Every BinderArt file is built so that the pieces land in the pockets without measuring. The cells are exactly one card each, 63.5 by 88.9 millimetres, and the sheet is the full size of your paper. That only helps if the printer puts ink on paper at the size the file says. Nearly every problem we hear about comes down to a printer quietly scaling the page.
This guide is the short version of our printing guide page, with the reasoning behind each step.
1. Pick the right file
The builder asks for your paper before it generates, because the sheet is laid out to that paper. A4 is 210 by 297 millimetres; US Letter is 215.9 by 279.4. They are close enough that the wrong one will print, and far enough that the pockets will be off by a few millimetres per row. If you are in Europe you almost certainly want A4. If you are in North America you want Letter.
2. Paper
The page will live inside a binder pocket, behind a sheet of plastic, next to a real card. You want paper that is stiff enough to slide into a pocket without buckling and matte enough not to fight the pocket's own shine.
- Matte or satin photo paper, 200 to 250 gsm. The best result. Colours are deep, the surface is close to a card's, and the pieces stay flat.
- Good matte cardstock, 200 to 220 gsm. Very nearly as good, and cheaper. Avoid textured or linen finishes.
- Plain copier paper. Works for a test print. Too thin for the pockets; it curls and the artwork looks washed out.
- Glossy photo paper. Looks great out of the printer, then glares inside the pocket and shows every fingerprint.
3. Scale: the step that matters
Print at 100% or Actual size. Turn off "Fit to page", "Shrink to fit", "Scale to fit media" and anything with the word "fit" in it. Every operating system has a different name for the same setting, and every one of them defaults to shrinking.
- macOS: in the print dialog, set Scale to 100%. If you only see "Scale to Fit", click "Show Details".
- Windows: in Photos or the print dialog, choose "Actual size" or set custom scale to 100%, and untick "Fit picture to frame".
- Browser printing: the builder's Print button sets the page size for you. Still check the preview for a scale setting and make sure it reads 100%.
To confirm, print once on plain paper and measure any cell with a ruler. It should be 63.5 millimetres wide and 88.9 tall. If it is 61 by 86, the printer scaled to about 97%, which is the classic "fit to printable area" shrink.
4. Borderless, if you can
The sheet is full-bleed, so the outer pockets run to the edge of the paper. Most photo printers have a borderless mode for A4 and Letter; turn it on. If your printer cannot print borderless, it will leave a white margin of a few millimetres on each side. That is fine: the pieces are cut out anyway, and the margin only trims a sliver off the outer cells, which sit under the pocket edge in the binder.
One caution: some borderless modes enlarge the image slightly, by 1 to 3%, to guarantee coverage. If your test print measures large rather than small, that is why. Look for an "expansion" or "overspray" setting and set it to minimum.
5. Cutting at card pitch
You are cutting a grid, and the grid is the paper divided evenly: three columns and three rows on a nine-pocket page. Because the cells are exactly one card, any straight cut along a cell boundary produces card-sized pieces.
- A guillotine or rotary trimmer is fastest and gives the straightest edges. Cut the columns first, then stack and cut the rows.
- A metal ruler and craft knife on a cutting mat works well. Score lightly first, then cut through. Change the blade before you start.
- Scissors are fine for one page. Fold nothing; cut along the boundaries in single passes.
Slightly under-size is better than over-size. A piece half a millimetre small slides into a pocket and sits flat. A piece half a millimetre large bows.
6. The cutting guide on the back
The builder also offers a cutting guide sheet: a page of the same grid, mirrored, with the cell boundaries drawn as fine lines. Print it on the back of your artwork sheet, and every cut line is on the side you are cutting from, with no marks on the art. If your printer has duplex, print the two as a two-page document. If not, print the art, put the sheet back in with the printed side facing the right way for your printer, and print the guide. Do a plain-paper run first to learn which way your printer flips.
7. Into the binder
Slide each piece into its pocket with the printed side facing out, working from the pocket next to your real card. The card's own pocket is left empty in the default file, so the card goes straight back in. If you chose to print the card's pocket too, that piece goes behind the card as a backing.
Close the binder for an hour with a book on top. Photo paper that has been through a printer likes to curl a little, and the pockets flatten it.
If something is off
- Pieces too small or too large: scaling. Go back to step 3.
- Colours flat or dark: the printer's paper setting does not match the paper. Choose "matte photo" or "heavy" rather than "plain".
- Visible banding: print quality set to draft. Use the highest quality setting.
- Seams between pockets look slightly different in tone: normal at close range; invisible at arm's length. If a corner is genuinely wrong, use an area fix in the builder and reprint that one piece.
Questions we have not covered are probably in the FAQ. If not, write to us.
