---
title: "What Is Bleed in Book Printing? KDP Rules"
description: "What bleed is, how far past the trim line KDP needs images to run, how to size an interior page with bleed, and the mistakes that leave white edges."
url: "https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/bleed"
updated: "2026-10-20"
---

# Bleed

**Definition.** Bleed is the extra strip of image or color that runs past the line where a printed page will be cut, so the ink reaches the very edge after trimming. KDP trims 0.125 in from the top, bottom and outside edges of each page, so anything meant to touch an edge must extend that far beyond the trim line.

Sources checked October 20, 2026.

## How it works

Every KDP cover needs bleed; an interior needs it only if something should reach the edge of a page. Bleed works only with fixed files such as a print-ready PDF. Because the inside edge is bound, not cut, the page grows by one bleed in width and two in height: page width is trim width plus 0.125 in, and page height is trim height plus twice that. A book set up with bleed also needs wider outside margins, since the cut can wander slightly and text kept close to the edge risks being trimmed.

## An example

A 6 x 9 inch workbook with full-page photos on some pages needs an interior page size of 6.125 in by 9.25 in, and each photo must stretch to the edge of that larger page. KDP's rule is that if even one page bleeds, the whole file is set up with bleed, so the text pages use the larger size too, with their margins measured from the trim line.

## Common mistakes

Adding bleed to all four sides of an interior page, including the bound inside edge. Setting up bleed on only the pages with photos, when KDP wants the whole file sized for it. Uploading a Word file and expecting bleed to survive, when KDP supports it only in fixed-format files. And leaving text or page numbers close to the outside edge, where the trim can catch them.

## Questions

**Does a text-only book need bleed?** Not in the interior. KDP needs bleed on every cover, but an interior needs it only when an image, background or illustration should reach the edge of the page.

**Why is bleed added to only one side of the width?** The inside edge of each page is bound into the spine rather than cut, so only the outside edge, plus the top and bottom, is trimmed.

## Sources

- [KDP: Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GVBQ3CMEQW3W2VL6): Bleed defined; the trim amount on the top, bottom and outside edges; covers always bleed; fixed-format files only; the page-size formula; whole file with bleed if one page bleeds; wider outside margins with bleed.
- [KDP: Create a Paperback Cover](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201953020): The same bleed on the cover wrap.

## Related terms

- [Trim size](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/trim-size.md)
- [Gutter (inside margin)](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/gutter.md)
- [Spine width](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/spine-width.md)

## Read next

- [Self-publishing cost calculator](https://www.superebook.ai/tools/self-publishing-cost-calculator.md)
- [Word count to pages converter](https://www.superebook.ai/tools/word-count-to-pages-converter.md)
- [All glossary terms](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary.md)