Jumping into booklet design without first figuring out how many pages you need is a surefire way to run into problems. Knowing your page count and planning your layout ahead of time ensures your booklet printing goes smoothly, saving your business time, money, and effort. So, how many pages should a booklet have?* *
Honestly, there aren’t many strict rules for how many pages a booklet must have. Booklets can be as short as 8 pages or as long as 200. However, there are a few important things to keep in mind when deciding on the right page count for your booklet design.
The Minimum
Booklets need a minimum number of pages to actually be considered booklets. You’ll need at least 8 pages, anything less is usually just a folded leaflet.
Keep in mind: The minimum page count depends on the binding method you choose:
stapled – minimum of 8 pages
perfect bound – minimum of 52 pages
loop stitched – minimum of 8 pages
wire-o binding – minimum of 10 pages
The Booklet Binding Method
Standard booklets, like stapled booklets, loop-stitched booklets, and hardcover booklets, are made by binding folded sheets together at the spine. Because of this, booklet pages always need to be in multiples of 4. Every folded sheet adds 4 pages, so your total page count will always be an even number.
While you can technically design a booklet with a page count that’s not a multiple of 4, your printed booklet will end up with blank pages at the end.
There’s one exception: Wire-O booklets. These are bound with individual printed pages and a silver aluminium wire, so the page count just needs to be a multiple of 2. Each sheet adds 2 pages.
The Limit
Each binding method has a limit to how many pages it can hold. Here’s a quick overview:
stapled – up to 64 pages
perfect bound – up to 200 pages
loop stitched – up to 64 pages
wire-o binding – up to 64 pages
The Purpose
Think about what you want your booklet to accomplish. What’s the goal of your marketing campaign, or why do you need booklets in the first place?
Direct mailing
If you’re sending booklets to customers to introduce new products, you probably don’t need a ton of pages. An 8-16 page booklet is perfect for direct mail and easy to send out.
Brand book
If you need a brand book, consider your company’s size and needs. A large design-focused corporation might need 52-64 pages to cover every detail. If you’re a smaller business just starting to build your brand, a 20-32 page booklet should be enough.
Trade show
Planning to include a booklet in your trade show goodie bags? If you want to give an overview of your business, a 12-24 page booklet is a great fit. If you’re just promoting a couple of products, 8 pages will do the trick.
Training manual
Thinking about using a booklet as a training manual for your team? You’ll likely need more space to cover all the details, so consider a booklet with 100-150 pages.
By figuring out your page count before you start designing, you’ll be able to choose the right template and binding method for your project—making sure your booklet turns out just right!