dedication, or any full-page images.

☐ Page numbering starts correctly. Body text page numbering typically starts at 1 on the first page of Chapter 1 (or the first page of body content). Front matter either has no numbers or Roman numerals.

Images and Graphics

☐ All images at 300 DPI minimum. Images below 300 DPI will print with visible pixelation. KDP’s automated checker flags images below 200 DPI, but anything under 300 will show quality degradation.

☐ Color mode matches interior type. Black-and-white interiors: all images in grayscale. Color interiors: images in CMYK or RGB (KDP accepts both, but CMYK gives you more control over color accuracy).

☐ Images within safe margins. No image content within the gutter danger zone. Images intended to bleed extend 0.125″ past the trim line.

Export and Preflight

☐ Exported as PDF. Not .docx, not .pages, not .odt. PDF with all fonts embedded and all images at production resolution.

☐ PDF page size matches trim size (or trim + bleed). Verify in your PDF reader’s document properties.

☐ No crop marks, trim marks, comments, bookmarks, or metadata in the PDF. These are flagged by KDP’s automated checker.

☐ File size under 650MB. Optimize your PDF if needed — large images are usually the cause of oversized files.

☐ Ordered a proof copy. Never publish without holding a physical proof in your hands. Screen previews don’t catch everything. Read the proof under good lighting. Check margins, image quality, spine text alignment, and overall reading comfort.

If You’re Also Doing Ebook

☐ Format for ebook from the same source, not from the print PDF. Converting a print PDF to ebook produces terrible results. Use your original manuscript to generate a separate ebook-formatted output. Read the ebook vs. print formatting differences guide to understand why parallel formatting matters.

This checklist covers the specifications and elements that book formatting software handles automatically or semi-automatically. If you’re using a tool like Storyloft, most of these items are built into the formatting workflow — you set your specifications once and the tool enforces them. If you’re formatting manually, this checklist is your safety net. Use it every time. Your readers — and your KDP dashboard — will show the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common print formatting mistake?

Incorrect gutter margins. The required gutter width increases with page count, and many authors use a fixed margin regardless of page count, leading to rejected files or difficult-to-read text near the spine.

What trim size should I use for my book?

6″ × 9″ is the most common for US trade paperbacks. Check comparable books in your genre. Fiction often uses 5″ × 8″, nonfiction and business books typically use 5.5″ × 8.5″ or 6″ × 9″.

Do I need to order a print proof before publishing?

Absolutely. Screen previews don’t catch everything. Never publish without holding a physical proof and checking margins, images, font rendering, and reading comfort.