Formatting Images for Amazon Kindle

If you are getting ready to submit a manuscript for publication on Amazon's Kindle, you are going to have to take some special precautions. If you want to get your images as close to perfect as possible then these steps can help.

Sure you have some great color images that would look amazing in a print book. On Kindle, however, you do not have the luxury of using color images. You only have access to black and white, or more accurately, grayscale. You have to think about the fact that an image with high color may not look as great in gray. You also need to consider the possibility that your images will look muddy when you place them. Look at your images in black and white before you choose them. In an image editor like GIMP it is usually a simple conversion.

You need to be sure that your image will show up on your Kindle's screen. This is easy enough to do, you just need to keep in mind it's a matter of size--you must stay within the designated page size for a Kindle page. You may also want to keep your image sizes with a wide border, an inch at least, to ensure that they are not cut off. If your image is not full size use a nice pixel border to avoid bumping against the text.

When you have to make an image for Kindle you must adhere to the minimum DPI requirements. For Kindle the minimum DPI (or Dots per inch) is set at 300. Bear in mind that it is only a minimum. For many images that will be a sufficient resolution. If, however, we are talking about a cover, or another important image, you may want to go to a higher DPI--450 or 500 DPI would be a better choice, even though it will increase the file size.

Now with these few, relatively simple guidelines to follow you can create great images for Amazon Kindle. Just remember, when in doubt, you can always consult the official documentation from Amazon. It can be a great resource for specific questions.