Artwork Guidelines: Saddle-Stitched Booklets

The artwork for saddle-stitched booklets (folded sheets stapled on the spines) requires special attention.

Please start by understanding our general artwork guidelines. Additionally, you should keep the following things in mind:

1) Page Count

• Because of the way saddle-stitched booklets are constructed, the page-count, including covers needs to be a multiple of four.
  • If you’re struggling to achieve a page-count that is multiple of four, you can aim for an even page-count, and we can leave the inside front & back covers blank.
• Additionally, page-counts will be limited by your substrate selection (and vice versa).

2) Bleeds & Margins

• As a general rule of thumb, the higher your page-count, the larger your bleeds and margins should be.
  • This is due to page creep, which is caused by the thickness of each sheet of paper pushing the inner sheets outward.
  • Whether you need to adjust for page creep will depend on your final page-count and your selected substrates.