How to Properly End a Book in InDesign

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
April 8, 2025
1 reply
1542 views

How should the end of my book file look in InDesign? Is it ok to end with a spread, or do I need an extra page like in the image? What Is standart?

How to

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

Normally a book must be divided by 4. First and last page are single page spreads,

M

MateomonoAuthor

Known Participant

@Willi Adelberger So like this would be correct?

F

Flo_8580

Inspiring

So the most important thing is that it's divisible by 4. Whether I choose to end with a spread or a single page doesn't matter as much. Did I understand that correctly. Currently my page ends as 205, which wont work.

By @Mateomono

Yes, 4 (*) is the most common magic number and you always need to have a single page on the first and last spreads.

(*) but it might be 8 or 16 or 32, etc. - depends on the size of the printing machine and how many copies will be printed.

So - do you know how your book will be printed - what is the specification from your printer?

If there is no specification - you either need to have 204 or 208 pages in total.

In some specific cases - your total number of pages could be divisible by 2 as well 😉

Or even by 6, 12, 24, etc. - or 10, 20, 40, etc. - depends on the page size.

Yes, 4 (*) is the most common magic number and you always need to have a single page on the first and last spreads.

(*) but it might be 8 or 16 or 32, etc. - depends on the size of the printing machine and how many copies will be printed.

Doesn't this primarily depend on the binding method?

Saddle Stitch (staples): Page count / 4

Perfect Bound (glue): Page count / 2

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