A Format
The exact trim size, DPI, color profile, and file format specs for a photographer portfolio ebook on KDP or direct sale. Built for Quari Press.
You shoot at 45 megapixels and your book comes out looking like a Word doc. That's a format problem, not a talent problem. Ebook platforms compress images hard, Kindle's default renderer strips color profiles, and most self-publishing guides are written for novelists who've never thought about a bleed margin. Photographers need different specs: bigger trim, image-first layout, color handling that survives KDP's pipeline. This page lays out the exact production spec, trim size, resolution, file format, front and back matter, so your book looks like a portfolio piece instead of a manuscript with pictures dropped in. Quari Press builds to these specs by default when you tell it the book is photography-led. Use this as your checklist whether you're building on Quari or handing specs to a designer.
8.5x8.5 or 8x10 square/near-square formats read as photo books, not text books. Standard 6x9 fiction trim crushes wide landscape shots and forces awkward crops. Pick your trim before you shoot the cover, because it determines your safe margins and how much white space frames each image.
Export images at 300 DPI at final print size even for ebook-only editions, you'll want the print files later and downsampling is easier than upsampling. Convert to sRGB before export, not Adobe RGB. Kindle's renderer doesn't respect embedded color profiles, so what looks right in Lightroom can shift muddy on a Fire tablet if you leave it in ProPhoto or AdobeRGB.
Standard reflowable EPUB was built for text and it will reflow your images into the wrong spots on different screen sizes. Photographer books need Kindle Fixed Layout (KFX/AZK3) or a print-quality PDF for direct sale. Fixed layout locks every image and caption exactly where you placed it, on every device.
Your book is a business card, not just a portfolio. Front matter: title page, one-paragraph artist statement, no long foreword nobody reads. Back matter is where the conversion happens, contact info, booking link, Instagram handle, and a QR code if you're selling print copies at a gallery show or client meeting.
nonfiction
“A 40-image golden hour collection built to land wedding and portrait bookings.”
A tightly curated portfolio book built around one lighting condition you've mastered. Each spread pairs an image with a two-sentence note on the light, the location, or the client moment, turning a portfolio into a story clients can flip through before they book.
nonfiction
“12 months, 12 shoots, one book that builds local trust and search visibility.”
A year-in-the-life book documenting twelve real client shoots in your market, one per month, each with a short client story and the technical choices behind the images. Built to hand to prospects and to rank locally when people search your city plus photographer.
Make Your Own
Write it, illustrate it, publish it. You own the copyright the moment it exists — sell it on Amazon, Gumroad, or your own site. Quari only takes 15% on books sold through your Quari storefront.