What happens to a photograph at the centre of a catalogue spread?

Consider a piece of furniture in a catalog where a seam detail happens to fall right in the middle. When viewing the two pages side-by-side on a screen, the detail appears to connect perfectly. However, if the bound catalog does not open completely flat, a portion of the photograph will be lost into the inner margin. Adding "bleed" (extra margin for trimming) does not solve this; that space is intended for the cutting process.

First, understand the binding method.

Saddle-stitched (stapled) and perfect-bound (glued) publications do not open in the same way. The number of pages and the type of paper also affect the result. Ask your printer for a sample that uses the same binding method and has a similar thickness. To estimate how much of the image might be lost in the center, open the sample just as a reader would on a table. Flattening it out completely with a ruler creates a misleading impression of how it will actually appear.

When adjusting the framing, first identify the "no-go" zones. A person’s eyes, a product logo, or a critical directional arrow on a floor plan should never fall into the binding area. Elements like the sky, a wall texture, or a large expanse of fabric are much more forgiving if they cross the center fold. If a photograph is problematic, you don’t have to force it across two pages; a well-preserved detail on a single page is far more effective than a large, yet illegible, image.