Paper Grain Direction Calculator
Determine correct paper grain orientation for bookbinding and calculate how many grain-correct pages you can cut from a parent sheet.
Inputs
Results
Leaves (correct grain)
4
Pages per sheet (2-sided)8
Leaves (wrong grain)2
Sheet waste (%)0.3
Pages across2
Pages down2
Grain Parallel To420
Grain LabelGrain Long (GL)
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the height and width of the parent sheet in millimeters.
- Select the grain direction: Grain Long (GL) if the grain runs parallel to the sheet's long dimension, or Grain Short (GS) otherwise.
- Enter the finished page height and width in millimeters.
- Read the number of leaves with correct grain orientation (grain parallel to the spine) — this is the preferred layout.
- Compare correct vs. wrong grain leaves to decide whether to rotate your imposition.
- Use the waste percentage output to optimize your sheet usage before ordering paper.
How the result changes with Sheet height (mm)
| Sheet height (mm) | Leaves (correct grain) |
|---|---|
| 245 | 2 |
| 733 | 6 |
| 1,318 | 12 |
| 1,805 | 16 |
What each input means
- Sheet height (mm)
- Height of the parent sheet in millimeters.
- Sheet width (mm)
- Width of the parent sheet in millimeters.
- Grain direction (1=Long, 2=Short)
- 1 = Grain Long (GL), 2 = Grain Short (GS).
- Page height (mm)
- Finished page height in millimeters.
- Page width (mm)
- Finished page width in millimeters.
What each result means
- Leaves (correct grain)
- Number of leaves (pages ÷ 2) per sheet with grain running parallel to spine.
- Pages per sheet (2-sided)
- Total pages if printing both sides of each leaf.
- Leaves (wrong grain)
- Leaves if grain were perpendicular to spine (NOT recommended).
- Sheet waste (%)
- Percentage of parent sheet wasted as offcuts.
- Pages across
- Number of pages fitting across the sheet width.
- Pages down
- Number of pages fitting down the sheet height.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersSheet height (mm) = 297, Sheet width (mm) = 420, Grain direction (1=Long, 2=Short) = 1, Page height (mm) = 210 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate LeavesLeaves = correctPagesDown * correctPagesAcross4 = 4
- Calculate Pages per sheetPages per sheet8 = 8
- Calculate LeavesLeaves = wrongPagesDown * wrongPagesAcross2 = 2
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.
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