Quick answer
KDP cover rejections come down to eleven causes: wrong ebook dimensions, oversized files, spine math that does not match your page count, text outside safe margins, missing bleed, low resolution, transparency layers, spine text on thin books, barcode conflicts, metadata mismatches and prohibited content. Match the error message below to its exact fix.
An upload rejection with a book launch on the calendar is a special kind of stress. The good news: KDP rejections are mechanical. The system checks geometry and file properties, so every bounce maps to a specific cause with a specific fix, and none of them takes more than an evening.
We prepare KDP-ready cover files every week, so the list below is built from rejections we have actually cleared, keyed to the message Amazon shows you. Find your error in the table, jump to the fix, and run the checklist at the end before you re-upload.
Find your error message first
Amazon’s wording shifts between the uploader, Previewer and email notices, so treat the first column as a paraphrase and match on meaning.
| What KDP told you | The real problem | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Upload a cover with minimum dimensions of 1000 pixels” | Ebook cover too small | 1 |
| Cover failed to upload or process | Wrong format or oversized file | 2 |
| Cover size is incorrect / does not match trim and page count | Spine math wrong for your book | 3 |
| Previewer: text or images outside the safe area | Elements too close to trim | 4 |
| Previewer: art does not extend to the cover edge | Missing bleed | 5 |
| Spine text not allowed for this page count | Book too thin for spine text | 6 |
| Previewer: image quality warning | Resolution below 300 DPI | 7 |
| File contains transparent objects or layers | Unflattened PDF | 8 |
| Barcode area not clear | Art or text in the barcode zone | 9 |
| Cover does not match book details | Title or author differs from metadata | 10 |
| Content guidelines issue on the cover | Pricing or temporary promotional claims on the art | 11 |
Ebook cover rejections
Fix 1: the 1,000-pixel minimum
This is the rejection Google sees most because KDP shows it near verbatim: your ebook cover is below the 1,000-pixel-high by 625-pixel-wide minimum. The fix is not to squeak past the minimum. Re-export from your source file at KDP’s ideal 2,560 pixels high by 1,600 pixels wide, a 1.6:1 ratio. Never upscale a small JPEG to pass the check; it will satisfy the robot and fail every reader who zooms the thumbnail.
Fix 2: format and file size
Ebook covers must be JPEG or TIFF and under the 50 MB size cap. Oversized files are usually an uncompressed TIFF or a maximum-quality JPEG with a heavy colour profile embedded. Export a flattened JPEG at quality 80 to 90; the visual difference is nil and the upload stops timing out.
Print wrap rejections: geometry
Fix 3: spine width does not match your book
KDP derives your cover’s required size from trim, page count and paper. On white paper each page adds 0.002252 in to the spine; cream runs 0.0025 in per page. Premium colour uses 0.002347 in and standard colour 0.002252 in per page. A wrap built for a draft page count, or built freehand from a tutorial, comes out the wrong total width and fails the dimension check. Never stretch the file to fit. Download a fresh template from the KDP Cover Calculator for your final spec and rebuild on it. If the interior is still moving, lock it first; our interior formatting service hands you a final page count you can build a spine on.
Fix 4: text outside the safe zone
Previewer flags text and logos sitting too close to the trim line, because trimming is mechanical and drifts a little on every run. Keep every letter at least 0.25 in inside the outside cover edge. Nudging a subtitle is a five-minute fix. The trap is the decorative border, which hugs the trim by design and has to be rethought rather than nudged.
Fix 5: missing bleed
Print art must extend 0.125 in past the trim line on the outside edges so the trimmed book has ink to the edge. Art that stops at trim shows as white slivers in Previewer and either bounces or prints with white hairlines. Rebuild the canvas at bleed size and extend the art. Do not scale the whole design up instead; that quietly pushes your text into the trim and trades fix 5 for fix 4.
Fix 6: spine text on a thin book
KDP prints spine text only on books with more than 79 pages. The spine of a 60-page book is a few millimetres wide, and normal print drift would land your title on a panel. Delete the spine text, let the front carry the title, and fill the spine with a solid colour pulled from the art.
