KDP bleed errors: what "insufficient bleed" actually means, and the fix
The symptom. KDP rejects your upload or warns that the file contains insufficient bleed — or worse, the printed proof arrives with thin white edges where your images or backgrounds were supposed to run right up to the edge of the page.
What bleed is, in one paragraph
Printed books are trimmed after printing, and trimming is not perfectly precise. If any content — a background color, a photo, a full-page illustration — is meant to touch the edge of the finished page, it must extend 0.125 in (about 3.2 mm) past the trim line on every outer edge. That extra strip is the bleed. It gets cut off; it exists so a small trimming shift never exposes a white sliver.
The exact sizes
| File | With bleed, build it at | Example: 6 × 9 in trim |
|---|---|---|
| Interior pages | Trim width + 0.125 in wide; trim height + 0.25 in high | 6.125 × 9.25 in |
| Full paperback cover | 0.125 + back trim width + spine + front trim width + 0.125 wide; trim height + 0.25 high | Depends on spine — use the calculator |
Two details people miss: bleed goes on the outer edges only (never into the spine fold of an interior page), and it applies to the interior and the cover separately — fixing one does not fix the other.
Why KDP flagged you — the four usual causes
1. The file was exported at exact trim size. The most common cause. Your design tool had bleed available, but the PDF came out at 6.00 × 9.00 in instead of 6.125 × 9.25 in, so there is no bleed in the file at all.
2. The page size is right but the art does not reach the bleed edge. Backgrounds and images must be stretched to the bleed line, not stopped at the trim line. A correctly-sized page with art ending at trim still prints with white edges.
3. Bleed on the cover only, or the interior only. Each file is checked on its own.
4. You selected "bleed" in KDP but uploaded a no-bleed file (or the reverse). The upload setting and the file must agree.
The fix, by tool
InDesign: File → Document Setup → Bleed: set 0.125 in on top, bottom and outside (0 on the inside for interiors). Extend every edge-touching element past the trim edge to the red bleed guide. Export PDF with "Use Document Bleed Settings" checked, and verify the exported page size reads trim + bleed, not trim.
Canva: Turn on the print bleed view (File → Settings → Show print bleed), drag backgrounds and images out to the bleed boundary, then download as PDF Print. If your design was created at plain trim size, resize the design to the bleed dimensions from the table above first.
Word: Word has no real bleed support. If your pages have edge-to-edge art, rebuild in a layout tool; if nothing touches the edges, you do not need bleed at all (next section).
When you do not need bleed
If no content touches any page edge — everything sits inside the margins — build the file at exact trim size and choose the no-bleed option when uploading. Many text-only paperbacks are correctly no-bleed. The error only appears when edge-touching content and a no-bleed-sized file (or setting) are combined.
Verify before you re-upload
Run your corrected cover or interior through the free pre-flight check: it measures the actual page boxes in your PDF, so a file that is still at trim size gets caught here instead of by KDP. Rules summarized from KDP's published file specifications, last checked 2026-11-09.