Some of the best tips we can give you for booklet printing.
Stapled booklet printing tends to be a written publication of around 14 sheets (56 pages / printed sides) or less. However, we have dealt with stapled booklet projects with much larger amounts. It is recommended for large page amounts, that booklets are bound, rather than stapled. While books can have either hard or soft covers, the cover of a booklet is traditionally made from the same paper. But depending on your project, the weight can vary – it could be 250gsm light card or a slightly
heavier paper like 170gsm silk. A heavier cover helps protect the inside pages better.
The most common binding form for booklets is referred to as the “Saddle Stitch.” The saddle stitch, which is the most cost-effective form of booklet binding, typically consists of two staples. In this article, you will learn ten great tips for printing booklets.
10 tips for you to consider for your project
- “The Rule of Fours”: Key to publishing a stapled booklet is making sure your manuscript page count is divisible by four. In other words, if the format of your booklet is a full sheet (A4), with a landscape format folded in half (making an A5 printed booklet finish)- one piece of paper equals four pages in a booklet. 14 bi-fold sheets would create an 56-page booklet. If your text takes only 55, 54, or 53 pages, you will end up with blank pages in your designed booklet.
- Page margins: When formatting the pages of your booklet, make sure your margins are such that the text does come too close to the page crease. Likewise, leave yourself some room on the left and right edges of the page for the reader to be able to grasp both page edges without covering the text.
- Bleed: Booklet printing includes a trimming process. As a result, it is important that your text, and especially your cover art, includes at least 3mm for bleed. “Bleed” refers to images or elements that touch the edge of the page, extending beyond the trim edge and leaving no white margin. Read our guide to bleed by clicking here.
- Cover Page Weight: 120gsm – 250gsm is a sturdy paper weight, but can still be nicely folded. If your cover design will include images or artwork, you may want to consider a glossy or matt laminated finish.
- Text Page Weight: 90gsm – 120gsm silk or uncoated paper weight range is good for the contents of your booklet.
“It is best to contact us about how to lay your booklet artwork out in the first instance”
- Staples: Although this is the most common way of binding a document, there are other methods such as comb, metal or perfect binding. Talk to us about the best type of binding for your printed booklet design.
- Normally we need your design to be all in one PDF. Images 300dpi minimum and fonts embedded. Single pages and in order. We do have software to establish the proper pagination for your booklet should you need our help. It is best to contact us about how to lay your booklet artwork out in the first instance. adjusting once the artwork is finished can add unnecessary time and costs to your project.
- Page 2 Front Matter: Utilize Page 2 of your booklet for front matter (i.e. publisher and author info, photo credits, design credits, etc.). Though you may wish to leave the page blank. Sometimes it useful to pick up something similar and see how it is designed. This should help you decide how you would like your own project to look.
- Back Matter: Utilize the next to the last page of your booklet (just inside the back cover) for back matter (i.e. contact information, other books or booklets you’ve published, etc.). However, as point 8 mentions, you may wish to leave that page blank too.
- Contact us at the very beginnings of your project — we can advise on design, layout, and even content borne from experience. We have a genuine desire for your finished project to accomplish the goals intended. Not all print companies do the same print method and may want artwork set up in different ways. This is why it is good to talk the project over and get a quote before the design work has begun or is completed.
How we can help you
We at Afford A Print exist to help you get the most out of your printed page. We succeed in this for our clients time after time. Let us have the privilege of handling both the design and print of your A5, A4, A6 or square booklet project.
A customer left us the following review for our services. They ordered 100 booklets from us, A5 size 90gsm inside pages and a 250gsm matt cover:
“A fantastic company, so helpful; always prompt replies to queries and emails to help with our project.
All work done quicker than expected so I’d highly recommend Afford A Print. Thank you so much!”
Johnny Abbott of New Life Church, Loughborough
Do you need any flyers to promote your booklet printing? In the past we have helped in the design and production of booklets that are sold. To compliment these, some customers have branded vouchers produced. We can help you with all sorts of printed material such as posters, brochures and banners too. Click here to contact us about your printing project today.