How to Create an Ebook from a PDF — Publish on Kindle and Beyond

You have a PDF. Maybe it is a manuscript, a course workbook, a cookbook, or a collection of essays. You want it on Kindle. Or Apple Books. Or all the major ebook stores. The process is more straightforward than most guides make it seem, but there are real gotchas that will cost you formatting headaches if you skip them.

Here is what actually works in 2026.

PDF vs. EPUB: The Core Difference

PDFs are fixed layout — every element has an exact position on a page of a specific size. An 8.5 x 11 inch PDF looks identical on every device, which is both its strength and its problem. On a phone screen, that "identical" layout means tiny text that requires pinching and zooming.

EPUB is reflowable — the text adapts to whatever screen size the reader uses. Font size, margins, and line spacing adjust dynamically. A Kindle, an iPad, and a phone all show the same content in a layout that works for each screen.

For most ebooks (novels, nonfiction, self-help, business books), you want reflowable EPUB. For image-heavy books (photography, comics, cookbooks with complex layouts, children's picture books), fixed-layout EPUB or PDF is sometimes better.

Converting PDF to EPUB

MyPDF's PDF to EPUB converter handles the conversion, but your results depend heavily on how the source PDF was created. Good PDF sources (clean conversion):

• PDFs exported from Word, Google Docs, or InDesign with proper heading styles
• Text-based PDFs with simple layouts (single column, standard fonts)
• PDFs with a logical reading order

Problematic PDF sources (expect manual cleanup):

• Scanned PDFs (they are images, not text — OCR first)
• Multi-column layouts (conversion tools often scramble the reading order)
• PDFs with heavy graphic design, custom fonts, or overlapping elements
• PDFs created from PowerPoint (every text box becomes a separate element)

If your PDF came from a Word document, honestly, go back to the Word file and export EPUB directly from there. It will save you hours of cleanup.

Setting Up Metadata

Metadata is what makes your ebook discoverable and properly categorized in stores. Every EPUB file contains:

• Title — Exactly as you want it displayed
• Author — Your name or pen name
• Language — en, es, fr, etc.
• Publisher — Your imprint name or your own name
• Description — Your book blurb (this appears on store listings)
• Subject/Categories — Genre and subcategory
• Cover image — The single most important marketing element (more on this below)

Get the metadata right before uploading to any store. Fixing it after publication means re-uploading and losing any accumulated reviews during the processing period.

Cover Image Requirements

Every platform has slightly different cover requirements, but this works universally:

• Dimensions: 2560 x 1600 pixels (or any 1.6:1 ratio)
• Format: JPEG or PNG
• File size: Under 5MB
• Content: Title and author name must be legible at thumbnail size (roughly 120 x 75 pixels)

Your cover is a thumbnail in a store — it needs to work at the size of a postage stamp. Bold text, high contrast, simple composition. The intricate watercolor that looks gorgeous at full size becomes an indistinct blob in search results.

If you need to resize your cover image to hit the exact dimensions, do that before embedding it in the EPUB.

Platform-Specific Requirements

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

• Accepted formats: EPUB, KPF (Kindle Create), DOCX, PDF (not recommended)
• Recommended: EPUB or KPF for reflowable, PDF for fixed-layout only
• Royalty options: 35% list price or 70% list price (70% requires pricing between $2.99-$9.99 and enrollment in specific terms)
• Exclusivity: KDP Select requires 90-day Kindle exclusivity in exchange for Kindle Unlimited enrollment and promotional tools
• Processing time: Usually 24-72 hours after submission

Do not upload a raw PDF to KDP for a text-based book. Amazon will accept it, but the reading experience is terrible — no reflowing, tiny text on phones, no adjustable font size. Convert to EPUB first.

Apple Books

• Accepted formats: EPUB (strongly preferred), PDF
• Submission: Through Apple Books for Authors (formerly iTunes Connect) or via aggregators like Draft2Digital
• Royalty: 70% on all price points
• No exclusivity required
• Pricing: You set the price; minimum is $0.99 (or free)

Apple's reader handles well-formatted EPUB beautifully. If your ebook looks great in Apple Books, it will look great everywhere.

Kobo

• Accepted formats: EPUB, PDF, DOCX
• Submission: Kobo Writing Life (direct) or aggregators
• Royalty: 70% for books $2.99-$12.99, 45% outside that range
• Strong in: Canada, Australia, and European markets

Google Play Books

• Accepted formats: EPUB, PDF
• Submission: Google Play Books Partner Center
• Royalty: 70% for most markets
• Unique feature: Google can make your book searchable via Google Search, driving organic traffic

ISBN Considerations

An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is not required for Kindle or most digital-only distribution. However:

• KDP assigns a free ASIN (Amazon's identifier) — no ISBN needed
• Apple, Kobo, and Google Play accept books without ISBNs but recommend them
• If you want your ebook in library systems or tracked by industry databases, you need an ISBN
• In the US, ISBNs cost $125 for one or $295 for 10 through Bowker (myidentifiers.com). Aggregators like Draft2Digital provide free ISBNs, but they list the aggregator as publisher of record

My recommendation: skip the ISBN for your first ebook unless you are building a publishing business. You can always add one later.

Pre-Publication Checklist

Before uploading to any platform:

1. Open the EPUB on an actual e-reader or in the Kindle Previewer app
2. Check every chapter opening — does it start on a new page?
3. Verify the table of contents links work
4. Look for formatting artifacts (random bold text, broken paragraphs, orphaned headings)
5. Confirm images display at readable sizes
6. Test on both a phone-sized screen and a tablet-sized screen
7. Spell-check one more time — typos in ebooks get one-star reviews

Compress your images before embedding them in the EPUB. Large images bloat the file size, and some platforms penalize delivery costs against your royalty for oversized files (KDP charges delivery fees on the 70% royalty option).

Related Tools

• PDF to EPUB — Convert manuscripts for ebook stores
• Resize Image — Format cover images to platform specs
• Compress Image — Reduce image sizes before embedding
• Merge PDF — Combine chapters into a single manuscript
• Edit PDF — Clean up source PDFs before conversion