How to make a large print puzzle book for Amazon KDP

In short

KDP

Type of 7 pt or more, every font embedded, lines of 0.75 pt or more. No large print size of its own

type size

16 pt is the usual large print size: Ingram, a book printer, recommends it and sets 14 pt as its floor; the American Council of the Blind asks for 18 pt

typeface

Ingram asks for a plain sans serif such as Arial, and no italics

paper

Cream or off white for black text, the council says; KDP prints black ink on white, cream or groundwood

cover

Say large print on the front, so a buyer sees it in the search results

listing

Name the type size in the description

step 1 of 6

Know what KDP requires

KDP’s rules for a paperback interior are the same for every book, large print or not. On type:

“To ensure your book’s text is legible, we require a minimum font size of 7 points.”

KDP help · Paperback Fonts

“Every font in the list needs to show “Embedded” or “Embedded Subset” for your file to work.”

KDP help · Paperback Fonts

On lines, which matter in every puzzle grid:

“If your book contains lines (i.e., a chart, table or graphic element), give the lines a minimum thickness/weight of 0.75 point or 0.01″ (0.3 mm).”

KDP help · Paperback Submission Guidelines

Neither page says anything about large print. A book at 7 pt meets KDP’s rule and is still not a large print book, so the next step sets the size.

step 2 of 6

Pick the type size

Two published sets of rules are worth reading. Ingram, a book printer that takes large print titles, lists these as mandatory for its large print files:

“Font size must not be below 14 point”, “Set in easy-to-read Sans Serif font (e.g., Arial, Helvetica, Luciole)”, “No italics, bold, underlining, or large blocks of capital letters”

Ingram · Large Print guidelines

“Font size of 14-18 point is typically considered large print” and “16-point font is recommended”

Ingram · Large Print guidelines

The American Council of the Blind sets a larger base for large print documents, adopted by its Board of Publications on 6 May 2025:

“Arial, not bold, 18 point”

American Council of the Blind · Large Print Guidelines

“The same font style and at least the same font size as the document text.” (page numbering)

American Council of the Blind · Large Print Guidelines

Both are written for running text. For a puzzle book that means the rules page, the puzzle labels, the word lists and the page numbers. Ingram’s 16 pt is a sound floor for all of them; 18 pt suits the parts a solver reads over and over, such as a word list.

step 3 of 6

Lay out the puzzle pages

Grids are where large print gets hard: the digits or letters have to grow, and so do the squares around them. What that takes, puzzle by puzzle, with the sizes of our own layouts as examples:

sudoku

Digits of 16 pt and up need room: one grid a page on 6 × 9 and 7 × 10 in, two on 8.5 × 11 in

word search

Every letter of the grid at 16 pt or more means fewer letters a row: 13 × 13 on 6 × 9 in and 16 × 16 on 8.5 × 11 in, where regular print fits up to 20 × 20. The word list can be larger still: 18 pt

mazes

No type in the maze itself, so the walls do the work: 2 pt lines instead of 1.5 pt, and wide paths at the easier levels

rules page

One page per kind of puzzle, short sentences, at least the size of the rest of the book

page numbers

As large as the text, in the same typeface

solutions

Smaller grids are fine at the back: they are for checking, not solving. Say so in the description

Then check the PDF, not the layout program: open it and look for text below your size and lines below 0.75 pt, and check that every font shows as embedded.

step 4 of 6

Pick the trim size, the paper and the price

A bigger page holds bigger grids. KDP calls a page of this size a large trim and charges more to print it:

“More than 6.12 inches (155.5 mm) in width or more than 9 inches (228.6 mm) in height”

KDP help · Paperback Printing Cost

For the paper, KDP’s choices for a black and white interior:

“Black ink books can be printed on cream, white, or groundwood paper.”

KDP help · Print Options

The council asks for “Black text printed on off white or cream-colored paper.” Cream holds a few pages fewer than white: 550 instead of 590 on 8.5 × 11 in, still far more than a puzzle book needs. Groundwood costs less to print. Black ink on Amazon.com:

At $9.99 KDP pays 60% of the list price minus the print cost. Our arithmetic from KDP’s figures, for a 200 page book on 8.5 × 11 in: $4.40 to print and $1.59 a copy on white or cream, $4.24 and $1.75 on groundwood.

step 5 of 6

Make the cover

Large print buyers search for it, and the cover is what they see in the results. Ingram’s advice:

“Add a large print badge to your cover or label to your spine”

Ingram · Large Print guidelines

Put “Large Print” in the title on the front, or a badge beside it. The cover follows the same KDP rules as any paperback: the spine width comes from the page count and the paper, and the cover finish is your choice:

“Our covers are printed on 80 pound (220 GSM) white paper stock with either glossy or matte finish”

KDP help · Print Options

step 6 of 6

Fill in the book details

KDP’s help pages do not describe a large print setting. Vellum’s help, a book formatting app, shows a Large Print option in the Categories section of KDP’s book details; tick it if your form shows it too. Vellum also advises making a large print edition a new title, so it does not replace the regular paperback.

Ingram’s advice for the listing works on Amazon too:

“Include the book block font and font size used in the description”

Ingram · Large Print guidelines

One line is enough, for example: “Large print: every puzzle, rule and page number is set in 16 pt or larger type.” Make it true of the whole book, or say which parts are smaller.

Steps 3 to 5 from vøiddo, in under a minute

• Large print is on by default for all eleven kinds of puzzle: every puzzle, rule and page number at 16 pt or larger, word lists and the rules page at 18 pt, grids set in Atkinson Hyperlegible, the typeface the Braille Institute made for low vision readers.
• Checked in the PDF. Every book comes with a signed check of both files against KDP’s specs: type size, embedded fonts, line weight, margins, blank pages, cover size and spine.
• The cover says it. A “Large Print” badge goes on the front whenever the title does not already say so.
• White, cream or groundwood paper, with the spine sized to the paper and the page count, and listing notes that name the type size for your description.

Make a large print book Large print sizes, kind by kind