KDP Says Your Cover Needs 0.125 Bleed: What It Means and How to Fix It
Fix a KDP cover bleed warning when your image or background must extend 0.125 beyond the trim line. Learn what to extend, what to keep safe, and what to check.
If KDP says your cover needs 0.125 bleed or that the background must extend beyond the trim line, you are dealing with a KDP cover bleed warning. The issue is usually not the idea of the cover. It is the edge of the final file.
For artwork that should reach the printed edge, KDP needs the background, image, or color block to continue past the trim line into the bleed area. Text, logos, QR codes, and other important details should stay inside the safe area.
If you are not sure the warning is really about bleed, start with the broader Canva cover rejected by KDP checklist. This guide is narrower: it explains what KDP means by 0.125 beyond the trim line and how to repair that specific problem.
KDP is asking for a little extra artwork outside the final cut edge. That extra area is bleed. It helps prevent a white strip from appearing if the printed cover is trimmed slightly off.
Use this quick read before changing anything:
What you see
What it means
What to do
Background stops at the trim line
The cover may look full size, but the bleed area is empty
Extend the background or image past the trim line
Title, author name, logo, or QR code sits near the edge
A live element may be at trimming risk
Move it inward, away from trim and bleed
Template lines, crop marks, or labels show in the export
Guide elements may be visible in the upload file
Export a clean PDF without visible guide marks
KDP also gives expected/submitted size numbers
The PDF page size may be wrong too
Fix the size mismatch before treating it as only a bleed problem
The simplest rule is this: backgrounds can go into bleed; important information should not.
If the KDP message does not mention the background, image, artwork, 0.125, bleed, or trim line, do not treat it as a bleed fix. Follow the exact warning KDP gives you.
Canva's margins, bleed, rulers, and crop marks can help while designing, but Canva's margin or bleed display is not the same thing as KDP approval. KDP checks the final file you upload.
A cover can look correct in Canva or in a PDF viewer because the visible trim area is filled. The missing part may be outside the trim line, where you are less likely to look.
That is why KDP's wording can feel strange. It may say the background or image needs to extend 0.125 beyond the trim line even though the cover appears to reach the edge.
One user-reported case had a KDP message about the back cover background or image needing to extend 0.125" beyond the trim line. The repair path was to place the KDP template into Canva, align the design, extend the image to the template edge, and export again as PDF Print. The original poster later replied that the issue was fixed.
Treat that as one useful repair path, not a rule by itself. The official rule is the part to rely on: if the artwork is meant to print to the edge, it needs to fill the bleed area in the final cover file.
Do not fix bleed from memory or from an old template.
KDP paperback cover layout depends on current book settings such as trim size, page count, paper type, and binding. If those settings changed, your old cover may no longer line up with the current template.
Before moving artwork, check this:
Where to look
Acceptable
Warning sign
What to fix
KDP template
Generated from the current book settings
Template came from an older page count, old paper type, or another book
Generate a fresh KDP template
Full cover size
Back + spine + front cover plus bleed
You only have a front cover canvas
Rebuild as a full paperback cover
Template alignment
Back cover, spine, front cover, trim, bleed, and barcode areas line up
Template is stretched, cropped, or shifted
Reinsert the template and align from the source file
You can use the KDP Cover Size Calculator to calculate the full cover size, spine width, bleed, safe area, and barcode layout before you rebuild or resize the source file.
Only extend artwork that is supposed to print to the edge.
Element
Acceptable
Warning sign
What to fix
Background color
Runs past the trim line to the outer bleed edge
Stops exactly at the trim line
Extend the color block into bleed
Full-bleed image
Fills the bleed area on every printed-edge side
Ends at trim and leaves empty space beyond it
Enlarge or reposition the image in the source file
Texture or pattern
Continues beyond trim without a visible edge
Pattern stops before the bleed edge
Extend or tile the pattern into bleed
Edge-to-edge illustration
Important crop still looks intentional after trimming
Key subject sits right on the trim line
Reposition the art so the edge can be cut safely
Thin border or frame
Kept well inside the safe area, or removed
Runs close to the trim line
Move it inward or remove it
Do not solve a bleed warning by stretching the finished PDF first. Fix the source artwork so the file still has the right proportions, spine position, barcode space, and safe area.
