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Print File Fixes › How to add bleed

Fix: bleed

How to add bleed to your book cover (and pages)

Bleed is extra background that runs past the edge so the printer can trim it off cleanly. Almost every printer wants 0.125" (3.2 mm) on every outside edge.

Quick answer

To add bleed, make the file 0.125" bigger on every outer edge (0.25" wider and 0.25" taller for a cover), then stretch the background art all the way to the new outer edge. Keep words and faces well inside the trim line.

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Check it in 30 seconds

Open your cover PDF in any PDF reader and look at the page size (File → Properties, or Document Properties). For a paperback cover, the height should be your book's height plus 0.25". A 6" x 9" book's cover is 9.25" tall. If it's exactly 9", there's no bleed.

The numbers

Don't know your spine width? Use the cover size chart or SparkPrep's free KDP cover calculator.

Fix it in Canva

  1. Turn on File → Settings → Show print bleed. A dashed line appears inside the edge: that's roughly where the cut goes.
  2. Drag every background photo and color block out past the outer edge of the design, not just to the dashed line.
  3. Move titles, author name and faces inward, well clear of the dashed line.
  4. Share → Download → PDF Print, and tick Crop marks and bleed. (Then check your printer's rules: most want the bleed but not the crop marks.)

Canva adds bleed around your design size. If you started from your printer's full cover size (which already includes bleed), you may end up with double bleed. Measure the downloaded PDF and compare it to the numbers above.

Fix it in InDesign or Affinity Publisher

  1. InDesign: File → Document Setup → Bleed and Slug → 0.125 in on all sides. Affinity: File → Document Setup → Bleed → 0.125 in.
  2. Pull background frames to the red bleed line on every outer edge.
  3. Export with "Use document bleed settings" ticked (InDesign) or "Include bleed" (Affinity), as PDF/X-1a.

Fix it in Word (interior pages with pictures to the edge)

  1. Layout → Size → More Paper Sizes. Add 0.125" to the width and 0.25" to the height (a 6" x 9" book becomes 6.125" x 9.25").
  2. Make edge-to-edge pictures overlap the paper edge slightly.
  3. Add 0.125" to your outside, top and bottom margins so the text doesn't move closer to the trim.

Word can't make a cover with proper bleed easily. Use Canva, Cover Studio or a printer template for the cover.

Why bleed errors come back

Want every click spelled out? Read the full walkthrough: How to fix the "insufficient or no bleed" error on sparkprep.legenddary.com.

Find out what's wrong with your files before the printer does

SparkPrep checks your cover and every interior page against the exact rules Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble Press and Lulu use, tells you each problem in plain English, and can fix it for you.

Scan my book free See how SparkPrep works

The scan is free and shows how many problems your files have. To see every problem and where it is, the audit is $1.99 ($3.99 after January 1). The Advanced Audit checks every page, up to 300, for $9.99.

Questions people ask

How much bleed does KDP need?

0.125 inch (3.2 mm) on every outer edge of the cover, and on the outer edges of interior pages that have art running to the edge.

Does every book need interior bleed?

No. Only books with pictures or color that touch the page edge. A normal novel doesn't need interior bleed.

Should I include crop marks?

Usually no. KDP and IngramSpark want the bleed area but not printer's marks in the uploaded file.

More on this site

Fix your book's print filesPlain-English fixes for the book file problems printers reject: bleed, margins, fonts, transparency, low-resolution pictures, color, ink, page size and spine.How to fix book marginsFix interior margin errors: KDP's inside gutter by page count, IngramSpark's 0.5 inch safety area, and margin settings in Word, InDesign and Affinity.Fix PDF page sizeIf your interior PDF is letter size but your book is 6x9, the printer shrinks or crops it. How to set the right trim size in Word and InDesign.How to embed fontsFix 'font not embedded' and font license errors in your book PDF: how to embed every font in Word, InDesign, Affinity and Canva, and how to check in Acrobat.How to flatten transparencyShadows and see-through shapes can print as boxes. How to flatten transparency and layers for KDP and IngramSpark in Canva, InDesign, Affinity and Acrobat.Fix low-resolution picturesHow to fix low-resolution (under 300 DPI) pictures in a book: pixel sizes for common covers and pages, how to stop Word compressing images, and what not to do.Fix color and ink coverageFix 'ink coverage exceeds 240%' and 'RGB found' errors: convert book files to CMYK or true grayscale and lower total ink in Acrobat, InDesign and Canva.Fix spine width and spine textFix a wrong spine width or spine text error: how to re-fit your cover for a new page count or paper, center spine text and know when spine text is allowed.

Free help from SparkPrep

Book Preflight, ExplainedWhat book preflight is, who needs it and what gets checked before KDP or IngramSpark prints your book.Print Cover SizesFull cover size charts, spine widths, barcode space and hardcover rules for KDP and IngramSpark.Rejection Messages DecodedWhat KDP and IngramSpark rejection messages really mean, in plain English, and what to do next.First Book GuideYour first print book, step by step: costs, timeline, words to know and the mistakes to skip.Free book toolsCover calculator, spine width, margins, DPI checker and page count, on sparkprep.legenddary.com.

Last updated 2026-11-01. Written by Joshua Davis, founder of SparkPrep. Numbers come from each printer's own published guides; always double-check your printer's current rules before you upload.