Catalogues print in signatures — groups of 8 or 16 pages. Page count is therefore not free: it must be a multiple of four, and unit cost usually drops when it rounds to a multiple of sixteen. Drawing the page plan before the copy is written avoids the cost surprise that appears when someone later says two more pages are needed.
Binding follows thickness. Saddle stitching is cheap on slim catalogues and lets pages open flat; as bulk increases, inner pages begin to creep outward and lose margin at trim. Past a certain thickness, perfect binding sits cleaner.
In product photography, colour consistency matters more than the quality of any single image. The same product appearing in two different tones on two pages damages the catalogue's credibility directly, which is why we bring images into one colour profile and compare them on a press proof.
Technical options
- Common sizes
- A4, A5, square (21 × 21 cm)
- Pages
- Multiple of four; multiples of sixteen cost less
- Binding
- Saddle stitch (slim), perfect bound (thick), wire-o
- Stock
- Cover 250–350gsm, text 115–170gsm
Related services
Frequently asked
Why must page count be a multiple of four?
Printing happens on both sides of a sheet, and a folded sheet produces four pages. Intermediate counts are therefore not possible; any shortfall is filled with blank pages.
Saddle stitch or perfect binding?
On slim catalogues saddle stitching is economical and lets pages lie flat. As the spine thickens, perfect binding sits neater and allows spine text, though pages no longer open fully.
Is print still needed alongside a digital catalogue?
At trade fairs, site visits and dealer meetings a printed catalogue still does its job. Most clients use both: the printed version in the meeting, the PDF shared afterwards.