How many pages should a magazine have?
No single number is correct, but the rules are firm. A stapled magazine needs a page total divisible by four, anywhere between 8 and 72 with the cover counted. Perfect bound issues start at 32 pages with the cover counted and can run to hundreds. Most independent magazines we print land between 32 and 140 pages: Focus Quarterly at 32, The Signal at 80, Craic at 100 and Outset at 138. The right total for yours depends on your content, your budget and whether you want a spine.
Why does a magazine need a multiple of four?
Every sheet gets folded down the middle and printed front and back, so each one carries four pages. That is why a stitched magazine of 30 pages is impossible while 28 or 32 is fine. If your content falls short, a notes page, an extra photograph or a contributors page usually fills the gap. Glued magazines are more forgiving because their pages are bound as single leaves, so any even number of inside pages works.
What counts as a page?
One side of content, so each leaf holds two of them. When the cover is on heavier card, printers count it separately: a 4pp cover is the outside front and back plus the two inner faces, which means a magazine sold as a 4pp cover with 28pp inside has 32 pages altogether. Some magazines are self cover, printed throughout on the same paper. Focus Quarterly Issue 5 is a 32 page self cover issue printed entirely on 170gsm gloss, with no separate card at all.
Where do staples stop and a spine take over?
Staples handle 8 to 72 pages. They open flatter, cost less and ship sooner: a stapled job arrives within three working days of proof sign off, a glued one within five. Beyond about 40 pages a stitched issue begins to spring open, and heavy paper makes it worse, because thick sheets folded many times create a stubborn bundle at the fold. That is exactly what pushed a 64 page annual report for Genomics England, on heavyweight Colorplan, from staples to a glued spine.
The smallest glued magazine is 32 pages, which means 28 inside pages behind a 4 page cover. Printed on 130gsm silk, that spine is only 2mm wide, so we often suggest 170gsm, which bulks it to 3mm. It suits magazines people keep on a shelf, and anything above 72 pages has to be glued.
How thick will the spine be?
Spine width depends on two things: the number of inside pages and the thickness of the paper. Here is how real magazines measured up:
- The Signal: 76 inside pages of 130gsm silk, a 4.14mm spine
- Shooter Issue 19: 88 inside pages, 120gsm uncoated, 6mm
- Craic Issue 4: 96 inside pages, 130gsm silk, 6mm
- Off Piste: 104 pages of 150gsm uncoated, 10mm
- Outset Issue 3: 134 inside pages, 130gsm silk, 8mm
Look at Off Piste: thirty fewer pages than Outset, yet a thicker spine, because 150gsm uncoated bulks up far more than 130gsm silk. Spine lettering needs about 5mm, so if shelf presence matters, check the width before you lock the page count. Our spine size calculator does the sum for every paper we stock.
How does page count change the price?
Every extra sheet means more paper and more time on the press, and switching to a glued spine brings in a binding step. On our current prices, 100 copies of an A4 magazine at 32 pages, stapled, silk throughout with a laminated 300gsm cover, cost £305. Grow that issue to 68 pages and perfect bind it, and the hundred copies come to £610. Delivery in the UK is included and magazines carry no VAT.
The cheapest way to test a page count is to print one copy. A single 32 page A4 magazine is £63 on our instant calculator, with no order minimum to worry about.
So how many pages should yours have?
Start from the content, not the number. Count the articles, images and adverts, add a contents page and a back page, then round to the nearest four if you want staples. If that lands above 72, or you want lettering down the edge, plan for perfect binding and check the spine width. Once you know your count, our magazine printing page will price it, and our guide to starting an indie magazine covers the other choices behind a first issue.
