Question for bookbinders/printers

[DaveMage]

Is there any practical limit to the page count of a book with the size dimensions of the Player's Handbook?

For example, if one were to make a Deluxe Player's Handbook, which included as much info as possible from the splat books, how many pages could you fit into a full-color book the same relative size of the PH (length x width)?

And along those lines, what's the most pages you've seen in a book of such dimensions?

 

[Intrope]

Is there any practical limit to the page count of a book with the size dimensions of the Player's Handbook?

For example, if one were to make a Deluxe Player's Handbook, which included as much info as possible from the splat books, how many pages could you fit into a full-color book the same relative size of the PH (length x width)?

And along those lines, what's the most pages you've seen in a book of such dimensions?

IANABB/P, but there shouldn't be any serious limit. I have a Calculus Textbook, well-used from 10 years ago. It has just under 1200 pages and it's only a little shorter than the PHB.

OTOH, the type of binidng matters for big books. The old 4th edition Champions book (the BBB) tended to come apart after a while; it had 350-400 pages IIRC.

It would probably be possible to print an all-in-one D&D tome/doorstop, but the cost would likely be stunning.

 

[DaveMage]

I have found, though, that most textbooks are actually smaller (length x width) than the PH.

The cost to put together a larger book would certainly be greater, and you also have issues with number of books/box for retailers, but in theory, I wonder just how many pages (of paper quality like that in the PH) you could fit into such a book before the spine could no longer support it.

Is there a limit?

 

[dagger]

If you could do something like this and remove most of the art during the process, that would save a lot of room.

 

[Zander]

Is there a limit?

I'm not a bookbinder, but I believe the answer is that there is no limit. I've seen reference books that are a couple of thousand pages.

My mother is a retired (prize-winning) bookbinder. I'll ask her and post her reply...

 

[Greatwyrm]

My mother is a retired (prize-winning) bookbinder. I'll ask her and post her reply...

Not to belittle your mother's accomplishments, but I didn't even know they gave awards for that.

 

[Tsyr]

No (practical) limit, really... I've got a collected work of shakespeare that's well over a thousand, and is actually a little larger than most RPG books... And the Talislanta RPG book is 500 or so pages.

 

[Cbas10]

If you could do something like this and remove most of the art during the process, that would save a lot of room.

True, this could be a dream project - to have more content and virtually no artwork so we could get more information. However, there are other factors to consider: paying for people to create all that content, editing and layout, companies' budgets for profits per book per quarter, and average consumer desire (lots of people equate eye candy in a book as an indicator of the book's content quality).

 

[DaveMage]

I'm not a bookbinder, but I believe the answer is that there is no limit. I've seen reference books that are a couple of thousand pages.

My mother is a retired (prize-winning) bookbinder. I'll ask her and post her reply...

Cool...thanks!

True, this could be a dream project - to have more content and virtually no artwork so we could get more information. However, there are other factors to consider: paying for people to create all that content, editing and layout, companies' budgets for profits per book per quarter, and average consumer desire (lots of people equate eye candy in a book as an indicator of the book's content quality).

I think I'd like to have the artwork remain.

I'd love to see some deluxe books appear targeted for the collector market. The books could list at the same high prices textbooks do, even if they are only available from the producing company.

I'm just waiting to win the lottery so I don't have to care if my "deluxe" line of books lose money.

 

[Greatwyrm]

And the Talislanta RPG book is 500 or so pages.

Yea, the last Talislanta book was a monster. The 5th ed HERO book is probably right around 500 as well. Supposedly, it's binding can survive a trip through tumble dryer.