Book formatting that reads like a real book.
The interior is where self-published books give themselves away. Inkbound composes your pages the way they'll actually print — not a rough word-processor approximation — so the finished book feels like it came from a publishing house.
Composed the way it'll print.
Choose a template, set your trim, and watch the page compose itself — margins, running heads, and chapter openers all handled, updating live as you work.
- Six templates — Novel, Memoir, Non-fiction, Cookbook, Coffee table, Poetry
- Every common KDP trim size — plus custom sizes from 4″ × 6″ to 8.5″ × 11.69″ — book typefaces, size & leading control
- Chapter-opener styles, ornaments & drop caps
- Passage fonts — set any passage in its own typeface, embedded in the print PDF
- A live, print-accurate typeset page preview as you work
When the interior's set, design the outside in the cover lab, then move to publishing. New here? Start with how Inkbound works.
The details that make a book feel real.
A word processor was built to print office memos, not to typeset books — which is why so many self-published interiors quietly give themselves away: loose rivers of white space, mismatched margins, chapter titles that drift down the page, folios in the wrong corner. Inkbound is built the other way around. It treats your manuscript as a book from the first page, applying the typographic conventions readers feel even when they can't name them.
Margins and gutters that respect the binding
A printed book needs a wider inside margin — the gutter — so text doesn't vanish into the spine, and that gutter has to grow with page count. Inkbound computes mirrored margins for left- and right-hand pages automatically from your trim size and length, so a 600-page novel and a 120-page novella each get margins that actually work in the reader's hands.
Running heads, folios, and chapter openers
Running heads (author and title across the top), page numbers that politely disappear on chapter-opening pages, and chapters that always begin on a fresh right-hand page — these are the small signals of a professionally set book, and Inkbound applies them by default so you never think about them.
Drop caps, ornaments, and scene breaks
Open a chapter with a drop cap, mark a scene break with a glyph or a centered rule, and choose ornaments that match the mood of the book. Details that signal craft — without ever shouting for attention.
Any trim size, margins solved.
Pick the size your genre expects — Inkbound recomputes margins, gutter, and pagination instantly.
| Trim size | Best for |
|---|---|
| 5 × 8 in | Novellas, pocket fiction, poetry |
| 5.25 × 8 in | Digest fiction |
| 5.5 × 8.5 in | Trade fiction and memoir |
| 6 × 9 in | The standard for most fiction & non-fiction |
| 5.06 × 7.81 in | Mass-market-style paperbacks |
| 7 × 10 in | Workbooks, guides, illustrated non-fiction |
| 8 × 10 in | Children's books and photo-led titles |
| 8.5 × 11 in | Manuals, cookbooks, textbooks |
Six starting points — one for each kind of book.
Novel
Classic fiction setting — generous leading, restrained chapter openers, one clean column of text.
Memoir
Warm, personal typography with room for epigraphs, dates, and quiet section breaks.
Non-fiction
Clear heading hierarchy, pull quotes, and space for notes, callouts, and references.
Cookbook
Structured layouts for ingredients, method, and headnotes that stay legible on the counter.
Coffee table
Image-forward pages with captions and generous white space, built for large trims.
Poetry
Preserves line breaks, indents, and stanza spacing exactly — no reflow surprises.
Book formatting questions.
Does Inkbound format for both eBook and print?
Which KDP trim sizes are supported?
Do I need design experience to get a professional interior?
Will the preview match what KDP actually prints?
Can I format poetry or books with unusual layouts?
Format your book in Inkbound.
Inkbound is free to write — no account needed. A one-time $129.99 license unlocks publishing (covers, audiobook, exports), and code EARLYACCESS takes 50% off during early access.