Saddle-Stitched Booklets: Page Count must be a Multiple of 4

A person flipping through a Saddle Stitched Booklet

estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Saddle Stitching uses Folded Sheets

Saddle Stitched books are constructed from folded sheets of paper. The folded sheets are nested together and their collective fold lines form the book's spine. Staples are driven through the spine from the exterior and are cinched closed in the book's centerfold. This secures the folded sheets tightly together and provides an anchor point from which the pages of the book can turn freely.

Once all the folded sheets are fastened together with staples, half of each folded sheet will be to the left of the spine and half of each folded sheet will be to the right of the spine. As such, each half of a folded sheet creates one leaf of the book (the leaves of a book refer to the individual paper sheets that you flip through when reading the book).

Furthermore, each leaf within a book has two sides - a front side and a back side. Each side represents a single page of the book. Since each folded sheet creates two leaves and each leaf consists of two pages, this means each folded sheet creates four pages of the book.

A diagram showing the construction of a Saddle Stitched Booklet — *Saddle Stitched books are constructed from folded sheets of paper. Wire staples are driven through the spine from the exterior and are cinched closed in the book's centerfold.*

The Golden Rule for Saddle Stitched Books: Final Page Count must be a Multiple of 4

Because a saddle-stitched book is constructed from folded sheets, and each folded sheet creates four pages, the page count of a saddle-stitched book must always be a multiple of 4. Hence, the page count of a saddle-stitched book must always be 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and so on.

Three sheets of b-folded paper standing upright on a wooden table — *Each folded sheet creates 4 pages of a Saddle Stitched book. For example, these 3 sheets will create 12 pages.*

It is not feasible to create a saddle-stitched book with a page count of 11, 35, 54, or any other number that is not a multiple of four. Also, bear in mind that even if a page is completely blank, it is still included in the book's page count.

Since the cover of a saddle-stitched book will also be created from a folded sheet, it will always have 4 sections or "pages" as well - the outside front cover, the inside front cover, the inside back cover, and the outside back cover.

Help! My Booklet's Page Count isn't a Multiple of 4

During the course of laying out the pages for your saddle-stitched booklet project you may determine that the page count is going to miss the "Multiple of 4" requirement. In this case, the length of the book will have to be reduced or increased until the page count is a multiple of four.

You, or your graphic designer, can usually tweak the page count by adjusting the margin size, font size, and/or line spacing. Also, if the book contains images, consider reducing or enlarging their size as needed to alter the book's overall length.

If a book needs to have exactly 2 more pages added, including a title fly at the beginning of the book is a simple solution. A title fly is a single leaf that displays the book's title on the facing page and nothing on the reverse page.

A Saddle Stitched booklet standing upright on a wooden table — After a Saddle Stitched book is bound with staples, half of the leaves will be to the left of the spine and half of the leaves will be to the right of the spine. Each leaf represents two pages of the book.

Another practical way to increase page count is to include additional information that will complement the focus of the book. Depending on the project, this might be a brief overview of a company or product, an author bio, contact details, additional images or diagrams, or any other pertinent information that can fill one or a few pages.

Of course, blank pages can also simply be added to the front or back of the book to raise the page count. By the way, if any blank pages will appear in your book, be sure to include them in your page layout to ensure all the pages will flow properly when printed.

Even though blank pages are included in a book's total page count, they do not need to display a printed page number.

Consider making a Physical Mock-up

Before submitting the final artwork to your printing company, if your design software doesn't provide a good visual representation of the final page layout, sometimes it helps to make a physical mock-up of your book to ensure all pages, both printed and blank, are accounted for and will appear in the appropriate position.

A Saddle Stitched booklet lying open on a table — *Saddle Stitching is a popular binding method for catalogs, manuals, magazines, comic books, brochures and a host of other booklet projects*

Color Vision is your One-Stop Source for Affordable Booklet Printing!

If you are looking to have some Saddle Stitched booklets professionally printed, be sure to get in touch with Color Vision Printing. We've been printing and binding all types of books and booklets for decades.

In addition to saddle-stitching, we offer perfect binding, spiral coil binding, comb binding, wire-o, binder sets, and more.

So if you are looking for quality printing and binding at affordable rates, give us a call at 800-543-6299 to discuss your project. Or, use our simple Quote Request form to send us your specifications and we will be happy to email a quote to you.

As always, we look forward to assisting with your printing and binding needs!