The short answer: any multiple of four, from 8 pages up to about 64 — and the exact ceiling depends on your paper, not on a fixed rule. Here is how to work it out for your own project, and what to do when you are over the limit.
A saddle-stitched booklet is made of flat sheets folded in half and nested inside each other, then stapled twice through the fold. Each folded sheet produces four pages — two on each side. That is the whole arithmetic: there is no such thing as a 10- or 27-page saddle-stitched brochure. If your document has 22 pages, it will be printed as 24, and the two spares become blanks or, better, a notes page and an advert for your own services.
When planning, count pages the way printers do: every side of every leaf, cover included. A "12-page booklet" is three folded sheets — cover (4 pages) plus two inner sheets (8 pages).
The staple can only bite through so much paper, and thick booklets refuse to close flat. The practical ceiling therefore depends on the weight of your stock:
| Inner paper | Comfortable range | Practical maximum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80–100 gsm (offset / lightweight coated) | 8–64 pages | up to ~80 pages | The thinnest stocks reach the highest counts |
| 115–135 gsm coated (the brochure standard) | 8–48 pages | ~64 pages | The sweet spot for most marketing booklets |
| 150–170 gsm coated | 8–32 pages | ~40 pages | Beyond this, the booklet springs open |
| 200 gsm and up | 8–16 pages | ~24 pages | Short, premium documents only |
These are production figures, not theoretical ones: the test is whether the finished booklet closes flat, staples cleanly, and trims square. When a project sits near the ceiling, we advise dropping one paper weight rather than fighting the physics — a 64-page booklet on 115 gsm feels better in hand than the same booklet straining on 135 gsm.
Because the sheets nest inside one another, the inner pages sit slightly further out than the outer ones. After trimming, the printable area of the middle pages is a little narrower — the pages have "crept" outwards. On an 8-page booklet the effect is invisible; on a 64-page booklet it can reach several millimetres.
Two practical consequences for your artwork:
It is the most economical binding at any run length, it opens flatter than a perfect-bound booklet, it accepts a heavier cover for a premium feel, and it prints fast — a real advantage for event programmes and dated material. That combination is why the majority of brochures, programmes, lookbooks and company magazines we produce at Multi-pages are saddle-stitched, from 8 to 64 pages, in formats from A5 to A4 and square.
No — folded sheets produce four pages each, so counts run 8, 12, 16, 20… If your content makes 10 pages, plan the two extra pages deliberately: a notes spread, a map, or a back-page call to action.
Yes, in printers' counting: a "16-page self-cover booklet" has 16 pages including the four cover pages. With a separate heavier cover, we speak of "16 pages + 4-page cover".
8 pages (two folded sheets). For a 4-page document you do not need binding at all — that is a folded leaflet.
Across its whole range: whenever both bindings are technically possible, the saddle-stitched version is the more economical. The switch to perfect binding is driven by page count and spine, not by price.
Planning a booklet, catalogue or magazine? Send us your page count, format and paper — we confirm the right binding and return a detailed quote within one working day. Start your project →