Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
Custom Booklets are built to specifications you set, not a fixed preset. Your own page count, trim size, paper stock and binding method. Saddle stitching suits shorter runs, generally up to around 60 pages, and lies open flat for easy reading; perfect binding gives thicker booklets a flat, squared spine for a more polished, catalog-style finish. Choose this option whenever a project doesn't match one of the standard page-count presets.
A booklet is any multi-page piece bound along one edge, and a custom order exists for specifications that don't fit a standard preset. An unusual page count, an oversized trim, a particular cover stock, or a binding method chosen for how the piece will actually be used. Two binding approaches cover most projects. Saddle stitching nests folded sheets and staples them through the spine; it suits reports, catalogs and programs up to roughly 60 pages and produces a booklet that lies reasonably flat when opened. Perfect binding glues the pages to a wrapped cover along a flat spine, which suits thicker documents and gives them a squared-off, paperback-style look.
Interior pages are typically printed on a lighter text-weight paper, often in the 80 to 100 lb range, while covers use a heavier cover stock that can be laminated in gloss or matte to resist handling wear. Because interior and cover stocks are specified separately, they can be balanced against each other and against cost. A laminated gloss cover paired with an uncoated interior is a common combination for anything that gets handled often, such as a catalog kept at a sales counter.
Custom-specified booklets turn up wherever a business needs more than a folded flyer's worth of content: employee handbooks and training manuals, event or conference programs, association and nonprofit annual reports, product catalogs, and course packets are among the most common uses. The bound format works well whenever information needs to be organized into sections a reader can navigate: a table of contents up front, chapters or categories inside.
When specifying a custom booklet, page count is the detail that affects everything else. Saddle-stitched booklets need a page count divisible by four, since each printed sheet folds into four pages, so a project that doesn't land on that number needs blank pages added or content trimmed before it goes to press. Trim size is worth confirming early too, especially if the finished piece will be mailed, since it affects both layout and postage. Order quantity has an outsized effect on per-unit cost in booklet printing, since setup and binding are largely fixed costs regardless of run length. A few hundred copies typically prices out far more efficiently per booklet than a run of a few dozen.
A booklet is usually two stocks. The cover runs heavier to protect the block and survive being carried; the text runs lighter so the booklet does not become unwieldy. A self cover (one stock throughout) is cheaper and works at short extents, but past sixteen pages or so it starts to feel underweight against its own contents.
How much does a separate cover cost? Less than most people expect. Cover and text are handled separately in production anyway, so the difference is largely just the paper.
Full color throughout is standard. What is specific to bound work is that pages print in signatures on large sheets and are folded, not printed individually, so the extent has to be a multiple of four and color is managed across whole signatures. Anything that must match exactly across a spread should be flagged before the run, because it is imposition rather than design that decides which pages share a sheet.
Why a multiple of four? One folded sheet gives four pages. Any other extent leaves blank leaves you have paid for.
Saddle stitching nests folded sheets and staples them through the spine. Cheap, quick, and it lies genuinely flat when opened, which matters for anything with spreads or instructions. Its ceiling is around sixty-four pages, past which the spine bulges. Perfect binding glues the block into a wrapped cover instead, giving a flat printable spine at the cost of not lying flat.
Which binding should I choose? Stitched if it must lie flat or is under about sixty-four pages. Perfect bound if it needs a printable spine or is thicker than that.
The cover takes all the handling, so it is the only surface where a finish reliably pays for itself. Lamination stops the corners scuffing white, which is what makes a recent booklet look old. Matte and soft-touch read as more considered; gloss lifts photographic covers. On a manual or a catalogue that lives on a desk for a year, this is not a cosmetic decision.
Does the cover need laminating? On anything kept and re-opened, yes. Unlaminated cover corners scuff within days of going into a bag.
Where the standard sizes do not serve. A square format, a landscape trim for wide diagrams or photography, an extent past what saddle stitching supports, or a binding chosen for how the booklet will be used rather than how it looks. Wire-O, for instance, is the only option that lies genuinely flat and folds fully back on itself, which matters for anything used hands-free.
What binding lies completely flat? Wire-O. It also folds back on itself, which stitching cannot. Worth it for manuals used while working with both hands.
Ask for a dummy (an unprinted mock-up in the real stocks) before a long run. Bulk, weight and how it opens cannot be judged any other way.
A bonded film on the cover. It is the highest-value addition to any booklet, because the cover absorbs all the handling and unprotected corners are what make a current document look out of date.
