How to Format Single-Sided Coloring Pages for Amazon KDP
5 min read
Single-sided formatting means putting every drawing on a right-hand page with a completely blank page behind it — and it is the standard fix for marker bleed-through. Hand a brand-new coloring book and a marker to a four-year-old and you will understand why in about ten seconds: the ink soaks through the paper and ghosts all over the picture behind it.
I publish my own coloring books through Amazon KDP, and single-sided versus double-sided is a decision I weigh on every title. Here is exactly how the format works, with real numbers.
Quick reference
| Single-sided (blank versos) | Double-sided | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Markers, gel pens, tear-out pages | Crayons and colored pencils (ages 2–5) |
| Page count | 25 drawings ≈ 52 pages | 50 drawings ≈ 52 pages |
| Printing cost (52 pp) | ≈ $1.47/copy | ≈ $1.47/copy — but twice the art |
| Marker bleed-through | Ruins nothing (blank backs) | Ghosts onto the next drawing |
Why markers bleed through in the first place
KDP prints black-and-white interiors — which is what a coloring book is — on 60-pound white paper. IngramSpark uses 50-pound. There is no heavier paper option for black-and-white interiors on either platform, so you cannot buy your way out of bleed-through with better stock. Markers will soak through that paper. Crayons and colored pencils will not.
That leaves two honest defenses. You can print single-sided so the ink has nowhere important to land, and you can tell buyers plainly that the book is best with crayons or colored pencils. Plenty of successful books do both.
What single-sided formatting actually means
Single-sided is a layout convention, not a checkbox in KDP. You build it into your interior PDF: every piece of art sits on a right-hand page, immediately followed by a completely blank page. In a KDP paperback, page 1 falls on the right-hand side, so with a title page and copyright page up front, your artwork lands on the odd-numbered pages and the blanks fill the evens.
Keep the versos truly blank. They still have to exist as real pages in the PDF, at the same page size as everything else, but they need no artwork and nothing printed on them. A blank back means a bleeding marker ruins nothing — that is the whole point.
The page-count math
Blank pages count as printed pages, so single-sided roughly doubles your page count. Twenty-five pieces of art become 50 pages, and once you add a title page and copyright page you are at 52. Two KDP rules to remember: the total page count must be even, and a paperback needs at least 24 pages.
That minimum is actually easier to clear single-sided. Eleven drawings plus a title page and copyright page lands you at exactly 24 pages, which matters if you are testing a small, focused book before committing to a bigger one.
What the blank pages cost you
KDP's US printing cost for an 8.5 × 11 black-and-white paperback is $0.85 fixed plus $0.012 per page. So each blank verso costs 1.2 cents. A 52-page single-sided book (25 drawings) prints for about $1.47 a copy. The same 25 drawings printed double-sided would make roughly a 28-page book at about $1.19 — a difference of about 28 cents per copy. Single-sided is cheap insurance.
On the income side, KDP pays 60 percent of list price minus printing. At a $9.99 list price, that 52-page book earns about $4.52 per sale. For context, 48-page coloring books typically retail between $7.99 and $9.99, and buyers judge value by the number of pictures, not the page count on the spine — so a single-sided book with 25 solid drawings competes just fine in that band.
File specs that make it print-ready
Whether you go single- or double-sided, the underlying page specs are the same (the full margin breakdown lives in the KDP coloring-book size and margin requirements):
- Trim size: 8.5 × 11 inches portrait — 2550 × 3300 pixels per page at 300 DPI.
- Bleed: 0.125 inches. A full-bleed page is 8.625 × 11.25 inches, or 2587 × 3375 pixels at 300 DPI.
- Resolution: 300 DPI is the print target. Below about 250 DPI, line art prints visibly soft.
- Safe area: keep everything important at least 0.5 inches inside the trim, which leaves a live area of roughly 7.5 × 10 inches.
- Gutter: the inside margin is 0.5 inches for books up to 150 pages — worth noting because single-sided layouts push page counts up, and 151 to 300 pages requires 0.625 inches.
The blank versos need the same dimensions as the art pages, but no bleed artwork — just correctly sized empty pages.
When double-sided is the better call
Single-sided is not automatically right. Double-sided gives you twice the art for the same printing cost: the same 52 pages that hold 25 single-sided drawings hold 50 double-sided ones. If your audience is toddlers and preschoolers — kids who color with chunky crayons, not markers — bleed-through is a non-issue and double-sided is simply more book for the money.
My rule of thumb: books for ages 2 to 5 can comfortably go double-sided with a friendly note that they are best with crayons or colored pencils. Books aimed at older kids or adults, where markers and gel pens are likely, deserve the blank verso. If you are torn, single-sided costs you 1.2 cents per blank page — a small price for a book that never disappoints a marker fan. (New to the whole process? Start with how to make a coloring book for Amazon KDP.)
Final PDF checklist before you upload
- Every drawing sits on a right-hand (odd) page with a truly blank page behind it
- Blank versos are real pages in the PDF, at the exact same page size
- Total page count is even and at least 24 (11 drawings + title + copyright = exactly 24)
- Gutter margin still matches the final count — single-sided doubles it quickly
- Listing says the book is best with crayons or colored pencils
- Proof copy ordered and tested with the messiest marker in the house
Keep going
Skip the formatting entirely
Bamm Coloring Book Builder takes your own line art and handles everything on this page — trim size, margins, page order, marker-safe single-sided layout, the full-color wraparound cover, and a print-ready PDF built to KDP's specs. Build and preview your whole book free; pay $19 one time to download your ready-to-go files. You publish to your own KDP account and keep every right and royalty.
Make a coloring bookOfficial sources
About the author: Sara Larson is an early educator in the Pacific Northwest and the founder of Bamm Book Builder. She self-published her own storybook and coloring books on Amazon KDP, hit every wall on this page personally, and developed the application she wished she'd had.
Published 2026-07-11 · Last reviewed 2026-07-11. Amazon KDP specifications can change — confirm the current requirements for your selected trim size, ink, paper, and page count before publishing. Bamm Book Builder is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon.