How to Document AI Use for a KDP Hardcover or Illustrated Edition

Document AI-assisted and AI-generated material by keeping a project record that identifies what each tool did, which files it affected, who reviewed the output, and what rights or accuracy checks you completed. For KDP, distinguish AI-assisted work from AI-generated content, because Amazon currently asks for disclosure of AI-generated text, images, or translations during title setup, while AI-assisted editing or refinement may not require the same disclosure. For a hardcover or illustrated edition, make these decisions before final cover, interior, and metadata files are built, then confirm the current disclosure fields and rules inside KDP before publishing or updating the title.

Start with the distinction KDP cares about

For an illustrated hardcover, AI documentation should begin before design work begins. The most important first step is to separate AI-assisted material from AI-generated material. KDP’s current guidance distinguishes between content created by a person with AI used as a support tool and content created by an AI tool. Because KDP settings and wording can change, check the AI content section in your KDP title setup each time you publish or update a file.

AI-assisted work includes refining content you wrote yourself or brainstorming ideas that you express in your own original text. Record the distinction at the actual asset level: adopting an AI-created chapter title and editing it is different from considering an idea and independently writing the final title. Later human editing does not by itself change generated content into assisted content.

AI-generated content includes text, images, and translations created by an AI tool and incorporated into the book, even after substantial editing. Record generated maps, decorative borders, portraits, and cover textures as carefully as full-page illustrations. KDP requires disclosure of generated content when publishing a new book or editing and republishing an existing book.

Create an AI-use log before files start multiplying

A KDP hardcover project can produce manuscript drafts, image files, layered design files, proof PDFs, case-wrap versions, and revised interiors. KDP offers case-laminate hardcovers without dust jackets. Keep any jacket concept for another printer in a separate deliverable set so it cannot be mistaken for a KDP upload asset. Begin the AI-use log before those files multiply.

The log does not need to be complicated. For each item, record the date, tool used, content type, purpose, file name, whether the output was AI-assisted or AI-generated, and the human review completed. For example: “March 12, Tool X, spot illustration for Chapter 4, generated image used as reference only, not included in final file,” or “April 3, Tool Y, AI-generated background texture included on hardcover case wrap, reviewed for artifacts and rights concerns.”

The point is not to preserve every prompt forever. The point is to know what entered the finished book and where it appears. For an illustrated hardcover, add page numbers, spread numbers, or cover locations. “Back cover forest texture,” “pages 18 to 19 full-bleed spread,” and “title page ornament” are much more useful than “some art.”

Map AI decisions to the final interior file

The interior file is where documentation often becomes messy, especially for illustrated books. A picture book, graphic guide, cookbook, gift book, workbook, or art-heavy nonfiction title may combine original writing, AI-assisted edits, human illustration, licensed assets, and AI-generated visual elements. Keep a content map that follows the final page order, not just the production order.

For each page or spread, note whether the text is human-written, AI-assisted, or AI-generated. Do the same for images. If an image began as AI-generated but was heavily repainted or composited, still record the origin honestly. KDP’s current guidance focuses on whether AI created the content, not whether later edits improved it. Your internal notes should be clearer than the minimum disclosure field because they help you answer questions later.

This record also protects your future editions. If you later release a paperback, large print hardcover, revised illustrated edition, or translated edition, you will need to know which assets can be reused, which must be replaced, and which require a new KDP disclosure. A page-level map is especially helpful when a printer proof reveals a problem and you swap only a few images rather than rebuilding the whole book.

Document cover, case wrap, and image rights separately

For a KDP hardcover, inventory the front, back, spine, and wrap areas of the case-laminate cover, including the author photo, logo, texture, and typography. A dust jacket is not a supported KDP hardcover component. Record each generated image element that remains in the final case-wrap file, even if it is small or decorative.

Keep a separate cover asset list with the source of each element. Include AI-generated art, stock images, fonts, hand lettering, photography, icons, textures, and logos. For each item, record whether you own it, licensed it, created it, or generated it. If a vendor, designer, or illustrator used AI, ask them to identify which parts were AI-generated and to confirm what rights they are granting you. Do not assume “custom cover” means “no AI.”

