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Does anybody know what dimensions the Kindle book's cover should be on KDP?

by diamondoleg
26 replies
Hi guys,
I faced with some issue after publishing a book on Kindle. My book's cover thumbnail is much narrower than other books' covers out there. It is probably because my cover image has wrong dimensions ratio. Does anybody know what dimensions the Kindle book's cover should be in order for thumbnail image to be FULLY displayed on the book's listing?

Thanks for helping!
#book #cover #dimensions #kdp #kindle
  • Profile picture of the author OldLodgeSkins
    Hi,

    Mine are usually in the area of 850x750px (made with Myecovermaker so they all have the same ratio) and they look fine.

    Seb.
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    • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
      Originally Posted by OldLodgeSkins View Post

      Hi,

      Mine are usually in the area of 850x750px (made with Myecovermaker so they all have the same ratio) and they look fine.

      Seb.
      Hey Seb,

      Thanks for your reply!

      Do you mean 850 width and 750 height? Also, according to what Kindle's guidelines say, the image's longest side should be not smaller than 1000 px. Is it bs?

      Thanks!
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      • Profile picture of the author OldLodgeSkins
        Originally Posted by diamondoleg View Post

        Hey Seb,

        Thanks for your reply!

        Do you mean 850 width and 750 height? Also, according to what Kindle's guidelines say, the image's longest side should be not smaller than 1000 px. Is it bs?

        Thanks!
        Yep, that's it.
        I know I usually don't reach 1000px but they still look OK.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketingva
    You would have gotten a quicker answer by going directly to Kindle publishing. It's right there in the help files:
    Dimensions


    Requirements for the size of your cover art have an ideal height/width ration of 1.6, this means:

    • A minimum of 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1000 pixels on the longest side
    • For best quality, your image would be 1563 pixels on the shortest side and 2500 pixels on the longest side
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    • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
      Originally Posted by marketingva View Post

      You would have gotten a quicker answer by going directly to Kindle publishing. It's right there in the help files:
      Dimensions


      Requirements for the size of your cover art have an ideal height/width ration of 1.6, this means:

      • A minimum of 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1000 pixels on the longest side
      • For best quality, your image would be 1563 pixels on the shortest side and 2500 pixels on the longest side
      Hey,
      Thanks for your response!
      Actually, i saw this post on amazon and i did it before but nothing changed. I formatted my image cover exactly according to 1.6 ratio but the thumbnail is still kind of shrank comparing to others' people books.
      Don't know what is going on!?
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    • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
      Originally Posted by marketingva View Post

      You would have gotten a quicker answer by going directly to Kindle publishing. It's right there in the help files:
      Dimensions


      Requirements for the size of your cover art have an ideal height/width ration of 1.6, this means:

      • A minimum of 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1000 pixels on the longest side
      • For best quality, your image would be 1563 pixels on the shortest side and 2500 pixels on the longest side
      Well, i've just realized that after i changed the cover to 1.6 ratio (apparently before i did not wait enough time so thought it doesn't change. around 2 days). So this time i decided to wait a while and indeed the thumbnail changed, Unfortunately, with ration 1.6, it becomes even smaller! Now it is really small. Well, i don't know how your books' thumbnails look well with this ratio but my is terrible. Any suggestion?

      Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    According to Amazon guidelines the long side of the cover should be a minimum of 2500 px.
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  • Profile picture of the author jcoutu
    Here's the link from kdp.

    https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishi...TRG6OPX0VM#dim
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  • Profile picture of the author topgold
    Don't bother getting frustrated over this; just make your covers at 625x1000 pixels the first time around for your books. If it makes sales, then you can consider increasing the size AND hiring a professional graphic designer for $99, which is the logical next step in helping to increase your sales.

