Sizes
| Size | Trim size | Inches | Typically used for |
|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 8.3 × 11.7 in | Company profiles, product catalogues, annual reports |
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | 5.8 × 8.3 in | Pocket catalogues, price lists, event booklets |
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm | 4.1 × 5.8 in | Mini catalogues, instruction booklets, inserts |
| Square | 210 × 210 mm | 8.3 × 8.3 in | Look books, photography, interiors and lifestyle brands |
| Square | 148 × 148 mm | 5.8 × 5.8 in | Compact look books, menu booklets, gift inserts |
| Custom | Up to 340 × 480 mm | — | Any trim size within our press sheet — quoted the same way |
Pages and binding
| Binding | Page range | Minimum quantity | Printed spine |
|---|
| Saddle stitch (centre pin) | 8 – 48 pages | 100 | No |
| Perfect binding (glued) | 48 – 300 pages | 250 | Yes |
| Case binding (hardcover) | 64 – 400 pages | 100 | Yes |
| Wiro / spiral | 20 – 200 pages | 50 | No |
Page count is always a multiple of 4, cover included — one folded sheet carries four pages. 8 to 128 pages can be specified on this page; above 128, choose “More than 128 — tell us”.
Printing method by quantity
| Quantity | Press | Why |
|---|
| 100 – 250 | Ricoh digital production | No plate cost. Short runs are cheaper and faster this way. |
| 250 – 500 | Digital or offset | Whichever is cheaper at your page count and paper. We tell you which we used. |
| 500 and above | Heidelberg sheet-fed offset | Lower cost per copy, better ink density, accurate spot colour. |
Cover paper
| Stock | GSM | Finish |
|---|
| Art card | 250 / 300 / 350 | Coated, smooth |
| Fine textured | 250 / 300 | Felt or laid surface, uncoated |
| Kraft (khaki) | 300 | Natural brown, visible fibre |
| Same as inner pages | — | Self cover — no separate cover stock |
Inner paper
| Stock | GSM | Finish |
|---|
| Maplitho / uncoated | 100 | Natural, matt, writable |
| Art paper | 130 / 170 / 200 | Coated, smooth |
| Fine textured | 130 / 170 / 210 | Felt or laid surface, uncoated |
Cover finishes
| Finish | Adds to turnaround | Notes |
|---|
| Matt lamination | — | The default. Reduces scuffing, mutes colour slightly. |
| Gloss lamination | — | Lifts colour saturation. Shows fingerprints on dark covers. |
| Soft-touch / velvet | +1 working day | Suede feel. Marks more easily than matt — best on lighter covers. |
| Matt lamination + spot UV | +2 working days | Gloss varnish on selected areas only. Needs a separate 100% K mask file. |
| Foiling | +2 working days | Metallic or pigment foil. Needs a die. Supply artwork as 100% K vector. |
| Embossing | +2 working days | Raised impression. Needs a die. Minimum stroke 0.5 mm. |
| No finish | — | Uncoated covers scuff. Only advisable on textured and kraft stock. |
Note. Top-bound (calendar-style) booklets, gatefold covers, French folds, die-cut covers, tabbed dividers and belly bands are all possible but are not on this form — choose “Custom size — tell us” and describe it, or send the spec on WhatsApp.