Canva can be part of a good KDP cover workflow, but KDP reviews the final PDF you upload. Do not treat Canva itself as the reason KDP rejected the file.
For a Canva-built cover, keep the repair bleed-specific:
Use the current KDP template as the guide.
Extend background images and color blocks to the outer bleed edge.
Keep title, author name, spine text, logos, and QR codes inside safe areas.
Hide or remove the KDP template before exporting the final upload file.
Export a clean PDF and inspect it outside Canva.
If you need the full setup flow, use the Canva to KDP paperback export guide. That article covers custom sizing, template placement, PDF Print export, and final PDF checks in more detail.
Canva's download file type guidance describes PDF Print as a print-oriented option. Use it as a starting point, then inspect the exported PDF before uploading it to KDP.
Be careful with crop marks. Canva may offer crop mark and bleed options, but KDP's submission guidance warns against crop marks, trim marks, comments, invisible objects, placeholder text, and similar upload problems. Your final KDP upload should be clean.
After export, open the PDF outside Canva and inspect the actual file.
Where to look
Acceptable
Warning sign
What to fix
PDF page size
Matches the expected full cover size
PDF is front-cover size, A4, Letter, or an old cover size
Fix the source canvas or export route
Visible edges
No white strip where artwork should bleed
White line appears on one side or corner
Extend source artwork into bleed and export again
Template marks
No KDP guide text, template lines, crop marks, or color bars
Any guide mark is visible
Remove guide/template elements and export a clean PDF
KDP Previewer
No bleed warning for background or image
Still says artwork must extend 0.125 beyond trim
Return to the source file and repair the edge
If the bleed warning disappears in KDP Previewer, that only means this warning may be fixed. It does not mean the whole cover or book has final approval.
If KDP also shows an error like expected cover size and submitted file size, read the expected vs submitted cover size guide before making more bleed changes. A wrong-size PDF can make the edge problem harder to diagnose.
If the page size and bleed are both right but KDP still rejects the PDF cover, use the PDF cover rejection guide to check marks, hidden objects, fonts, images, transparency, and export output.
Stretching the finished PDF may hide one warning and create new ones.
It can distort the front cover, move the spine, shift the barcode area, pull text closer to trim, or make the submitted file size wrong. If the problem is missing bleed, repair the source design and export again.
Use this decision table:
Situation
Better next step
Background stops at trim
Extend the background/image in the source file
Text sits near trim
Move text inward, not outward
KDP template does not align
Generate a current template and realign the source design
If the file is front-cover-only, built on an old template, or too messy to repair, rebuilding is often faster than patching. You can use the KDP Book Cover Generator to create a new KDP cover draft instead of manually rebuilding every zone.
It means artwork that should reach the printed edge needs to continue about 0.125" past the trim line into the bleed area. The extra artwork gives trimming a small margin so the final book does not show a white edge.
No. Text, title, author name, logos, QR codes, review quotes, and important details should stay inside the safe area. Bleed is mainly for backgrounds, full-edge images, color blocks, textures, and patterns.
Not by itself. KDP reviews the final file you upload. A Canva-made cover can work if the final PDF has the correct full cover size, filled bleed, safe live elements, clean export, and no leftover guide marks.
Use Canva's bleed view as a design aid if it helps you extend artwork. Be careful with crop marks. KDP does not want the final upload file to contain crop marks or trim marks, so inspect the exported PDF before upload.
No. Fixing bleed only addresses one type of cover warning. KDP may still flag wrong page size, unsafe text, barcode overlap, low image quality, hidden objects, manuscript issues, metadata issues, or policy problems.
Read the exact KDP message again. If it mentions expected and submitted sizes, fix the PDF size. If it mentions text, margins, spine, barcode, or PDF objects, follow that specific issue instead of continuing to stretch the bleed.
