Notebook Sizes, Covers and Paper: Which to Choose

For most jobs, choose an A5 notebook with lined pages and a cover that suits the branding you want. Choose a hardback for gifts and heavier use, and heavier paper if people will write with gel or fountain pens. Everything else on a notebook product page, from soft touch to gsm to sheets, is explained below.

This guide is the reference for choosing between two notebooks. For which notebook suits which job, our idea on the best branded notebooks for businesses names one for each.

Which notebook size should you choose?

A5 for almost everything, A4 for training, and A6 or A7 for pockets and giveaways.

A-series paper sizes are a fixed international standard, which is what the sizes below show. A notebook's actual dimensions can differ a little from the standard, and the product page gives them.

The large Moleskine notebooks in our range are 13 x 21cm, which is close to A5, and the Natural Recycled Notebook sits just under A5. If you're unsure, A5 is the size that suits the most people.

Hardback or soft cover, and what does soft touch mean?

A hardback holds its shape and protects the pages in a bag, a soft cover is lighter and flexes, and soft touch describes the finish, so a hardback can be soft touch too.

That last point catches people out. "Soft touch" and "soft feel" mean a smooth, velvety finish on the cover, and they say nothing about how rigid it is. The Zenith A5 Debossed Notebook is a hardback with a soft touch PU finish. The Large Moleskine Soft Cover Ruled Notebook - Debossed is a soft cover in leatherette paper. The product page says which the notebook is, and if it doesn't, the photos and a sample will.

Choose a hardback for a gift, for a notebook that's carried every day, and for writing without a desk. Choose a soft cover for a lighter notebook and for anything that's posted.

Which cover materials are there, and what branding does each take?

PU, leatherette paper, card, recycled paper, stone paper and cork, and the branding each one takes depends on the notebook as well as the material.

Debossing presses your logo into the cover, foil blocking presses a metallic foil such as gold or silver onto it, and a print sits on top of it. Which of those a notebook offers is on its product page, and our guide to screen printing, embroidery and engraving explains how each method works.

Which binding lies flat?

Wire binding lies completely flat, and some hardbacks are made to open flat too.

A wire-bound notebook, such as the Natural Recycled Notebook and the Mindarie Recycled Notepad and Pen Set, folds right back on itself, which suits workshops and note-taking on a knee. A hardback with a flat-lay binding, such as the Karst® A5 Stone Paper Hardcover Notebook - Lined, opens flat on a desk and looks the part as a gift. A stitched spine, as on the Fabia Crush Paper Cover Notebook, is light and flexible.

Most product pages don't state the binding, so look at the photos of the notebook open, and order a sample where one's available if the way it opens matters to you.

Lined, plain or squared?

Lined for a mixed audience, plain for sketching, and squared for diagrams.

Lined is the usual choice, because it suits the most people. Plain pages suit designers and anyone who draws. Squared pages suit technical notes, tables and diagrams. The Moleskine Classic L notebooks come ruled, plain and squared, so a gift can match the way the recipient works.

If you're ordering for people you don't know, choose lined.

How many pages is 80 sheets?

160, because a sheet is one piece of paper and a page is one side of it.

Product pages count both ways. One notebook might say 80 sheets and another might say 160 pages, and they contain the same amount of paper. The Mood A5 Soft Feel Notebook page gives both figures together, which is the clearest way to write it. When you're comparing two notebooks, check which figure each one is using.

More pages means a thicker, heavier notebook that costs more to make and to post, and past a point nobody fills it. For conferences and welcome kits, a moderate page count in good paper beats a thick notebook in thin paper.

What paper weight stops ink showing through?

Heavier paper, and the product page tells you the weight.

Paper weight is given in gsm, which is grams per square metre. Standard office printer paper is 80gsm, which gives you a reference point. Lighter paper is fine for a pencil or a ballpoint. Gel pens, fountain pens and felt tips show through lighter paper and can go through to the next sheet, so if the notebook is a gift, assume the recipient owns a decent pen and look for heavier paper.

Two other things the page will tell you. Cream paper is warmer to look at and white paper shows ink colours as they are, so choose by taste. Stone paper, as in the Karst® notebook, is waterproof and tear-resistant, which suits anyone who works outdoors.

Which extras matter?

The ones that match how the notebook will be used.

The product page lists which extras each notebook has. Our A5 Premium Soft Touch Lined Notebook has the first four, the Mood A5 Soft Feel Notebook has a contact details page, and the Evora A5 Cork ThermoPU Notebook comes packed in a black box.

How do you choose quickly?

Start from the job, then check the four things that matter for it.

To compare two notebooks side by side, open both product pages and request a free Visual Proof™ on each. Our in-house designers will show your logo on the cover with the price and delivery date, usually in around 20 minutes, and where a sample is available, you can order one to feel the cover and the paper before you decide. Browse the full range in our branded notebooks.