Inner stocks
| Stock | Caliper | Feel | Best for |
|---|
| Maplitho / uncoated 100 gsm | 125 µm | Natural, matt, uncoated. Takes a pen. | Text-led booklets, manuals, editorial. Photos read quieter. |
| Art paper 130 gsm | 104 µm | Light, smooth, slight sheen. | Inner pages of 64+ page catalogues where weight and postage matter. |
| Art paper 170 gsm | 136 µm | Substantial without being stiff. The default premium inner. | Most product catalogues and company profiles. Our recommendation. |
| Art paper 200 gsm | 160 µm | Stiff, close to card. | Short high-value catalogues and look books, 16–24 pages. |
| Fine textured 130 gsm | 169 µm | Felt surface, uncoated, bulky for its weight. | Brand books, invitations, architecture and interiors. |
| Fine textured 170 gsm | 221 µm | Noticeably thick and tactile. | Premium brand books. Not for fine photographic detail. |
| Fine textured 210 gsm | 273 µm | Card-like. Very few pages feel like many. | Short-run presentation booklets, 8–24 pages. |
Cover stocks
| Stock | Caliper | Feel | Best for |
|---|
| Art card 250 gsm | 200 µm | Coated, smooth | Saddle stitch up to 32 pages |
| Art card 300 gsm | 240 µm | Coated, smooth | The standard cover. Saddle stitch and perfect binding. |
| Art card 350 gsm | 280 µm | Coated, stiff | Perfect binding, heavier books, covers that must not curl |
| Fine textured 250 / 300 gsm | 325 / 390 µm | Felt or laid, uncoated | Brand books. Foiling and embossing sit beautifully on this. |
| Kraft 300 gsm (khaki) | 240 µm | Natural brown, visible fibre | Craft, food, sustainable and artisan brands |
GSM is weight, not thickness. A 170 gsm textured sheet is 221 microns thick; a 170 gsm art paper is 136 microns. Same weight, 60% more bulk. This is why textured stocks make a book feel much thicker at the same page count — and why they change your spine width. Calipers above are typical values; actual caliper varies by mill and batch.
Sample kit. A folded set of every stock above, printed with the same image on each so you can compare like with like. Free within Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Ask for it on WhatsApp.
| Binding | Pages | Opens flat | Printed spine | Use it for |
|---|
| Saddle stitchWire stitched through the fold | 8 – 48 | Yes | No | Company profiles, event booklets, short catalogues, price lists |
| Perfect bindingSpine milled and glued | 48 – 300 | No | Yes | Product catalogues, brand books, magazines, annual reports |
| Section sewnSignatures thread-sewn, then glued | 64 – 400 | Yes | Yes | Photography books, coffee-table catalogues, images across the gutter |
| Case bindingHardcover over a sewn or glued block | 64 – 400 | Partly | Yes | Brand books, anniversary volumes, presentation pieces |
| Wiro / spiralPunched and wire-bound | 20 – 200 | Fully | No | Manuals, workbooks, sample folders |
Spine width chart
Perfect binding needs a spine wide enough to take glue. Under 3 mm it will not hold and the book must be saddle stitched instead. All values in millimetres, and they include a 300 gsm art card cover.
| Total pages | Maplitho 100 | Art 130 | Art 170 | Art 200 | Textured 170 |
|---|
| 48 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 5.3 |
| 56 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 6.2 |
| 64 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 7.1 |
| 72 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 8.0 |
| 80 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 8.9 |
| 96 | 6.2 | 5.3 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 10.6 |
| 112 | 7.2 | 6.1 | 7.8 | 9.1 | 12.4 |
| 128 | 8.2 | 6.9 | 8.9 | 10.4 | 14.2 |
How to read it. Find your total page count in the first column, then your inner stock. That number is your spine width. Total cover width = (2 × trim width) + spine. These are calculated values — we confirm the exact spine in writing once paper is fixed, before you finalise cover artwork. On perfect-bound and case-bound jobs keep content 8 mm clear of the gutter; a glued spine swallows the inner edge.
| Setting | Value |
|---|
| Bleed | 3 mm on all four sides |
| Safe area | 5 mm inside the trim line |
| Gutter margin | 8 mm on perfect binding and case binding |
| Image resolution | 300 DPI at placed size, not native size |
| Line art and logos | Vector, or 1200 DPI |
| Colour mode | CMYK. Convert from RGB before sending. |
| Maximum total ink | 300% |
| Rich black for large areas | C40 M30 Y30 K100 |
| Body text black | 100% K only — never a four-colour build |
| Minimum rule weight | 0.25 pt |
| Minimum reverse type | 7 pt, out of a single colour |
| Page order | Single pages in reading order, 1 to n. Not printer spreads. |
| Page count | A multiple of 4, cover included |
| Preferred format | PDF/X-1a. PDF/X-4 if you need live transparency. |
| Also accepted | Packaged AI and INDD, CDR, 300 DPI TIFF or JPG at final size |
| Fonts | Embedded or converted to outlines |
| Maximum upload | 100 MB per file on WhatsApp or email. Larger: send a Drive or WeTransfer link. |
Cover files
Send the cover as a separate file from the inner pages.
