Saddle Stitched Versus Perfect Bound Booklet Printing

What Sort of Booklet is Right for you?

Knowing what form your booklet printing takes when finished is complex but doesn’t have to be daunting. A good idea about the booklet’s design, its size and what it will be used for, will give you a clearer idea of the binding required.

In this guide, we’re going to dive into two finishing methods that are typical in booklet printing – saddle stitched versus perfect bound. Here we’ll set out what the terms mean, the booklet sizes to consider, design tips, paper choice, turnaround time and that all important factor – cost.

Firstly, let’s look at the differences between the two.

Booklet Binding Methods Comparison – Understanding the Differences

Think of a saddle stitched booklet as simply pages stapled together. Large flat sheets are stacked, then folded and stapled so that each flat sheet makes four printed pages. For example, a flat A3 sheet is folded to make four printed A4 pages; a 40-page booklet is made up of 10 folded A3 sheets.

In contrast, a perfect bound booklet is made up from single pages that are stacked and squared off to make a block. These pages are held together with an adhesive on the rear of each page. The cover is a separate sheet, wrapped around the block and glued to the spine.

Both techniques are produced to a professional finish, boasting strong durability. But the total number of pages will influence which option you go for.

Size Matters for Booklet Printing

In a nutshell, saddle-stitched booklets work for fewer pages while perfect bound is good for meatier books.

Between 8 and 64 printed pages work for saddle booklets, and if you have 40 or more pages, we can square off the spine – this makes for a top-notch looking booklet that will close completely flat. Remember the golden rule – because they’re made-up from folded spreads your final page count must be a multiple of four.

With perfect bound books the page limit is higher – between 28 and 700 printed pages long. It’s why this is the preferred format for magazines and longer books.

While the size of the booklet is important, so too is knowing how people will use it – different binding methods mean different results. Perfect bound is robust, and the PUR glue used to bind the pages is tolerant to high and low temperatures. It’s flexible, non-brittle and spines won’t crack resulting in pages falling out. The spine can be printed, allowing you to recognise the book or booklet without seeing the cover. Saddle-stitched booklets open completely and stay open – perfect bound needs to be held open while reading.

Booklet Printing Design Tips

There are differences when it comes to artwork and, like any print project, we encourage you to supply a print-ready PDF file. This is the format that gets things moving quickly – Word, Publisher files or other image formats are accepted but PDF makes the whole process that bit easier.

Both saddle-stitched and perfect bound documents need a 3mm bleed while all text and images need to be in a safe space – at least 5mm from the edge of the page. (We have more on this in the Create Production Ready Artwork section on our support page)

Bear in mind that with perfect bound books, you need to leave a border of 12mm on the bound edge of each page – left-hand side for right-hand pages and right-hand side for left-hand pages. If your text ends up too close to the binding, it makes it hard to read.

Stitched booklets allow you to run graphics or images right across a two-page spread because these printed books open fully. But note that you can’t do this with text.

Paper Choice and the Finishing Touch

Deciding paper stock depends on what look you’re going for – it’s an important part of the design process. Whether your booklet is saddle-stitched or perfect bound, you have a wide choice of weight and types to go for.

• Silk paper has a smooth feel and subtle surface sheen. It comes in a range of weights from 130-150gsm for the inner pages and 250-350gsm for the cover.
• Gloss paper has a shiny surface with a very smooth finish. Weights range from 100-120gsm for the inner pages and 250-300gsm for the cover.
• Uncoated paper has a soft finish and is available in weights ranging from 100-120gsm for the inner pages and 250-300gsm for the cover.

It’s worth noting that with uncoated and silk papers you can also choose a recycled option – environmental impact is an important factor.

If you decide on saddle-stitched booklets you also have the choice of our luxury range, including papers with textured, extra white, metallic and pearlescent finishes. It’s worth considering if your page count is 64 or under.

And don’t forget a vital component when it comes to printed booklets – the cover. Many customers like lamination when it comes to that finishing touch. Note that gloss lamination gives a higher quality shine than gloss paper, while matt lamination produces a soft, contemporary finish.

Cost-Effective Booklet Printing

So, you’ve weighed up the pros and cons of saddle-stitching versus perfect bound – now the all-important stage is cost. And when it comes to cost effective, cheap booklet printing then DigitalPrintingIreland.ie has it covered.

If it’s smaller quantities you’re after, then Saddle-stitching is the cost-effective option. We can supply one saddle-stitched book from as little as €24.06. 

Our perfect bound books are also great value for money. When it comes to A5 booklet printing we can do 250 28-page books (using our recommended specifications) from only €2.09 per book.

If your booklet is between 28-pages (the minimum for perfect bound) and 64-pages (the maximum for saddle-stitched) in length, click for a quote. Custom book printing and bespoke printing is our specialty, so we can meet your needs. And if you require high volume booklet products, then we can help too.

Fast Turnaround Times

Deadlines are critical, whether it’s catalogue printing, A4 booklet printing, binding for marketing materials – next day booklet printing is all part of the service and at DigitalPrintingIreland.ie we offer a wide range of delivery options on all our products. When you order just choose the one that best suits you and we’ll make sure your booklet is dispatched on time.

Professionally Finished Books

We’ve been in digital printing online for more than 20 years and extensive experience from booklet printing and tri-fold leaflet printing to binding for marketing materials – and everything else in between. Digital print is our specialty and our cutting-edge HP Indigo presses deliver your job with the very best print quality and excellent value for money.

Whether it’s perfect binding or stapled booklet printing, we can steer you in the right direction. Our website gives you the right guide to supply artwork and order online. We also offer an editable artwork template for your job, plus hints and tips section on each product page.