Large print is a formally defined accessibility category, not a matter of taste. The two most widely cited standards come from the National Association for Visually Handicapped (NAVH), which sets a 14-point minimum and recommends 18-point, and the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), which defines large print as 18-point and above. Font choice, line spacing, paper, and layout matter almost as much as the point size itself.
What Font Size Counts as Large Print?
Large print font size begins at 14 points under the most permissive standard. The National Association for Visually Handicapped (NAVH) Seal of Approval covers font size, contrast, spacing, and font style, with 14-point widely cited as its body-text floor. The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) uses a stricter definition: true large print is 18-point or larger, and APH explicitly classifies anything larger than 12-point but smaller than 18-point as “enlarged” print rather than large print.
The US Postal Service’s Free Matter for the Blind mailing standard, which lets qualifying publications ship at no cost, also uses 14-point as its floor. The Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) notes that commercially produced large-print materials are most commonly set in 16 to 18 points. So the practical range for a self-published large-print edition is 14-point at the low end, 18-point as the sweet spot, and 20 to 24 points for “giant print” editions aimed at readers with more significant vision loss.
Across our three decades of book production at Newgen, the most common mistake we see in author-prepared “large print” files is a jump from 11-point to 13-point. That’s enlarged print, not large print, and it won’t qualify under any of the recognised standards.
NAVH vs. APH: Why the Standards Disagree
NAVH and APH target different readers, which is why their numbers differ. NAVH’s Seal of Approval is aimed at the general low-vision population; 14-point with strong contrast is enough to help most readers with moderate age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, or diabetic retinopathy. APH’s standards are written for severely visually impaired readers, schoolchildren who qualify for federal quota funding, and adults who use the National Library Service; 18-point is where legibility gains become consistent for that audience.
Both organisations agree that font size is only one component. NAVH’s criteria for the Seal of Approval explicitly weigh four factors: font size, contrast, spacing, and font style. APH’s guidance ranks the characteristics that most affect readability in this order: spacing, then font size, then contrast, then font style. The point is the same; you cannot produce a compliant large-print book simply by bumping the type size in your Word document and leaving everything else alone.
Which Fonts Are Recommended for Large Print?
Large-print guidance from NAVH and APH recommends sans-serif or modified-serif typefaces with generous x-heights, open counters, and letterforms that are easy to distinguish from one another (particularly the lowercase “a”, “e”, “c”, “o” group and the numerals “3”, “5”, “8”). Ordinary book-body serifs like Garamond or Minion can look elegant at 11-point but lose clarity when scaled up for a low-vision reader.
Fonts designed specifically for accessibility include:
- APHont — a proprietary sans-serif family developed by the American Printing House for the Blind, with wide letter spacing and distinct character forms. APH’s own large-print publications are set in APHont.
- Tiresias LPfont: designed at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in London for low-vision readers. The Tiresias family also includes Infofont (for signage) and Screenfont (for digital subtitles, mandated on UK DVB-T television).
- Antique Olive — a 1960 design by Roger Excoffon for Fonderie Olive, often cited in accessibility guidance for its tall x-height and robust strokes.
- Verdana and Tahoma — Matthew Carter’s 1996 Microsoft commissions, designed for screen legibility with wide apertures and loose spacing. Both carry over acceptably to large-print book interiors.
Whatever typeface you choose, set it at regular weight rather than light, avoid italic runs longer than a short phrase, and never use all caps or outline styles for body text. Those treatments reduce the shape differences between letters that low-vision readers rely on to decode words quickly. Our typography terms glossary covers x-height, aperture, and counter if any of those are unfamiliar.
Line Spacing, Margins, and Paper for a Large-Print Interior
Layout matters as much as type size. Without generous leading, wide margins, and high-contrast paper, even 18-point text can be hard to read.
The APH guidelines and the Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI) best-practices document broadly agree, though their specific numbers differ slightly:
- Line spacing: APH recommends at least 1.25 with a full line of space between block paragraphs; CCLVI recommends 1.5 or more. For an 18-point body set at 1.25, that’s roughly 4.5 points of extra leading; at 1.5, it’s 9 points.
- Line length: APH recommends 39 to 43 characters per line. Longer lines make it harder for low-vision readers to track back to the start of the next line.
- Margins: 0.75 to 1 inch on all sides. Tighter inner margins fail because low-vision readers often struggle to follow text into the gutter.
- Alignment: left-aligned with a ragged right, using block paragraphs with extra space between them rather than first-line indents. Full justification forces uneven letter spacing that breaks word recognition for struggling readers.
- Paper: matte or uncoated, never glossy. Matte white gives the strongest contrast; off-white or cream reduces glare for readers sensitive to bright reflections. Coated or gloss paper is disqualifying under NAVH criteria.
- Contrast: black ink on white or cream paper. Pale greys and mid-tone coloured text fail.
