Your manuscript is formatted with carefully selected images and Kindle Direct Publishing‘s previewer confirms everything is in place.
However, the images look different when viewing the proof. Those in colour, or containing shades of grey have added white-space. This is typically shown as circles of black ink surrounded by white-space. Why is that?
Simple answer: Halftone.
Below, a table demonstrating the effect of converting images in various states to halftone. Note, these were generated using a filter, so the actual look and feel on paper will vary.
| Original | Halftone | |
|---|---|---|
| Colour |  |  |
| Greyscale |  |  |
| Black and White |  |  |
| Grey and White |  |  |
All emojis designed by OpenMoji – the open-source emoji and icon project. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
What Can I Do About It?
Your options are straightforward:
- Keep it simple, limit yourself to line art;
- Convert to Halftone to take control of the process; and
- Accept the printer will process the images for you.