Print wrap rejections: the file itself
Fix 7: low resolution
KDP requires cover images to be at least 300 DPI at final print size. A 6 x 9 in front panel needs roughly 1,800 x 2,700 pixels of real detail before bleed. The classic failure is a web image blown up to print size: the pixel count is right, the detail is not, and the quality warning catches it. No filter recovers detail that was never captured. Source the full-resolution original or different art.
Fix 8: transparency in the PDF
KDP requires transparent objects and layers to be flattened before publishing, and design tools love exporting both. Flatten all layers and transparency in your PDF export settings before saving. If your tool fights you, export a flattened TIFF and convert it. This rejection confuses more authors than any other because the cover looks identical on screen either way.
Fix 9: the barcode zone
If your cover file does not include a barcode, KDP places one on the back cover. For an author-supplied barcode, KDP suggests a 2 x 1.2 in box positioned at least 0.25 in from the spine and trim. Covers with text or images in the barcode location are rejected, so keep the template’s barcode zone clear or supply a compliant barcode there.
Listing and content rejections
Fix 10: cover does not match your metadata
The title, subtitle, author name and series information on the cover must match your book details. Reworded subtitles and dropped middle initials are the usual offenders. Decide which version is right, then make the metadata and the artwork agree, letter for letter.
Fix 11: prohibited content on the cover
Amazon rejects cover content that is promotional or misleading. Its current cover guidance explicitly bars pricing and temporary promotional offers, while its metadata rules require the cover details to match the listing. A pull quote from a review may be acceptable; a sticker reading “only $0.99” is not. Strip the offending element and re-upload.
The pre-upload checklist
Print this, tick it before every upload:
- Interior final, uploaded first, page count noted
- Fresh Cover Calculator template for the exact trim, page count and paper
- Every text element at least 0.25 in inside trim
- Art extends to the bleed edge on all outside sides
- 300 DPI at final size, no upscaled source images
- Flattened PDF, no transparency layers
- Barcode zone clear
- Cover text matches metadata letter for letter
- No pricing or temporary promotional claims on the art
- Ebook cover exported separately: JPEG, 2,560 px high x 1,600 px wide
The full template numbers behind these checks live in our book cover size guide.
When the fix is a new cover, not a new export
Some rejections are art problems wearing a technical costume: a licensed image that only exists at 72 DPI, a design with no room to pull text off the trim, a front-only cover that was never going to wrap. At that point rebuilding costs more than replacing. Every premade on our shelves ships with the ebook file, and the paperback tier adds a print wrap built on your exact KDP template, sized to your final page count. Browse fantasy or romance: designer-created covers run $49.99 for the ebook tier, and the labelled AI-assisted shelf runs $24.99. A custom cover runs $120 to $350, with print coverage included in the relevant package.
FAQ
Every DesignDusk paperback tier (from $59.99) includes a print wrap built on your exact KDP template. 1,619 designs are in stock, each sold once. If the art itself is the problem, the fix starts at $24.99.
Usually one of three causes: the ebook cover is below KDP’s 1,000-pixel-high by 625-pixel-wide minimum, the print wrap’s dimensions do not match the template for your trim and page count, or the PDF still contains transparency layers. Open Previewer, note the exact warning wording, and match it to a fix index like the table above; every rejection maps to a specific cause.
Ebook: ideally 2,560 pixels high by 1,600 pixels wide, with a minimum of 1,000 x 625 pixels, in JPEG or TIFF format. Print: a single wraparound PDF sized by the KDP Cover Calculator from your trim size, page count and paper, at 300 DPI with 0.125 in bleed. The print size differs for every book, which is why the template exists.
Resubmitted books pass through review again. KDP says paperback and hardcover cover updates are normally published within 72 hours. If the book was already live, it remains available for purchase while the update is reviewed. Fixing the actual cause matters more than resubmitting fast; repeated failed uploads speed nothing up.
For print books, yes: if your file has no barcode, KDP places one on the back cover. You can supply your own instead. Either way, keep the template’s barcode zone free of art and text, because covers with content in that location are rejected. Ebooks carry no barcode.