    Here's one place you can use (not the only place, but it's convenient and high quality):
    Logo Design, Web Design and More. | 99designs

    Best of luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
      I make mine 1000x1600. They follow the guidelines, keep the proposed ratio and the stock images are inexpensive.
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      • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
        Originally Posted by Sandra Martinez View Post

        I make mine 1000x1600. They follow the guidelines, keep the proposed ratio and the stock images are inexpensive.
        Hey,
        Thanks for your response!
        Well, i keep my image's ratio 1.6 as well but my image thumbnail is still narrower than others' book covers. Does your cover is wide (more than 200 px)?
        My is 134 px which is very narrow. I don't know why!
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        • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
          Originally Posted by diamondoleg View Post

          Hey,
          Thanks for your response!
          Well, i keep my image's ratio 1.6 as well but my image thumbnail is still narrower than others' book covers. Does your cover is wide (more than 200 px)?
          My is 134 px which is very narrow. I don't know why!
          They look narrower because others are not using the intended aspect ratio and Amazon is normalizing in height for grid view. If you want them to look wider, just reduce the aspect ratio.
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  • Profile picture of the author jcoutu
    The other images may be using a wider aspect ratio. 600 x 800 was common for earlier books which come out to a ratio of 1.33.
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    • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
      Originally Posted by jcoutu View Post

      The other images may be using a wider aspect ratio. 600 x 800 was common for earlier books which come out to a ratio of 1.33.
      Will try this ratio as well.
      Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Mine are always 1563x2500 and that is what I highly recommend to others as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
      Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

      Mine are always 1563x2500 and that is what I highly recommend to others as well.
      Hi, and what thumbnail's width do you have on the sales page with these dimensions?

      Thanks!
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      • Profile picture of the author Anthony Fesalbon
        Only 2 sizes I do for kindle book covers

        625 x 833

        and

        1563 x 2500
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        • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
          Originally Posted by Anthony Fesalbon View Post

          Only 2 sizes I do for kindle book covers

          625 x 833

          and

          1563 x 2500
          Hi, and what thumbnail's width do you have on the sales page with these dimensions? I mean in px

          Thanks!
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910540].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
        Originally Posted by diamondoleg View Post

        Hi, and what thumbnail's width do you have on the sales page with these dimensions?

        Thanks!
        All I do is upload my high quality cover to Amazon and Amazon uses that 1 image to show everything from the full res image down to the thumbnail image, which all look perfect.
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        • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
          Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

          All I do is upload my high quality cover to Amazon and Amazon uses that 1 image to show everything from the full res image down to the thumbnail image, which all look perfect.

          Well, i'll try this ratio.
          Thank!
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      • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
        Originally Posted by diamondoleg View Post

        Hi, and what thumbnail's width do you have on the sales page with these dimensions?

        Thanks!
        Height for thumbnail view is 160 pixels, for product view 260 pixels. The width varies depending on the aspect ratio (height divided by width).

        If you want your image to be fatter, just change the aspect ratio; the closer to a square the fatter it is (a square has 1 of aspect ratio).

        Example...

        if you use 1600x1600 it is a square.
        if you use 1300x1600 you have an aspect ratio of 1.23 (this might give you what you want)
        the one I use and you didn´t like is 1000x1600, giving you an aspect ratio of 1.6

        Makes sense now? You seem to have a missing piece definition-wise, but I am not sure where it is...
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        • Profile picture of the author diamondoleg
          Originally Posted by Sandra Martinez View Post

          Height for thumbnail view is 160 pixels, for product view 260 pixels. The width varies depending on the aspect ratio (height divided by width).

          If you want your image to be fatter, just change the aspect ratio; the closer to a square the fatter it is (a square has 1 of aspect ratio).

          Example...

          if you use 1600x1600 it is a square.
          if you use 1300x1600 you have an aspect ratio of 1.23 (this might give you what you want)
          the one I use and you didn´t like is 1000x1600, giving you an aspect ratio of 1.6

          Makes sense now? You seem to have a missing piece definition-wise, but I am not sure where it is...
          Yes, it makes sense. I tried the 1.6 ratio and the thumbnail became even worse (narrower) than it was before (and it was initially narrow with ratio 1.25). In both of those ratios the image is much smaller comparing to other thumbnails of other similar books' covers.

          I want my thumbnail to be over 200 px in width. So waht you actually suggest is to make my image closer to square?

          Thanks!
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          • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
            Originally Posted by diamondoleg View Post

            Yes, it makes sense. I tried the 1.6 ratio and the thumbnail became even worse (narrower) than it was before (and it was initially narrow with ratio 1.25). In both of those ratios the image is much smaller comparing to other thumbnails of other similar books' covers.

            I want my thumbnail to be over 200 px in width. So waht you actually suggest is to make my image closer to square?

            Thanks!
            to have an image that is a square... for the dimension you choose, use the same for height and width.
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  • Profile picture of the author shalamerylei
    To put books' covers onto your kindle, you need to change the book's format, you can learn how to convert mobi to ePub.
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