Last reviewed by Robert Prime — April 2026
When you upload a paperback to KDP, you pick a paper type. A lot of authors I work with pick one and never think about it again. But the choice affects your book’s:
- Manufacturing cost (and therefore minimum viable retail price)
- Spine width calculation
- Reader perception of the book’s category
- Print quality of images
- Page brightness and contrast
This guide covers the three KDP options in 2026, what each is right for, and the gotchas.
We see this come through our formatting queue at publishing.co.uk regularly, so the patterns and fixes here are based on what actually works at upload.
The three KDP paper options
White paper
Specs: 60 GSM bright white interior paper, black ink.
Best for:
- Non-fiction (business, self-help, how-to, technical)
- Books with diagrams, charts, tables
- Books with illustrations needing contrast
- Cookbooks (when not using Premium Colour)
- Reference books
- Workbooks and journals
Costs: Cheapest KDP print option — roughly a couple of pounds per book depending on page count (use KDP’s printing-cost calculator for the exact UK figure).
Reader perception: Modern, clean, professional. Expected for non-fiction.
Cream paper
Specs: 60 GSM cream/off-white interior paper, black ink.
Best for:
- Novels (any genre)
- Memoir and narrative non-fiction
- Poetry collections
- Literary fiction
- Anything readers will sit and read for long stretches
Costs: ~£2.30-£4.60 per book printed (very slightly more than white).
Reader perception: Warmer, easier on the eyes for long reads, traditional. Expected for fiction.
Why cream wins for fiction: Pure white pages create high contrast that some readers find harsh during extended reading. Cream’s slight off-white reduces eye fatigue. It also matches the look of traditionally-published novels.
Premium Colour
Specs: 90 GSM bright white paper, full CMYK colour throughout interior.
Best for:
- Cookbooks (when colour photography matters)
- Children’s picture books
- Photography books
- Art books
- Graphic novels and comics
- High-end coffee-table books
Costs: Expensive — often several times the cost of black-ink printing. This is the major trade-off. Use KDP’s calculator for the exact figure by page count and trim.
Reader perception: Premium, high-quality, gift-worthy. Expected for visual books.
Retail price reality: Premium Colour books typically retail at £15-£30+. KDP’s printing cost forces a high minimum retail price to maintain any royalty.
The economics — actual print costs (UK, 2026)
For a 250-page paperback, 6×9 trim, on Amazon.co.uk:
| Interior | KDP printing cost | What it buys you |
|---|---|---|
| Black ink, groundwood | ~£3.23 | Cheapest of all. 60 GSM, slightly grey, fine for mass-market fiction |
| Black ink, white | ~£3.35 | Brightest contrast for diagrams and line art |
| Black ink, cream | ~£3.35 | Same price as white; the warm tone readers expect in a novel |
| Standard colour | ~£5.85 | Colour throughout on 74–90 GSM white. Half the price of premium |
| Premium colour | ~£11.73 | Colour on heavier 88–105 GSM white, richer ink. For photography and art |
Worked from KDP’s own figures for Amazon.co.uk, regular trim sizes, read 23 September 2026: a fixed £0.85 a book plus 1.0p a page in black on white or cream, 0.95p on groundwood, 2.0p on standard colour and 4.35p on premium colour. Large trim sizes — anything over 6.12″ wide or 9″ tall — cost more per page again, and premium colour rises to 5.98p.
The two rules that make the choice for you. Standard colour is only offered between 72 and 600 pages, so a 32-page picture book cannot use it and pays premium whether you like it or not. And standard colour is not available on hardcover at all.
It is locked after you publish. KDP ties the ink and paper type to the ISBN, so you cannot move a live book from premium to standard to claw back the margin. Decide before you upload.
Spine width — yes, it differs
White and cream paper have slightly different per-page thicknesses, and Premium Colour is thicker still — use KDP’s spine-width calculator or cover template for the exact per-page constants.
For a 200-page book:
- White spine: 0.45 inches
- Cream spine: 0.50 inches
- Premium Colour spine: 0.47 inches (close to white, not nearly double)
This means your cover wrap template is different per paper choice. Pick the paper before designing the cover.
How to choose (decision flowchart)
1. Is the book mostly text? → cream (fiction) or white (non-fiction)
2. Does the book have a few illustrations/diagrams that matter? → white (better contrast for B&W illustrations)
3. Does the book NEED colour images throughout? → standard colour first. Go premium only if the images are the product — photography, fine art, a portfolio — and you can prove the difference matters to your buyer.
4. Is it a cookbook? → standard colour for most. At ~£5.85 on a 250-page book it supports a £14.99–£17.99 retail price, where premium at ~£11.73 forces £24.99+. Premium earns its place when the food photography is the reason someone buys.
5. Is it for children? → premium colour for picture books, and you have no choice under 72 pages anyway; white for chapter books
6. Are you uncertain? → cream for fiction, white for non-fiction (genre defaults)
What about hardcover?
