{"id":295,"date":"2019-05-18T04:56:38","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T04:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.printivity.com\/insights\/?p=295"},"modified":"2025-07-30T18:44:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T18:44:02","slug":"how-to-design-for-gutter-margins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/how-to-design-for-gutter-margins","title":{"rendered":"How To Design For Book Gutter Margins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After all the hard work and time that you\u2019ve put into the design of your Perfect Bound Book Printing<\/a>, <\/a>Hardcover book<\/a>, or any book printing<\/a> binding as an author, it would be a giant disappointment if you receive the printed product with text and other content lost in the binding! You can prevent this disappointment by understanding what a book gutter is before going to press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is the gutter in printing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A page gutter is the space on the page that leads into the binding of perfect bound books and hardcover books. These two products have binding types that are clamped and set with glue. This process will create a \u201ccurve\u201d of the paper coming from the spine when the book is open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 2 reasons why content will get \u201clost\u201d. Important content that is printed all the way to the edge of the sheet will be glued and will never be seen again. The curved sheets is the second reason. Your reader will be able to see that content but will need to push down at the spine. This will cause damage to the spine of the book and create a difficult viewing experience for the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Other forms of print binding, such as saddle stitch booklet printing<\/a>, Wire Bound Book Printing<\/a>, and spiral binding<\/a>, do not add any book gutter. These products \u201clay flat,\u201d and no content is lost in the \u201ccurve\u201d of the page.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Get<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If content, such as important images and text, is left too close to the spine, this content can be lost or hidden due to the curve of the pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To fix this problem, we always recommend proper book gutter margins. You will find that a properly designed printing gutter margin reduces the risk of losing content between the curve of the pages.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

So, what size should my printing gutter margin be? A book gutter margin can be smaller for books with less curve, and larger for books with more curve. Generally speaking, 0.5 inches for your gutter margin is the best recommendation for most books.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do\nI do if I have content, such as images or text, that goes across two pages?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Get Instant Quotes – Custom Perfect Bound Printing<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Content that goes across two pages is known as \u201cspreads\u201d.  \u201cSpreads\u201d can be very difficult to design for when producing perfect bound books<\/a> or hardcover books due to the gutter. If great spreads are significant to the overall look and feel of your book, we recommend binding types<\/a> that \u201clay flat,\u201d such as saddle-stitched booklets, spiral bound booklets, or wire-o booklets.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Content
Content that gets lost in the gutter is not visible and will make an image appear distorted<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Get started!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that you understand what the gutter definition in graphic design and book design is, you can follow the proper steps to prevent this potential issue. Whether it\u2019s choosing a flat laying binding style, such as saddle stitch booklets<\/a>, wire-o booklets, or spiral bound<\/a> booklet, or including the gutters when you start designing your perfect bound book or hardcover book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Printivity is one of the top printers offering a number of complimentary templates<\/a> for all standard perfect bound book dimensions. if you still have questions about the gutter margin, please call Printivity and share at 1-877-649-5463<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After all the hard work and time that you\u2019ve put into the design of your Perfect Bound Book Printing, Hardcover […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,10,12,15],"tags":[67,170,185,244,245,318,334,363,365,434],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-design_tips_and_tutorials","category-print_ready_files","category-products","category-vocabulary_and_terms","tag-book-gutter","tag-design","tag-digital-printing","tag-gutter-margin","tag-gutter-width","tag-online-printing","tag-perfect-bound-book","tag-print-media","tag-print-products","tag-spine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gutter_1-1-1.jpg?fit=1195%2C873&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgont1-4L","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9676,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/9676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insights.printivity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}