Preparing for a meeting or important presentation is no doubt hectic. You have a lot on your mind – especially if your materials need to make the right impression on your boss or a potential client. Besides communicating main points and other important information, materials you provide need to be organized in a logical way that’s easy to use.
One seemingly innocent part of organizing your materials can have a powerful impact on the impression you and your team has on those receiving materials.
In the case of 3-ring binders, properly separating materials for easy reference using dividers is one important organizational item to bear in mind.
But more fundamentally, the size of the three rings in your binders is crucial to consider – if they’re too small, all your materials may not fit at all and if they do, your user will have much difficulty turning pages and likely will tear pages from the rings.
This will no doubt leave a negative impression on your boss or potential client and may put your entire effort in jeopardy.
To avoid this calamity, be sure the diameter of the rings on your binders you’re using can accommodate the number of sheets your handouts will include!
Your Binder’s Capacity is Determined by the Ring Type & Size
For O-Ring binders, the diameter of the ring (…not the width of the spine) is the determining factor of how many sheets a 3-ring binder will hold . Standard binder ring diameters range from 1/2 of an inch to 3 inches.
Sheet capacity for a D-ring binder on the other hand is based on the length of straight part of the ring , which generally ranges between one and three inches. 3-ring binders with D-shaped rings hold up to 25% more sheets.
The table below shows capacities for standard size/thickness paper. If your sheets are thicker, you will need to reduce these numbers. One of our sales consultants will be happy to recommend a ring capacity to you.
| Ring Size (Diameter for O-Rings) | Page Capacity | |
| ½-inch | 75 | |
| 1-inch | 175 | |
| 1.5-inches | 250 | |
| 2-inches | 350 | |
| 3-inches | 570 | |
| 4-inches | 800 | (D-Ring Only) |
Remember, the ring must be large enough to go around all of your sheets. In other words, the thickness of your materials must be less than the diameter (O-ring) or length (D-ring) of your binder’s rings.
And another courteous thing to consider – give your users a little extra breathing room. Don’t try and stuff sheets to the maximum amount the rings can hold. Leave room so users can both effortlessly flip pages or even add pages to the 3-ring binder if they choose.
Regardless of what you need a 3-ring binder for – whether it’s for stuff you’re giving to others or for internal reference materials – making sure all of the pages fit comfortably and flip easy is quite a basic, yet vital part of collating a presentation or reference materials in a 3-ring binder.
Speaking with a specialist in 3-ring binders can help you get the right size to comfortably accommodate all of your materials. Discuss your particular needs with consultants at Binders, Inc. today.