KDP hardcover interior paper options can be more limited than paperback, so check the current choices in your KDP dashboard. Hardcover printing costs more than paperback for the same paper — use KDP’s calculator for the exact difference.
Strategy for hardcover: same paper choice as the paperback edition of the same book — readers expect consistency.
Common mistakes
- Using white paper for a novel. Reads aggressively bright in a fiction context. Cream is the genre convention.
- Using cream paper for non-fiction. Less critical (cream works for narrative non-fiction) but pure how-to/business looks better on white.
- Printing a visual cookbook in black and white. B&W cookbook photos look amateur. But the fix is usually standard colour at ~£5.85 on a 250-page book, not premium at ~£11.73 — premium is for when the photography itself is what the reader is buying.
- Forgetting paper affects spine width. Cover wraps designed for white/cream don’t fit Premium Colour books.
- Choosing for cost over genre fit. “I’ll save money with white” produces a fiction book that looks like a manual. Lost sales > printing savings.
- Not testing print before launch. Always order a proof copy. Paper feels different than it looks online.
UK-specific considerations
- Author copies you post yourself (e.g. for events): Royal Mail shipping doesn’t care about paper type — Premium Colour books cost the same to post as cream books of the same trim size. (Amazon handles print-on-demand delivery to customers.)
- UK reader expectations: UK readers tend to expect cream paper for novels — the look of traditionally-published British fiction is commonly cream.
- UK bookshop distribution (via IngramSpark): Premium Colour-equivalent paper is available but pricing differs. If you plan dual KDP + IngramSpark, match paper across both for visual consistency.
- HMRC / royalties: KDP deducts the printing cost before it pays your royalty (a royalty mechanic, not a separate HMRC expense claim) — and this works the same regardless of paper type.
The Premium Colour question — is it worth it?
For most authors writing text-based books: no. White or cream is fine.
For cookbook, children’s, art, photography authors: probably yes.
The economics check:
- Premium Colour 250-page book: prints at ~£11.73
- Retail at £24.99 — on Amazon, paperback royalty is 60% of list minus printing cost (50% below the price breakpoint; 40% applies only via Expanded Distribution), so a high print cost like this needs a higher retail price to stay profitable — check KDP’s royalty calculator
- Alternative: same book on cream with B&W images at £12.99 retail earns roughly £4.44 royalty after print cost (about 60% × £12.99 − ~£3.35 print ≈ £4.44; use KDP’s royalty calculator for the exact figure)
- At these prices, Premium Colour actually earns less per book than the cream alternative above — while charging far more to the reader
The Premium Colour case is strongest when:
- Colour images are central to the book’s value (cookbook, art)
- The genre conventions demand colour (children’s picture books)
- The target buyer is willing to pay premium pricing
Skip Premium Colour when:
- Images are decorative, not essential
- You’re competing on price in a genre
- You want the ebook in Kindle Unlimited (KU/KENP payouts are based on the ebook’s pages read and are unrelated to your paperback’s paper choice)
What about hardback (case-laminate) vs paperback?
Different question from paper choice, but related:
- Paperback: the default. £2-£5 print cost. Retail £8.99-£14.99 typical.
- Hardcover (case laminate): £8-£15 print cost. Retail £15.99-£24.99 typical.
- Hardcover (cloth/dust jacket): not available on KDP (use IngramSpark for premium hardback).
For most indies: paperback is the core format. Hardcover can add incremental revenue from fans who want the premium edition.
The practical takeaway
For fiction: cream paper. For non-fiction (text-based): white paper. For visual books (cookbook, children’s, art): Premium Colour, accepting £20+ retail prices.
Don’t overthink it. Plenty of indie authors pick wrong only by going against genre convention (white for a novel, cream for a manual). The decision takes 30 seconds; the consequences last for the life of the book.
Always order a proof copy before launch. Paper looks and feels different in hand than online.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change paper type after publishing?
Yes — KDP allows re-uploading interior files with different paper choice. Note: spine width changes (Premium Colour is thicker), so you’d also need to update the cover wrap.
Why is cream more expensive than white?
Marginal difference — manufacturing process slightly different. The cost gap is negligible in retail pricing.
Can I use different paper for ebook? Hardcover?
Ebook is irrelevant (no paper). Hardcover offers the same paper choices as paperback — pick consistently across formats.
Does Premium Colour print better B&W images too?
Yes, sharper contrast. But the cost rarely justifies it for B&W-only books.
What about KDP’s “Premium Colour” vs IngramSpark’s premium colour?
IngramSpark’s offerings differ in spec and price. For most indie authors, KDP Premium Colour is the simpler choice; IngramSpark is worth comparing only for serious bookshop distribution.
External references
- Amazon KDP Help — official KDP documentation
- ALCS UK author income surveys — note ALCS and the separate ‘Author Earnings’ project are different sources
