Booklet page count: multiples of 4, sheets and binding

Independent guide, updated on 1 November 2026. Practices vary from one workshop to another: have your printer confirm the values.

The page count (or extent) is the total number of pages in a bound document. It cannot be chosen entirely freely: it depends on how the booklet is made. One page = one side. A sheet printed on both sides therefore carries at least 2 pages.

Saddle stitching: a multiple of 4

Saddle stitching is the binding used for booklets stapled along the fold (programmes, small catalogues, booklets, fanzines). Sheets are printed at twice the trimmed size, folded in half, nested inside one another, then stapled through the fold.

Each folded sheet forms 2 leaves, i.e. 4 pages (2 on the front, 2 on the back). Hence the rule:

the number of pages must be a multiple of 4 (8, 12, 16, 20, 24…)

And the calculation of the number of sheets:

number of sheets = number of pages ÷ 4

A booklet with an A4 trimmed size is made the same way with A3 sheets.

If your document is not a multiple of 4

Round up to the next multiple of 4 and add pages:

pages to order = 4 × (pages ÷ 4, rounded up) pages to add = pages to order − pages in the document

Example: 22 pages → 24 pages, i.e. 2 pages to add and 6 sheets. A notes page, a table of contents, an acknowledgements page or a full-page image is better than two blank pages at the end.

Cover included or not?

• Self-cover: the cover is printed on the same paper as the inside. A 16-page booklet = 4 sheets, the outermost of which forms the cover.
• Separate cover: the cover is on a thicker paper. This is described as “4 cover pages + 16 inside pages”, i.e. 5 sheets in total; the inside alone must also be a multiple of 4.

Always state which option you mean in your request: it is the most common source of misunderstanding.

The limits of saddle stitching

Beyond a certain number of sheets, the booklet does not close properly and the centre pages stick out (the “creep” effect, which the printer allows for during finishing). The limit depends on the paper and the machine: ask the printer how many sheets they can staple with the chosen paper, or switch to perfect binding.

Perfect binding

For thicker booklets (catalogues, books, dissertations), perfect binding is used: the leaves are gathered, their back edge is milled and then glued into a cover that forms a flat spine.

• Technical minimum: an even number of pages (each leaf carries 2 pages).
• In practice: in offset printing, pages are printed in signatures (large sheets folded into 8, 16 or 32 pages). Many printers therefore ask for a multiple of 4, 8 or 16 to avoid blank pages or extra cost. With digital printing, the constraint is often more flexible.
• Number of leaves = inside pages ÷ 2.
• The spine must be thick enough to hold the glue: ask the printer for the minimum width. To calculate your spine width, see the guide Spine width.

Sewn binding (signatures sewn then glued) follows the logic of signatures: the page count is a multiple of the number of pages per signature.

Other bindings

• Spiral or wire binding (“Wire-O”): pages punched individually, no multiple required; the document opens flat. Common for dissertations, reports and notebooks.
• Thermal binding, slide binders, hard-cover binding: used in copy shops for dissertations and theses; the page count is free, but allow a sufficient inside margin.

Good habits

1. Count all pages, including intentional blank pages (the back of the title page, etc.).
2. Odd-numbered pages are on the right in a bound document: page 1 is the cover or the first right-hand page.
3. Send a PDF in single pages, in reading order; the printer takes care of the imposition (the arrangement of pages on the sheets).
4. Allow a wider inside margin on the binding side, especially with perfect binding, where part of the page disappears into the fold.

A calculator helps you work out the page count and the number of sheets: see Calculators.

Sources

• imprimeur.paris file checkpoints for “book” files (multiple of 4 for saddle stitching, inside margins, separate cover).
• Office québécois de la langue française, Grand dictionnaire terminologique, entry “piqûre à cheval”: https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/17486470/piqure-a-cheval
• Government of Canada (PSPC), Niveaux de qualité de la reliure (binding quality levels): https://www.canada.ca/fr/services-publics-approvisionnement/services/achats/communication/niveaux-qualite-reliure.html

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