Nested sheets stapled through the spine. It lies flat, costs the least of any binding, and suits anything up to roughly sixty-four pages depending on stock bulk.
The block glued into a wrapped cover, giving a flat printable spine. Necessary past the stitching limit, and worth choosing earlier if the booklet must be identifiable on a shelf.
A wire or coil through punched holes. It is the only binding that lies completely flat and folds back on itself, which is what a manual used with both hands actually needs.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Booklet | From | Format | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Booklets | $290 | 8.5″ × 11″ page | Catalogues, manuals and reports |
| Small Booklets | $245 | 5.5″ × 8.5″ page | Read in the hand, cheaper to mail |
| Custom Booklets | $280 | Your trim, extent and binding | Standard sizes or binding will not do |
Wire-O. It is the only option that lies fully flat and folds back on itself, which is what a manual used with both hands actually needs. Saddle stitching lies flat but will not fold back; perfect binding does neither.
Past the saddle-stitch limit of roughly sixty-four pages, or earlier if the booklet needs a printable spine so it can be identified on a shelf. Perfect binding does not lie flat, which is the trade you are making.
Yes. Landscape suits wide diagrams, photography and presentation-style content; square is distinctive and reads as designed rather than default. Check mailing costs if it is posted, since non-standard shapes can change the rate.
Yes, at signature boundaries. Pages print in groups on shared sheets, so a stock change has to fall on a signature edge rather than mid-section. Tell us early and we will plan the imposition around your sections.
Pricing for custom booklets starts at $280 and moves with quantity, size, material and finish rather than sitting on a fixed list. Setup is shared across the run, so the per-unit price drops steeply as the quantity rises: the gap between a few hundred and a few thousand is usually the significant one. Send the size, quantity and what it has to do and you get a firm figure back, not a range.
There is a practical minimum rather than a hard one. Every run carries artwork checks, a proof and a press setup, so a very small quantity of custom booklets prices poorly per unit even though we will still make it. If you are ordering a small batch, ask for pricing at two or three quantities at once: the curve usually shows that a modest increase costs very little more in total.
The clock starts when you approve the proof, not when the order is placed, which is the part most people are surprised by. You get a proof first: a digital proof of every page, plus a folded and bound dummy on longer extents so you can check reading order, bulk and how the binding opens. Nothing prints until you approve it. Turnaround after approval depends on the finish: anything laminated, foiled or die-cut adds a stage that cannot be compressed without causing problems later. Tell us the date you actually need them and we will work backwards from it rather than quoting a generic lead time.
Yes. Your trim, extent and binding is the standard build, and the dimensions around it are yours to set. A size that sits efficiently on the press sheet often costs no more than a standard one, while an awkward proportion that wastes half the sheet does. Ask before you commit and we will tell you whether a small change to the dimensions saves a disproportionate amount.
In most cases they are the same product under a different name: the trade uses several terms for it depending on the region and the supplier. What actually defines this one is the build: your trim, extent and binding. Order it when standard sizes or binding will not do. If you have seen it called custom booklets printing elsewhere, describe what it has to do rather than which name you found, and we will match the specification.
Yes. We provide free samples, and on custom booklets it is worth asking for one, because the difference between silk text and uncoated text is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on silk text, but ask for whichever you are weighing up. You also get a free design proof before anything goes to press, so nothing is printed that you have not seen.
The usual choices are cover lamination, saddle stitching, perfect binding. Finish is not decoration on this product so much as a decision about how long it survives and how it reads in the hand, so it is worth choosing against the job rather than the budget. Tell us where the finished piece ends up and we will say which finish is doing real work and which is only adding cost.
Yes, and that is what almost every order here is. Nothing in this catalogue is a stock item: custom booklets are manufactured to the specification you give us, with your artwork on them. Send your logo as vector artwork where you have it, since that scales to any size without softening. If all you have is a low-resolution file, tell us and we will say what it needs before it reaches the press.
Yes, and a repeat run is simpler than the first one. We keep your approved specification on file, so a reorder skips the setup decisions and goes straight to production. If nothing about the artwork or the specification has changed, there is nothing to re-approve. Tell us the previous order and we will match it rather than starting the specification again.
Yes. Regalo Print has been producing custom commercial print for businesses across the USA and Canada since 2008, and every order ships tracked. The tracking number reaches you the day the job leaves, not the day it arrives. If you are working to a fixed date, say so when you order so the production schedule is built around the delivery date rather than the other way round.
