Print Preview

The Print Previewer generates your actual print-ready PDF so you can see exactly how your book will look when published through KDP, IngramSpark, or other print-on-demand services.

Two Preview Modes

Pick the mode from the device selector at the top of the previewer. The two names match exactly what you see there.

Print - Single Section (Fast)

This mode renders one section at a time so you can iterate on a single chapter without waiting for the full book.

• Page numbers always start at 1 for the section you’re viewing
• Table of contents does not generate in this mode
• Page count under the previewer is scoped to the current section, not your whole book
• Recto/verso start pages are not applied, since the section renders on its own

Use it while you’re tuning paragraph letter spacing, trim and margins, book headers and footers, or any other per-section adjustments.

Page numbers always start at 1

Print - Single Section (Fast) renders one section on its own, so it cannot know where that section falls in the finished book. The page number always begins at 1. This is expected. To see real, continuous page numbers, switch to Print - Whole Book (Slower). More in Page Numbering.

Print - Whole Book (Slower)

This mode renders your entire book.

• Page numbers are accurate across front matter, body, and back matter
• The table of contents generates with the correct page references
• Total page count under the previewer reflects the full book

Switch to it for final verification before you export a print-ready PDF.

Whole-Book Spread View

See your book the way a reader will hold it: as open two-page spreads, cover to cover.

In Print - Whole Book (Slower) mode, click the book icon (Open whole-book preview) in the previewer toolbar. The button becomes available once the whole-book PDF has rendered.

Inside the spread view:

• Turn pages with your mouse scroll wheel, the left and right arrow keys, or the Previous page and Next page arrows at the edges.
• Check facing pages together: spreads are the natural place to verify spread alignment and balancing, running heads, and where your chapters open.
• Close with the X in the top corner to return to the regular previewer.

Print Preview Settings

Click the gear button (Print preview settings) next to the device selector to open the previewer’s own settings. It appears in both print preview modes, and the gear turns blue whenever one of its settings is on. Everything in this menu changes only what the preview shows: your exported PDF is never affected.

Margin Guidelines

Turn on colored guides that draw your margin structure onto every preview page, so you can see exactly where your layout decisions land:

• Safe Zone (dark gray): your distributor’s boundary. Anything outside this line risks being cut off in printing.
• Content Zone (magenta): your current margins, the box your body text lives in.
• Header & Footer (blue): the bands your page numbers and running titles sit in.

On pages with a full-bleed image, a faint gray trim line also marks where the printer cuts. It appears with the Safe Zone guide, since those preview pages include the bleed area.

The same guides are one click away while you adjust margins: the Margin Guidelines button in the Print Page Margins panel and the Header & Footer Spacing panel flips all three on at once. Turning the guides on before you touch a margin setting is the single best way to understand what each control moves.

Guides never export

Margin guidelines are preview overlays only. They will not appear in your exported PDF, so feel free to leave them on while you work.

Grayscale Mode

Most print-on-demand interiors print in black and white, but your manuscript may be full of colored text, links, and images. Turn on Grayscale Mode to render the print preview in grayscale, so the pages read like the black-and-white printed book your readers will hold.

Grayscale Mode is preview-only: an exported PDF always keeps the colors your book declares. Use it to check that colored elements still carry enough contrast when the color is gone.

Uniform Margins

Print books mirror their inner and outer margins across left and right pages, which can make editing feel uneven. Turn on Uniform Margins to temporarily give every page the same left and right margin. Your export still uses the correct mirrored margins.

Page Side Labels

Turn on Page Side Labels to stamp each preview page with Verso (Left) or Recto (Right), which makes it easy to check that chapters open on the side you intend. Like everything in this menu, the labels never export.