Side by side

Kindle Create vs Pixelformer

Both stand on design tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Kindle Create

Free plan MacWindows

Kindle Create prepares completed manuscripts for KDP in reflowable, print replica, or comic formats. Tables, lists, footnotes, and imported inline images cannot be edited in the tool, and Japanese reflowable or Print Replica books are unsupported.

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Pixelformer

Free plan Windows

Pixelformer provides a focused bitmap and icon workflow at no cost. Its broad format handling and icon tools are balanced by its Windows platform and dated listed release.

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The facts

	Kindle Create	Pixelformer
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Mac, Windows	Windows
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	kdp.amazon.com	qualibyte.com
On design tools	#109 of 146	#114 of 146

Kindle Create: what it does well

Free desktop book formatting tool.
Supports reflowable, print replica, and Guided View comic formats.
A single project can prepare digital and print editions.
Includes chapter detection, themes, text formatting, and hyperlinks.
Works with DOC and DOCX files exported from Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs.

What to know first

Tables, lists, and footnotes cannot be edited in the tool.
Imported inline images cannot be edited there.
Japanese is unsupported for reflowable and Print Replica books.
Headers and footers are unavailable for eBooks.

Pixelformer: what it does well

Unlimited layers in each project
Handles 1 to 32 bits per pixel
Packs multiple icon variants into one ICO
Imports and exports several bitmap formats
Includes lossless PNG optimization

What to know first

Windows-only desktop application
Listed release announcement dates to 2009
Minimum display requirement is 1024×768×15bpp

Alternatives to Kindle Create Alternatives to Pixelformer The whole list