KDP Trim Sizes — Size Chart, Bleed & Category Picker

KDP paperback trim sizes and page limits

Every paperback trim size on the US KDP site, with minimum and maximum page counts by ink and paper. Large trims are marked; they cost more per page to print.

From KDP's "Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins" help page, checked October 2026. Standard colour ink is available on most trims at 72–600 pages, but not on A4. Hardcovers come in five sizes at 75–550 pages.

Insight: The jump from 6" × 9" to 7" × 10" looks small but crosses the large-trim line, so every copy costs more to print. For a low-content journal priced at $9.99, that difference comes straight out of the royalty. Choose a large trim only when the layout genuinely needs the room.

Which trim size for which book

The picker above suggests these defaults. They match what sells in each category, not a rule.

For blank books with no subject content, BISAC also has NON000000 Non-classifiable — but a notebook positioned for a use, such as recipes or meeting notes, is easier to find under that subject.

What a large trim costs you

Large trims use a separate, higher printing-cost table on KDP. For a black-ink paperback in the US:

Regular: $2.30 flat to 108 pages, then $1.00 + $0.012 per page. Large: $2.84 flat, then $1.00 + $0.017 per page. Royalty at 60%. From KDP's printing-cost help page, October 2026.

A 300-page large-trim book cannot be sold at $9.99 at all; it needs a higher list price. Most letter-size planners and colouring books price at $12.99 or more for exactly this reason.

How to choose a trim size in five questions

1. What does the buyer do with it? Writing by hand favours 6" × 9" or larger; carrying it every day favours 5" × 8" or 5.5" × 8.5".
2. How much page area does one entry need? A weekly spread with seven columns needs 8.5" × 11"; a gratitude prompt fits 6" × 9".
3. What do the best sellers use? Search Amazon for your book type, open the top five, and check "Dimensions" under product details. Matching the category norm avoids buyers' surprise.
4. What will it cost to print? Regular trims are cheaper. Run both options through the KDP royalty calculator at your planned price.
5. Will it need bleed? Full-page backgrounds and colouring pages that run to the edge need bleed; lined journals usually do not.

Bleed and margins

Bleed is extra image area that gets trimmed off. KDP trims 0.125" from the top, bottom and outside edge, so a bleed interior is 0.125" wider and 0.25" taller than the trim. If one page needs bleed, every page must be set up with it.

Margins keep text away from the trim and the binding. The inside (gutter) margin grows with page count, because thicker books curve more at the spine:

These are KDP's minimums. Journals with lines close to the gutter are hard to write in; add a little more than the minimum on the inside.

Common trim-size mistakes

Exporting at trim size when the interior bleeds. A 6" × 9" PDF with edge-to-edge artwork is rejected or printed with white slivers. Export at 6.125" × 9.25".

Picking 8.5" × 11" for a 600-page book. The maximum on that trim is 590 pages in black and white. Split it into two volumes or use a regular trim.

Choosing cream paper for colouring pages. Cream is lovely for novels but dulls colouring and makes lines look grey. Use white for anything people draw or write on in colour.

Ignoring the page-count ceiling on cream paper. Cream is thicker, so its maximum is lower on every trim — 776 pages at 6" × 9" instead of 828, and 550 instead of 590 at 8.5" × 11".

Designing the cover before the trim and page count are final. The cover width depends on both. Fix them first, then size the cover with the KDP cover calculator.

From trim size to finished book

Once the trim is chosen, pick categories with the Amazon book categories checker, design the interior from Craftific's KDP journal interior templates at spec-correct margins, and follow the full process in the KDP publishing guide.