What it does
Every page CrayonMill draws for an 8.5 × 11 in interior comes out at exactly 2550 × 3300 pixels — 300 DPI at the printed size, the resolution KDP recommends for print interiors. That number does not move by plan, page count, or single- vs double-sided setting. A 24-page book and a 300-page book get the same pixel dimensions on every page.
| Output | Pixel size | DPI at 8.5 × 11 in | Verdict against KDP's 300 DPI recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrayonMill page | 2550 × 3300 | 300 | Yes |
| Common "1K" generator output | 1024 × 1325 | 120 | No — below KDP's 200 DPI low-resolution line |
| Common "2K" generator output | 2048 × 2650 | 240 | Below the 300 DPI recommendation, above the 200 DPI line |
| Upscaled 1K file to 2550 × 3300 | 2550 × 3300 (interpolated) | 300 by the numbers | Meets the pixel count, looks soft |
The last row is the trap: stretching a small file to the right pixel count satisfies a dimension check without adding real detail, and line art shows the softening first because its edges are supposed to be crisp. CrayonMill generates at the target pixel size directly, so there is no interpolation step to hide.
From Pressed Botanicals (Adults) · Make one like it
Gray pixels fail quietly
A file can be 300 DPI and still print muddy if its edges are gray instead of solid black. CrayonMill's cleaning pipeline thresholds every page to 1-bit — pure black ink, pure white paper, no anti-aliased gray at the line edges — before it is saved. Bitmap (0–255 gray) is only an intermediate step; nothing that reaches your library or export is allowed back into gray once it has been thresholded to a mask.
What it does not do
- It does not offer a lower-resolution "draft" or "preview" tier at a cheaper credit cost. What you see in the library is the print file.
- It does not upscale an existing low-resolution image you upload — there is no photo-to-page path at all.
- It does not let a page ship at less than 300 DPI even if you would accept it; CrayonMill's own export check refuses the whole book until every page clears that resolution, regardless of what KDP's own review would do.
Sources
Last verified 2026-09-04. Updated 2026-09-04.