# Saddle stitch

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/saddle-stitch

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Printing & binding
Also called: Saddle-stitched · Stapled binding · Booklet binding

Saddle stitch binds a booklet by folding sheets, nesting them and stapling through the fold; page counts are multiples of four, up to about 48 pages.

## Definition

**Saddle stitching** is the binding of magazines, zines, chapbooks, catalogues and thin manuals. Large sheets are printed with several pages on each side, folded once, nested inside one another over a saddle-shaped support, and fastened through the fold with wire staples (the "stitches"). The result has a folded spine with no flat edge — nothing can be printed on it — and opens nearly flat.

Because every sheet becomes four pages, the page count must be a **multiple of four**: 8, 12, 16 … up to a practical limit of about 48–64 pages depending on paper weight, beyond which the booklet gapes and the inner pages push outward. That push is **creep**: the inner sheets stick out past the outer ones and are trimmed shorter, so margins on inner pages must allow for it.

It is the cheapest binding there is, and for anything under fifty pages it is also the right one.

## In Bindery

Bindery’s saddle-stitch preset covers 4–48 pages, printed on demand by Lulu — the binding behind its zine, chapbook and magazine formats.

## Related

- [Perfect binding](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/perfect-binding)
- [Lie-flat binding](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/lie-flat-binding)
- [Folio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/folio)
- [Paper weight (GSM / lb)](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/paper-weight)
- [Zine Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/zine-maker)
- [Chapbook Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/chapbook-maker)
- [Magazine Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/magazine-maker)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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