KDP requires authors to have the rights needed to publish the content they upload. AI tools may have their own terms, and those terms can differ by plan, use case, and jurisdiction. Before you approve a hardcover cover or illustrated interior, review the tool’s current commercial-use terms and keep a copy or note of the version you relied on. Also check the final images for visible artifacts, accidental text, distorted anatomy, confusing details, or elements that could look like protected characters, logos, or living people.

Make metadata match the actual book

AI documentation is not only about the files. It also affects metadata. KDP metadata includes title, subtitle, contributor names, description, keywords, categories, age and grade ranges when relevant, series information, and other setup fields. Metadata should describe the book accurately and should not use misleading claims about how the book was created.

Do not list an AI tool as an author, illustrator, translator, editor, or contributor unless KDP’s current contributor options and rules clearly allow it, and even then consider whether it would confuse readers. Contributor fields are generally meant for people or publishing entities responsible for the work. If a human illustrator created the final art with AI assistance, credit the human according to the role they performed and keep your AI-use notes separately.

For illustrated hardcovers, be careful with phrases like “hand-painted,” “original watercolor,” “professionally illustrated,” or “human translated” if AI-generated content is part of the final work. If you used AI-generated images, you do not necessarily need to put that in the public description unless KDP or applicable law requires it, but the description must not contradict the book’s actual production. Accurate metadata also helps avoid later corrections when you update files, add formats, or create a series page.

Build a pre-upload checklist for KDP disclosure

Before uploading, compare the final files with the AI-use log. KDP requires disclosure of AI-generated text, images, and translations, including generated cover artwork; it does not require disclosure of AI-assisted content under its current distinction. Check the current form and answer for the material actually being published rather than relying on the status of an earlier draft.

Your checklist should ask: Does the final interior contain AI-generated text? Does it contain AI-generated images? Does the cover contain AI-generated images? Was any translation generated by AI? Were AI outputs used only for brainstorming, editing, or internal reference and then excluded from the final book? Are all rights, licenses, and permissions documented? Has a human reviewed all final content for accuracy, quality, and policy issues?

If your answer changes after a proof correction, update the log and the KDP disclosure. For example, if you replace a human-created map with an AI-generated map because of a layout deadline, that is not a minor production note. It changes the content history and may change your disclosure. The same applies if you remove every AI-generated image before final upload, because your disclosure should reflect what remains in the book, not every abandoned draft.

Preserve records for revisions, new formats, and disputes

Good documentation is useful long after launch. Hardcover books often go through proof corrections, seasonal cover updates, price changes, expanded illustration packages, and companion editions. If you later upload a corrected interior, create a special edition, or move the book into a boxed set, you need to know whether the AI content status changed. Keep the AI-use log with your ISBN, edition notes, final PDFs, cover files, and licensing records.

Use version names that make sense six months later. “HC-interior-v7-final-final.pdf” is not enough. A better record might say: “Hardcover first edition, uploaded May 2026, AI-generated images on pages 12, 18, 19, and case wrap background, no AI-generated text, AI-assisted copyediting throughout.” This kind of note helps you answer KDP setup questions consistently when you revise the book.

If you hire freelancers, include AI-use reporting in the contract or project brief. Ask writers, illustrators, designers, indexers, formatters, and translators to tell you whether they used AI-generated material in deliverables. You remain responsible for what you publish through your KDP account, so your records should not depend on memory or informal chat messages.

Treat AI as a production tool, not a substitute for review

AI can be useful in a publishing workflow, but documentation should not become a way to excuse weak files. KDP’s content and metadata guidelines still apply. For an illustrated hardcover, review the final book as a reader would: text readability, image clarity, page order, bleed, margins, trim size, spine placement, barcode area, duplicate pages, blank pages, and whether the description matches the delivered product.

Illustrated books need extra care because visual mistakes can survive spellcheck. Look for inconsistent characters, unreadable signs, fake text in images, mismatched hands, odd perspective, and details that conflict with the story or instructions. If the book is educational, medical, legal, financial, technical, or aimed at children, do not rely on AI output without qualified human review appropriate to the topic.

The practical goal is simple: be able to explain what you made, what a tool made, what you changed, what you checked, and what you uploaded. That record supports better files, cleaner metadata, and more confident KDP disclosures for your hardcover or illustrated edition.