User`s guide

Publishing on Kindle: Guidelines for Publishers
Amazon does not recommend adding additional guide items to the OPF file, because they will be grayed
out in the menu options and may cause customer confusion.
IMPORTANT: Guide items, especially the TOC guide item, do not replace the table of contents.
Image Guidelines 3.6
These guidelines apply to most books, but are not applicable to the image-intensive fixed-layout children's
books (see section 4) and fixed-layout graphic novels/manga/comics (see section 5). For cover image
guidelines, see section 3.2.
3.6.1 Image Guideline #1: Use Supported Input Formats
The Kindle platform supports GIF, BMP, JPEG, non-transparent PNG, and Scalable Vector Graphics
(SVG) images.
When using images for schemas, charts, tables, maps, or anything that includes text, pay special
attention to the legibility of the final image.
Add images to the source using the standard HTML <img> tag.
Use a resolution of 300 dpi or 300 ppi for all images.
Use RGB as the color profile when saving your files. Kindle does not support CMYK or sRGB.
3.6.2 Image Guideline #2: KindleGen Performs Automatic Image Conversions
The maximum size of an individual image file is 5 MB. The maximum size of a mobi is 650 MB.
You will obtain the best results by optimizing your images to the highest quality possible within the file
size limit before inputting your files into KindleGen. If the automatic image conversion is unsatisfactory, try
optimizing the images before feeding them to KindleGen.
3.6.3 Image Guideline #3: Use Color Images
Use color images whenever possible and relevant. If an image is a photograph, it must be formatted as a
JPEG.
3.6.4 Image Guideline #4: Photographs Should Use JPEG Format
Photographs should use the JPEG format with a quality factor of 40 or higher. Photographs should use
the highest resolution available within the file size limit. KindleGen reprocesses the photographs as
needed to adapt them to the requirements of the file format.
Photographs should not be too small. Make sure that input photos are at least 600 x 800 pixels in size,
unless you optimize them according to section 3.6.2, Image Guideline #2: KindleGen Performs Automatic
Image Conversions. Photographs of less than 300 x 400 pixels are much too small and can be rejected.
If the photographs are in GIF format or are too small, converting them to JPEG or artificially increasing the
size does not improve the quality. Go back to the original source to create a JPEG image with sufficient
resolution.
3.6.5 Image Guideline #5: Use GIF or PNG for Line-Art and Text
Line-art images are graphics drawn with a limited number of solid colors (such as images drawn by
Illustrator, Paint, or Power Point, including black-and-white drawings). Text, graphics, charts, and tables
are examples of images that are line-art.
Line-art should be in GIF or PNG format. The JPEG algorithm tries to blend parts of the image together,
and blurs the sharp edges of the line-art, causing the image (and any text it contains) to be blurry.
Text appearing in line-art images should be sharp and legible.
Kindle Publishing Guidelines Amazon.com 21