Ink coverage too high: IngramSpark's 240% limit, Lulu's ink warning and B&N's 'Ink Saturation Error

Printers lay down four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Total ink coverage adds up how much of each goes on the same spot. 100% of all four would be 400%. Paper can only take so much ink before it stays wet, smudges, or soaks through, so printers set a limit.

Rich black is black made from black ink plus some cyan, magenta and yellow. It looks deeper than plain black on large areas, which is why designers use it. It's also the easiest way to go over the limit: a black built from 100% of every ink is 400%.

The limits (as at 4 October 2026)

IngramSpark returns "Ink Coverage Exceeds 240% CMYK" when part of your cover or colour interior goes over 240%. Its recommended rich black is 60% cyan, 40% magenta, 40% yellow and 100% black, which adds up to exactly 240%. IngramSpark notes a file over the limit may be moved to premium colour printing.

Lulu says that if you add colours to enrich a black, the total should never go over 270%, and that very light colour mixes under 20% should be avoided. Lulu's list of common errors shows high ink coverage as an error (red) rather than a warning, and links it with premium printing.

Barnes & Noble Press shows an "Ink Saturation Error" when it can't print a project because pages are too heavily printed or the paper won't absorb the ink. Its suggested fixes: lighter, more tonal images; a higher print quality level; or heavier paper.

KDP doesn't publish a total ink limit on the help pages we checked.

The usual culprits

• Full-bleed black or very dark covers.
• Dark photos, especially night scenes, used large.
• Black set as 100% of all four inks.
• Dark coloured backgrounds on pages of a colour interior.

How to fix it in Word

Word can't show or set ink percentages, so you can't measure ink coverage in Word. What you can do:

1. Avoid full-page black or near-black backgrounds on pages you made in Word.
2. For dark photos, click the picture, go to Picture Format > Corrections, and raise the brightness a little. Check a proof copy before you go further.
3. If the problem is your cover and it was made in Word, ask a designer to rebuild the dark areas as a rich black of 60/40/40/100, with small text in plain black.

Using a designer, InDesign, Affinity or Canva? Set large black areas to 60/40/40/100 and small text to 100% black. Use an ink-coverage preview to find any area over the limit: InDesign's Separations Preview has an ink limit view, and Adobe Acrobat Pro's Output Preview can show total area coverage.

Check before you upload

Bervet's free spine width calculator checks cover and interior PDFs for RGB and CMYK images, spot colours and PDF/X. To be clear: it cannot measure total ink coverage, so it won't catch this error. Use an ink-coverage preview like the ones above, or order a proof. The check runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded; checking a PDF needs a free Bervet account.