Dissertation Week: A Printing and Binding Checklist for Students
The points that catch students out when printing and binding a dissertation or thesis, and how to avoid a last-minute panic.
From the team at The Printing Shop.
Hand-in week is the worst possible time to discover a problem with your margins. This checklist covers what to look at first, ideally a week or more before your deadline.
1. Read your department's rules
Requirements vary between universities and courses, so check your handbook for each of these:
- Do you need to submit a printed copy at all, or just a digital one?
- What are the rules on binding: comb, soft, or hard?
- Are there any rules on cover colour and spine wording?
- Should it be single or double sided?
- What margins, line spacing and fonts are required?
- How many copies do you need?
Take a photo of the relevant page on your phone, then bring it in with you.
2. Set your margins correctly
Binding uses up space on the spine side. A left margin of about 30 to 40 mm is typical for hardback, and many handbooks specify a number. If you are printing double sided, use mirrored margins, so that the wider margin is always on the inside edge. Check your page numbers too, as they should not fall into the binding.
3. Save a clean PDF
Save your work as a PDF, then open the PDF and go through every page. Look for:
- Tables and images that have moved or split across pages
- Fonts in equations or special characters that have changed
- Blank pages from section breaks
- Page numbers that are wrong or missing
- Contents page numbers that do not match the actual pages
Remove any comments and tracked changes before you export.
4. Choose your paper and colour
Standard 80gsm paper is usually fine, but 100 to 120gsm feels better and shows less through the page. See our guide to paper weights. Only print the colour pages in colour if you want to save money, and tell us which ones they are. Check your charts and photos at actual size too, as they can look weaker on paper than on a screen.
5. Choose your binding
| Binding | Good for | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Comb binding | Drafts, and where permitted for final submission | Fast |
| Wire binding | Neat submissions, or anything that needs to lie flat | Fast |
| Soft or perfect binding | A smart paperback finish | Medium |
| Hardback binding | Formal theses and keepsakes | Slowest |
If your university has no specific rules, wire or comb binding is often a good balance of cost and speed. Many students get one hardback copy for themselves or their family, too.
6. Plan your timing
Allow time for anything to go wrong. A rough schedule:
- Two weeks before: check your rules, and plan your binding.
- One week before: bring a test print, particularly of tricky pages.
- Three to five days before: print and bind your final version. Hardback may need longer.
- The day before: read through, and check your submission details.
Everyone's deadline falls in the same few weeks, and shops get busy. Send your file early to be safe. Simple document printing and comb or wire binding can often be done the same day, but it is not worth relying on it.
7. Before you submit
Check that your name, student number and title are correct on the cover and the first page. Double-check the spelling of your spine wording before hardback binding, because it can't be changed afterwards. Keep a backup of your file in at least two places, and keep your receipt in case you need it.
Good luck
If you get stuck, bring your file and handbook to Gatton Road, and we will go through them with you. We are a short trip from St George's.