| Binding | Cover supplied as |
|---|
| Saddle stitch | Four single pages: front cover, inside front, inside back, back cover |
| Perfect / case binding | One flat spread — back cover + spine + front cover as a single page, 3 mm bleed all round |
| Spot UV, foil or emboss | One extra page at the same size, artwork in 100% K vector on white, clearly named |
Proofing
| Proof type | Cost | Time | What it shows |
|---|
| Digital proof | Free | Same working day, usually | Content, imposition, trim, bleed, page order. Not exact colour — no screen can show that. |
| Physical press proof | Chargeable | +2 working days | Actual colour on the actual stock. Worth it on a launch catalogue or a critical brand colour. |
What we check before printing. Missing bleed, images below 300 DPI at placed size, RGB or stray spot colours, unoutlined fonts, spreads supplied where single pages were needed, page count not a multiple of 4, content inside the gutter on perfect binding, total ink over 300%. We fix what is safely fixable at no charge and tell you exactly what we changed. Anything that needs a decision, we ask. Nothing goes to plate until you approve the proof in writing.
Set your document to the “with bleed” size and keep everything important inside the safe area. All values in millimetres.
| Size | Trim | Document with bleed | Safe area | Perfect-bound cover spread |
|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 | 216 × 303 | 200 × 287 | 426 + spine × 303 |
| A5 | 148 × 210 | 154 × 216 | 138 × 200 | 302 + spine × 216 |
| A6 | 105 × 148 | 111 × 154 | 95 × 138 | 216 + spine × 154 |
| Square 210 | 210 × 210 | 216 × 216 | 200 × 200 | 426 + spine × 216 |
| Square 148 | 148 × 148 | 154 × 154 | 138 × 138 | 302 + spine × 154 |
Reading the cover spread column. Take the figure shown and add your spine width from the Binding & Spine tab. A 96-page A4 catalogue on 170 gsm art paper has a 6.7 mm spine, so the cover document is 426 + 6.7 = 432.7 × 303 mm, built as one flat spread: back cover, spine, front cover, left to right.
Ready-made templates
Layered templates in AI, INDD, PSD and PDF — with trim, bleed, safe area and spine on separate locked layers — are available for every size and binding above. Ask for the size and binding you need on WhatsApp and we send them the same working day. A downloadable template library is being published shortly.
Turnaround
| Stage | Time |
|---|
| Price against your specification | Stated when we reply |
| Digital proof after artwork received | Same working day, usually |
| Printing and finishing | 3 – 5 working days from proof approval |
| Add for soft-touch lamination | +1 working day |
| Add for spot UV, foiling, embossing or case binding | +2 working days |
| Delivery | 1 – 3 days across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and MP by road; rest of India by courier or transport |
The 3–5 day clock starts at proof approval, not at order. If a proof sits unapproved for three days, the job moves three days.
Delivery coverage
| Region | Cities we deliver to regularly |
|---|
| Gujarat | Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bharuch, Anand, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Navsari, Valsad |
| Maharashtra | Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Thane |
| Rajasthan | Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Ajmer |
| Madhya Pradesh | Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur |
| Rest of India | Delivered by courier or transport, quoted per job |
Delivery is quoted separately because it varies by city and by weight — a 5,000-copy catalogue and a 250-copy booklet do not cost the same to move. Freight is stated on the quote before you approve it, never added afterwards.
Tax and documents
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| GST | 12%, HSN 4901. Quotes are stated before tax. |
| Invoice | GST invoice against your GSTIN — fully claimable as input credit |
| Dispatch | E-way bill issued with every consignment |
| Payment | Bank transfer, UPI or cheque. Terms confirmed on the quote. |
