Question: “Does the number of pages in a book always affect the cost of printing?”
Simple answer: “No,” but of course there’s more to it than “no”.
Simple answer: “No,” but of course there’s more to it than “no”.
One of my nonprofit clients recently asked me for a quote to print an 8.5×5.5 booklet; the page count was somewhere between 48 and 50 pages, and the binding with two staples in the center spine (saddle-stitched).
Here’s what I told him:
“Saddle-stitching requires the number of pages to be in multiples of 4, thus the page count would have to be 48 or 52.Please try to limit it to 48 pages.”
And it’s not just because of the saddle-stitching…
There is a huge difference in cost from 48 to 52, but not from 44 to 48. Why?
In offset or commercial printing, we print several pages at one time on “parent sheets” where sizes are based on typical 8.5×11 (plus grips and margins). For most jobs, we print in groups of 8 or 16 pages at a time, so 48 being a multiple of 8 is very space efficient to print. Forty-four page would leave some unused (wasted) space, and 52 would require an extra run.
There is a lot more to this topic, including price differences based on which pages in your book contain color, which I’ll share with you soon.
Once again, I invite you to share your experiences and to ask questions. I can post replies here for all to benefit.Stay tuned,
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