Spine Width Calculator
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Too many pages? Not a problem. Too skinny a spine? Big problem.
Two printed pages sit on one sheet, so the spine is the sheet count times the caliper of the stock. Pick a point-weight stock 4OVER4 offers, or type the caliper you measured, and a page count.
Spine width
0.448 in
11.38 mm, from 32 sheets at 0.014 in each.
- Inside pages
- 64
- Sheets
- 32 (two pages to a sheet)
- Caliper
- 0.014 in
- Spine width
- 0.448 in
- In millimetres
- 11.38 mm
The list holds point-weight stocks, where the number is the thickness: 10pt is 0.010 in a sheet. Those are cover and card stocks. The inside pages of a book are usually a text stock sold by pound weight, which is much thinner and has no thickness in its name. For a text stock, choose Measured: stack 100 sheets, measure the stack in inches, and divide by 100. Or ask us for the caliper of the stock you order.
This is the text block only. A cover adds its own caliper twice, and perfect binding adds glue. Confirm the final spine with us before you commit a wrap-around cover to press.
Saddle stitching does not have a flat spine at all, so this figure is for perfect-bound work. Under about 40 pages a saddle-stitched book is the cheaper and better choice.
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What the Perfect Bound Book configurator says about size
- Sizes
- The configurator offers 4 sizes for this product. Every one of them is listed above, exactly as the configurator lists it.
- Custom size
- This product takes a custom size. The configurator accepts 5.5 to 8.5 in on the width and 6 to 11 in on the height, in steps of 0.1 in.
- Press limits
- On top of the product limits the press bounds apply: the shorter side must be 1.5 to 22 in and the longer side 1.5 to 28 in. The configurator turns the size the same way round before it checks, so 11 x 2.5 and 2.5 x 11 are the same size to it.
- If it is out of range
- This custom size is currently not available for this product. Please select a different combination (switch between width and height values) or try selecting another product from the Print Products Menu. Contact us if you have a Custom Order.
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For perfect bound books and catalogues. Give it the inside page count and the stock, and it gives you the spine your cover artwork has to fit. It is not for saddle stitched booklets or folded brochures, which have a crease and no flat spine.
On a perfect bound book the spine is the sheet count times the caliper of the stock, and a page is one side of a sheet. 200 inside pages on a text stock measured at 0.0045 in a sheet is 100 sheets, which is a 0.45 in spine. 4OVER4 perfect binds from 40 inside pages up.
How to use the spine width calculator
- Pick a point-weight stock, or choose Measured and type the caliper of one sheet of your text stock.
- Type the number of inside pages, from 40 to 800 in steps of two.
- Read the spine width in inches and millimetres, with the sheet count beside it.
- Use the figure as the floor for your cover spine, and confirm the final spine with us before you order Perfect Bound Books.
A page is one side of a sheet
A page is one side of a sheet, so a 64-page book is 32 sheets of paper. The spine is those 32 sheets times the caliper of the stock, and nothing else. On 14pt that is 32 times 0.014, which is 0.448 inches.
Get this wrong and the cover artwork does not line up: the title drifts off the spine and onto the front, or the fold lands in the middle of a word.
What this figure does not include
This is the inside pages alone, what a binder calls the text block. A wrap-around cover adds its own caliper twice, once on each side, and perfect binding adds a layer of glue that varies with the run.
Treat the number as the floor and confirm the final spine with us before a cover goes to press. 4OVER4 perfect binds from 40 inside pages upward; below that a booklet is saddle stitched, which folds and staples and leaves a crease rather than a flat spine, so this calculation does not apply to it.
Common questions
Questions about spine width calculator
How do I calculate a book spine width?
Divide the page count by two to get the sheet count, then multiply by the caliper of the stock. 64 pages on 14pt is 32 sheets times 0.014 in, which is 0.448 in.
Does the cover count towards the spine?
Not in this figure. A wrap-around cover adds its own caliper on each side, and perfect binding adds glue, so confirm the final spine before printing the cover.
Do saddle-stitched books have a spine width?
No. A saddle-stitched book is folded and stapled, so it has a crease rather than a flat spine. This calculation is for perfect binding.
How many pages do I need for perfect binding?
4OVER4 perfect binds from 40 inside pages upward, in steps of two. Below that, a booklet is saddle stitched, which folds and staples it instead.
What caliper should I use if I do not know the stock?
Pick the stock you intend to order from the list above. Every one of them is a paper 4OVER4 actually offers, with its real caliper.
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