How to Set Your Page Margins
Your margins are the space between the edges of your trim size and your text. Set them in Print Settings › Margins, and see each change in the print preview.
How margins work
Your page has three zones. The safe zone keeps everything clear of the cut, and the content zone and the header and footer zones all sit inside it. Pick a zone and drag its sizes to see both facing pages change.
The least space your printer demands between the cut edge and anything on the page. The blade can land a little off, so nothing sits closer.
Where your text goes. It sits inside the safe zone and never goes past it; the room you add lets your pages breathe after the cut.
How to build your margins
Your margins are built in layers, and every layer is measured from the one before it. Set them in this order, in Print Settings › Margins:
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Safe Zone: how far your printer asks you to keep everything from the trimmed edge. Set it first.
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Content: extra room between the safe zone and your text, at the spine and the outer edge.
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Header and Footer: the bands above and below your text, where running heads and page numbers sit.
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Click Apply.
The print preview shows each change as you make it; nothing is kept until you click Apply.
Bleed
The safe zone keeps everything in from the cut. Bleed is the opposite: extra page past the trim, which the printer cuts off, so a picture printed to the edge shows no white sliver. Lacuna adds it for you when something in your book is set to Full Bleed: a full-page image, a background image or a heading image, or a PrintedEdges design. Set how much on the Safe Zone tab, under Bleed:
| Set | To |
|---|---|
| Amount | How far past the trim your pages reach. Amazon KDP, IngramSpark and Lulu want 0.125 in; some printers ask for 3 mm or 5 mm. |
| Edges | Three outer edges (Amazon KDP, IngramSpark), or All four edges, the binding side too (Lulu, BookVault). |
Your margins stay measured from the trimmed edge: the bleed is added outside them. To add bleed to a book with nothing at the edge (Lulu asks for it on every book), use Force Bleed when you export. How bleed works in your print-ready PDF is on the export page.
See your margins on the page
Click Margin Guidelines, in the panel’s tab bar, to draw your margins on every preview page. Click it again to hide them. They never print.
| Guide | Shows |
|---|---|
| Safe Zone | Your printer’s safe area (dark gray). Keep everything inside it. |
| Content Zone | Your margins: the box your text sits in (magenta). |
| Header & Footer | The bands your page numbers and running heads sit in (blue). |
To turn one guide on at a time, use Print preview settings.
Set your safe zone
On the Safe Zone tab, the first, set how far your printer asks you to keep everything from the trimmed edge, page numbers too.
| Set | To |
|---|---|
| Inside (gutter) | Keep everything this far from the spine. A thicker book needs more. |
| Outside (all other edges) | Keep everything this far from the top, bottom and outer edge. |
Below 0.25 in, an orange warning appears beside the box. You can still keep it.
Check your safe zone against your printer
At the bottom of the Safe Zone tab, below Bleed, a card checks your safe zone against your printer’s minimums. It names your book’s page count (212-page book, for example) with a green check or an orange warning.
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Choose your printer: Amazon KDP, IngramSpark or Lulu.
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Click the arrow to see each minimum, with a check or how far off you are.
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Click Use suggested to set your safe zone to the minimums.
Only the safe zone counts toward these minimums: the space you add on the other tabs is your own. For Lulu, the card also says whether your book has the bleed Lulu wants. The link beside the printer opens its own guidelines.
Add space inside the safe zone
On the Content tab, under Space Inside the Safe Zone, add room between the safe zone and your text: your design, on top of what your printer asks.
| Set | To |
|---|---|
| Inside (gutter) | Add room at the spine, so text near it stays readable. |
| Outside (all other edges) | Add room at the outer edge. |
How to set the space for headers and footers
Your header and footer each get their own band of space, between the safe zone and your text. The band is there whether or not a page shows a header or footer, so your text sits in the same place on every page.
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In Print Settings › Margins, open the Header or Footer tab.
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Set its two values, then click Apply.
| Set | To |
|---|---|
| Total Space | The whole band, from the safe zone to your text. More space starts your text further in. |
| Space Above Header / Space Below Footer | Where the header or footer sits in its band: at 0, right at the safe zone; more moves it toward your text. |
If a header or footer reaches your text, an orange note says so. It still saves, so check the preview.
The same two tabs are in Print Settings › Headers & Footers › Spacing. What goes in them (page numbers, your title, its font) is on Headers and Footers.
How to work in millimeters
Every margin shows in inches or millimeters, and one setting switches them all, in every book.
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Click mm at the top of the Margins panel. Or open Lacuna Settings (the cogwheel in the side menu) and, on Project Settings, set Page measurements to Millimetres.
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Type your safe zone, content, header and footer space, and bleed in millimeters.
Your trim size and the size under the print preview switch with them. Click in to go back. Switching never changes your pages, only how their sizes are shown.
Questions
How do I change the margins in Lacuna?
Click Print Settings and choose Margins. Set your printer’s safe zone on the Safe Zone tab, add your own space on Content, Header and Footer, then click Apply.
Does Lacuna set my margins for Amazon KDP?
Yes, for books up to 150 pages: a new book’s safe zone meets Amazon KDP’s minimums. For a longer book, the card on the Safe Zone tab shows a warning; click Use suggested.