For specific line-spacing choices in a print book, our earlier guide on line spacing for print book interiors covers the mechanics of setting leading in Word and InDesign. Our white-versus-cream paper guide covers the trade-off between glare reduction and contrast strength for print-on-demand books. For a large-print edition, white usually wins on contrast; cream is acceptable but sits at the lower end of what NAVH considers compliant.
How to Self-Publish a Large-Print Edition on KDP and IngramSpark
You do not need to pursue a formal NAVH Seal of Approval to publish a large-print edition; both Amazon KDP and IngramSpark print the interior file you upload, at any supported trim size, with no certification gate. The work is on your side: follow the standards, choose an appropriate trim, and list the edition separately.
The practical production path:
- Start from your existing interior file and reset the body text to at least 14 points, ideally 16 or 18. Reset the line spacing to 1.5, widen margins to 0.75 to 1 inch, and check that no chapter opens with a small ornamental drop cap that will look awkward at large sizes.
- Choose a trim size that accommodates the larger type. A 6″ × 9″ interior at 18-point runs to roughly 1.5 to 1.7 times the page count of the same manuscript at 11-point. For shorter books, 6″ × 9″ still works. For novels over 80,000 words, 7″ × 10″ or 8.25″ × 11″ keeps the spine manageable. Amazon KDP treats any trim wider than 6.12″ or taller than 9″ as “large” and applies higher printing costs; IngramSpark caps cream-paper interiors at 6.14″ × 9.252″ but allows white paper up to 8.5″ × 11″.
- Embed fonts and export a press-ready PDF. The same interior file rules apply as for your standard edition: embedded fonts, 300 DPI images, correct trim, and bleed only if images run to the edge.
- Upload as a separate edition with its own ISBN. KDP and IngramSpark treat large-print editions as different products; they have their own ISBNs, their own covers (usually with a “Large Print Edition” flag on the cover and spine), and their own price. Amazon also classifies large-print titles in a dedicated category, which is where large-print readers and librarians actually look.
- Flag the edition on the cover and in the metadata. Include “Large Print Edition” prominently on the front cover and add the appropriate BISAC category in your KDP or IngramSpark metadata. Large-print readers and the librarians buying for them rely on those flags to find the edition.
A practical test before you upload
Print a single sample chapter on the actual paper stock you’ll use, bind it with a clip, and hand it to a reader over 65 with no large-print file in front of them for comparison. Ask two questions: can they read a paragraph without sliding the page closer or further away, and can they comfortably track from the end of one line back to the start of the next. If the answer to either is no, the problem is almost always one of three things: the font is too narrow (swap to a wider sans-serif), the leading is too tight (bump to 1.75 or 2.0), or the paper is too glossy (switch to matte white). In our experience producing large-print interiors at Newgen over the last decade, those three fixes resolve the majority of readability complaints before a file ever reaches KDP.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the standard font size for large print books?
The standard large-print font size is 16 to 18 points, based on Library of Congress NLS guidance and NAVH preferences. The minimum that qualifies as large print under NAVH’s Seal of Approval is 14 points; the American Printing House for the Blind sets a stricter 18-point minimum for its own publications. Anything below 14-point is not large print, even if it is larger than a standard book.
Is Verdana 12-point large print?
No. Twelve-point type, whether Verdana, Arial, or any other face, is standard reading size, not large print. Large-print status starts at 14-point under the most permissive standard (NAVH), and at 18-point under the stricter APH definition. Verdana at 18-point with 1.5 line spacing can qualify; Verdana at 12-point does not.
What is the difference between large print and giant print?
Large print is typically 14 to 18 points. Giant print is usually 20 to 24 points and above, and is used for readers with more severe vision loss than a standard large-print edition accommodates. Giant-print editions are less common commercially because the page counts become unwieldy, but APH and some specialist publishers produce them for schools and libraries.
Do I need a new ISBN for my large-print edition?
Yes. A large-print edition is a distinct product from your standard edition and requires its own ISBN, its own cover file, and its own listing on KDP or IngramSpark. Amazon also assigns large-print editions to a separate category, which is how large-print readers and the librarians buying for them find the book.
Can I use a serif font for large print?
You can, but sans-serif or modified-serif typefaces are recommended by both NAVH and APH because their open apertures and simple letter shapes are easier for low-vision readers to parse at speed. If you prefer a serif, choose one with a tall x-height, robust strokes, and minimal fine detail in the serifs themselves; classical book serifs like Bembo or Caslon are generally not suitable for large-print body text.
Large-print publishing is one of the most practical accessibility steps a self-publishing author can take, and the production overhead is modest: bigger type, wider leading, better paper, a separate ISBN, and a clear label on the cover. Get those five things right and your edition will meet the formal standards that librarians and low-vision readers actually use to select books.
