I don't have my ISBN yet — how do I leave room for the barcode?
You don't need your ISBN to design the cover. Two options in the ISBN & Barcode section handle the gap, and they solve different problems.
Reserve barcode area
This keeps the bottom-right corner of the back cover clear, exactly where the barcode will go, without printing anything there.
Why it matters: your blurb flows around the barcode. If you write and size the blurb with no barcode present and then paste in your ISBN a week later, the barcode appears, the text has to move, and the back cover you approved is not the one you export. Reserving the space up front means the layout you approve is the layout you get.
Turn it on whenever you know an ISBN is coming.
Blank white box (no ISBN)
This prints a plain white rectangle in that corner. Use it when KDP is assigning the barcode — they drop their own barcode onto the cover at print time, and they need a clear light area to put it on. A white box guarantees they aren't printing a barcode over your artwork.
Use the white box when:
- You're using a free KDP-assigned ISBN, or
- Your printer has told you they will apply the barcode themselves.
Use reserve-only (no white box) when you have your own ISBN coming and will print your own barcode.
Once you have the ISBN
Enter your ISBN-13 and the tool prints a real scannable EAN-13 barcode in that corner. If you reserved the area, nothing else on the cover moves.
You can also print the price beside it — see Can I print the price on my barcode?