Key takeaways
- Generated cover and interior images require current KDP disclosure.
- Review tool terms and all relevant third-party rights.
- Inspect anatomy, text, symbols, consistency, and factual accuracy.
- Prepare separate print and eBook assets with appropriate quality and accessibility.
Classify and disclose the images
KDP says images created by an AI-based tool are AI-generated, including cover and interior artwork. Heavy retouching does not change the generated classification under its stated definition.
Inventory every generated asset and answer KDP's current publication questions accurately when the book is created or qualifying edits are republished.
Review rights beyond the tool output
- Commercial-use terms and plan restrictions
- Copyright and trademark elements in inputs or outputs
- Real-person likeness, privacy, and publicity rights
- Logos, uniforms, products, buildings, and protected characters
- Licensed reference images, fonts, and compositing assets
- Contributor agreements and territorial limitations
For the broader publishing workflow, continue with Should You Use AI to Create Your KDP Book Cover?.
Run a visual and factual review
- Hands, faces, objects, perspective, shadows, and repeated details
- Garbled or invented text and symbols
- Character and object consistency across images
- Historical, medical, technical, or cultural accuracy
- Unintended stereotypes, violence, or misleading implications
- Suitability at final print size and grayscale where relevant
Prepare images for the format
KDP's print guidance calls for manuscript images at a minimum 300 DPI and recommends flattening them appropriately. Kindle guidance emphasizes readable, clear images and alt text for accessibility.
Do not increase a low-detail image's file metadata and assume it has become sharp. Inspect the actual pixels at the final physical dimensions and review proof output.
For the closely related decision, read Who Owns the Copyright to an AI-Generated Book?.
Use an asset ledger
Identify
Assign each image a stable filename and manuscript location.
Record
Save tool, date, prompt or brief, model, account terms, and source assets.
Review rights
Document licenses, permissions, and unresolved risks.
Approve quality
Record factual, visual, accessibility, and print checks.
Disclose
Classify generated content using KDP's current rules.
Before moving to the next stage, use How to Format a Paperback for Amazon KDP as a practical follow-through.
Know when not to use a generated image
Do not use the asset when rights cannot be reasonably established, a real person's likeness creates risk, factual precision is essential and unverified, defects harm comprehension, or the book requires a consistency the workflow cannot maintain.
Commissioned or licensed human-created art may offer stronger art direction, provenance, and contractual clarity for consequential projects.
Common questions
Does KDP allow AI-generated illustrations?
KDP currently requires disclosure of AI-generated images and compliance with all content, rights, quality, and customer-experience rules. Disclosure does not guarantee acceptance.
Do AI-generated images need to be 300 DPI for print?
KDP's print guidance calls for manuscript images at a minimum 300 DPI, but true clarity also depends on pixel dimensions and final placement size. Inspect a proof.
Do Kindle images need alt text?
KDP's reflowable image guidance says images need alt attributes, with empty alt text or presentation roles for decorative images.
Official sources and further reading
Platform policies and royalty terms can change. Check the current Amazon documentation before publishing.
Move from research to production
Create the nonfiction manuscript you plan to publish on KDP.
Give Draft Fast your reader, promise, and project details, then review an organized manuscript prepared for editing and publishing.