# What dpi should images for kindle covers be?



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

I read on one blog it doesn’t matter what dpi ebook covers are.

Another site said they should be 300 dpi for best clarity.

Someone told me kindle covers should be 150 dpi while print should be 300.

Which is correct? I have a cover that is 96 dpi. A couple people told me that isn’t enough and I need higher res. Can I use it or not?

Also: I've been reading about how Amazon is making less visible the covers that are are deemed erotica.

So for an erotic romance is it safer to feature a couple that may be in their underwear but with no obvious nudity? Would bare breasts or butt make Amazon shunt the book into just the erotica category while a less revealing cover would make the book visible even in the romance category?

I know erotica sells well but i get the impression erotic romance sells better? So it would be better if one's book can be listed in romance rather than erotica?

Thanks for any advice.


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## BEAUTeBOOK (Oct 8, 2013)

Hi,

It is important the resolution because a 300dpi resolution image of the Kindle recomended size of 1563x2500 is a very large file, and therefore you will end up with a very large eBook file.

The ideal resolution used to be 72dpi, but now with the new Kindle Fire or iPad screens, you can also use 96dpi.

300dpi resolution is the one you need for a print cover, like the one you have to upload in CreateSpace.


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## David Adams (Jan 2, 2012)

As a graphics guy, the question is hard to answer because it belies an unclear understanding of what DPI represents, which is how many dots are shown per square inch of display space. Resolution is talking about dots. So you can either specify X amount of dots, or X amount of inches (and an associated DPI). 

If you're designing your own covers, I recommend making them as large as reasonably possible. I do 90% of my own covers and when I started out I just set them to the "suggested" size of 800x600. That meant when the Kindle Fire came out my covers looked dumb and I had to redo them. Sure, they got a LOT better, but I won't make that mistake again.

The typical fiction cover, for print books, is 6"x9", at 300dpi. This is a very large image, more dots than any current Kindle device can display, but it means it's a little bit future proof. Resolutions will continue to climb, but the digital representation of a book is unlikely to exceed the resolution of a print version for some time yet. And if it does, that is rapidly approaching the limit of human vision for that screen density. On a Retina display, most people can't tell the difference between 200dpi and 300dpi images (even on a 300dpi screen; a retina display is about 200-300dpi depending on device).

Remember: it is trivially easy to scale down without loss, it is impossible to scale up without loss. There are ways to do minor adjustments that are not too damaging, but here is always loss there.

The TLR is: bigger is always better if you have a relatively cost-free choice, but if in doubt, 6"x9" at 300dpi will cover you for ebook in the foreseeable future, and print. It's a safe bet even if I personally prefer 5x8.


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## RJ Kennett (Jul 31, 2013)

To simplify:

For *print*, you need a 300 dpi image, sized for your print cover.

For *web* (and that includes your ebook cover), 72 dpi. There are displays that can handle 96 dpi, but you want to build for the lowest common denominator, so - 72 dpi.

If you create your first image for web, you'll have to start from scratch when you want to create an image for print - so create your image for print first, then scale it down for web.


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## Catchy (Mar 3, 2012)

This is what Kindle says: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2J0TRG6OPX0VM

They will reject covers that are not large enough.


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## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

Ebooks don't have DPI in the way print does. Ebook reader's screens have a set DPI and number of pixels. You just need enough pixels to fit them.

On paper, you can put as many dots into a given space as you want--subject to the realities of physics and the capability of current equipment. The more dots, the clearer and more precise the image is. You can print low resolution. You can print high resolution. The general rule of thumb is 300 dots per inch to give yourself a clear cover. (I have no idea if Createspace's equipment can print more than this or not.) Example: Let's say you have 900x900 pixel image. If you print that on a 9 inch cover, that would be 100 DPI. There are 900 dots stretched over 9 inches. If you print it as a 1" image, it will be 900DPI. If you print it as a 3 inch image, it will be 300dpi. 

Since the rule of thumb is 300dpi, you need an image that is 300 pixels times the number of inches your cover is large. If you are submitting in Adobe Acrobat/PDF format, you will also need to set your program to keep things at 300dpi. 

Devices aren't books. They have a set number of dots usually referred to as the screen resolution. You can never get more dots than this because devices won't support them. They only have so many dots to give. 

The kindle fire HDX 8.9 is, I believe, the highest rez reader or tablet out there. It has a resolution of 2560 × 1600 stretched across an 8.9" screen which works out to 339 of these pixels per inch. If your cover is larger than 2560x1600, it won't make one bit of difference because the screen can only show that many dots. You can't change the DPI, it's always going to be 339 because the screen has 339 teeny tiny little lights per inch on it. If you want to go bigger to future proof your books, that's fine, but right now it won't make any difference because the devices physically can't display any more dots than that. 

Personally, I rarely if ever look at the cover of a book on a device other than in the postage stamp size that the selection screen shows.


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