The saddle-stitch binding method involves taking printed sheets, folding them in half and then putting two or three wire staples through the folded crease to hold the sheets together. A sheet of paper folded in half creates four separate panels (two per side). In printing parlance for a saddle-stitch book, those four panels are called pages. Hence, folding 1 sheet in half creates 4 pages, 2 sheets creates 8 pages, 3 sheets creates 12 pages, 4 sheets creates 16 pages, 5 sheets creates 20 pages, and so on. (Note: the upper limit of sheets that can be bound with staples through the center crease is, depending on the thickness of the paper stock, in the neighborhood of 64 sheets. 64 sheets would create a 256 page book.) When designing and setting up a printed piece with multiple pages that’s destined to be bound with the saddle-stitch method, it’s important to remember the page count must be a multiple of four.
What if My Document has An Odd Number of Pages?
Let’s say your document has 25 pages and you want to have it bound with saddle-stitching, you have two options: 1) increase the page count to become a multiple of four (next multiple of 4 up from 25 is 28) —these additional pages can be left blank if necessary; 2) delete or remove content to decrease page count (next multiple of 4 down from 25 is 24).
In some instances, adjusting the printed size of your publication could accomplish the same goal. An 8.5” x 11” sheet folded in half creates a book with page dimensions of 5.5” x 8.5”. Changing the page size to 8.5” x 11” (an 11” x 17” sheet folded in half) could reduce the number of pages to a multiple of four while still leaving space to accommodate all of the same content.
If you have any questions about Saddle-Stitching, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get ready for your next trade show!
Photo by Crystal Y
