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Paper sizes, margins and binding allowance
Which printer paper fits which notebook size, how to set margins and the binding margin, and when to use bleed and creep.
Page size and paper size
In a booklet, one side of a sheet carries two pages side by side. The paper must therefore be at least twice as wide as one page, and at least as tall.
| Notebook page | Fits on | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A5 (148 × 210 mm) | A4 | Exact fit: no room for crop marks |
| A6 (105 × 148 mm) | A5, A4 | On A4, two copies fit per sheet |
| Half Letter (5.5 × 8.5 in) | Letter | Exact fit |
| B6 (125 × 176 mm) | A4, Letter | Trim the white border |
| Traveler’s Notebook Regular (110 × 210 mm) | A4, Letter | Trim to width after folding |
| Traveler’s Notebook Passport (89 × 124 mm) | A5, A4 | Two copies on A4 |
| Field Notes-style (3.5 × 5.5 in) | Half Letter, Letter | Two copies on Letter |
When the paper is larger than the spread, the pages are centred and you trim the extra paper after folding (see cutting and trimming). When the spread does not fit, Notebook Generator tells you and suggests larger paper. It only scales pages down if you explicitly allow it, because a scaled page no longer has the line spacing you chose.
Margins and the safe area
Every page has four margins: top, bottom, outer (the edge away from the spine) and inner (the edge at the spine). The inner and outer margins swap automatically between left and right pages. Templates draw inside the margins; the area inside them is the safe area. Turn on Show margins in the preview to see it.
Keep anything important inside the safe area. Printers cannot print to the very edge of the paper, and trimming is never perfectly precise.
Binding allowance
The inner margin is also your binding allowance: the part of the page you lose in the fold, under staples or behind the stitches.
- Stapled booklets of a few sheets: 8–12 mm inner margin is comfortable.
- Thick booklets and sewn notebooks that do not open flat: use 12–18 mm.
- Ring binders and discbound planners: leave room for the holes, typically 12–15 mm.
Creep
In a thick saddle-stitched booklet, the inner sheets stick out a little at the front edge after folding, because each sheet wraps around the ones inside it. When you trim the front edge flat, the inner pages lose more margin than the outer ones. Creep compensation shifts the inner sheets slightly toward the spine. A value of about the paper thickness (0.1 mm for 80 g/m² paper) per sheet works well. Leave it at 0 for thin booklets.
Bleed
Bleed extends artwork that touches the edge of the page (such as a coloured cover) a few millimetres past the trim line, so a slightly imperfect cut never leaves a white sliver. Use 3 mm bleed when your design has colour up to the edge and you will trim the booklet. Leave it at 0 for plain pages on paper you do not trim.
Paper weight
- 80–90 g/m² (20–24 lb bond): standard, folds easily, some show-through with fountain pens.
- 100–120 g/m² (27–32 lb): better for fountain pens and markers, still folds well up to about 10 sheets per booklet.
- 160–250 g/m² cardstock: for covers printed on a separate sheet.