A binding "pitch" refers to the hole spacing for a binding punch. There are several different pitches available, each of which is only intended for use with a specific binding style. A pitch is written in a ratio format with the number of holes, a colon, and the spacing that holds those holes. For example, 3:1 has 3 holes per inch. When reading a binding pitch, the colon symbol is read as a "to". For example, 3:1 is read out loud as "three to one pitch".

What is a Binding Pitch

Pitch 2:1 3:1 4:1 5:1
Binding Type Wire-O Plastic Spiral Coil
Spacing 2 Holes per Inch 3 Holes per Inch 4 Holes per Inch 5 Holes per Inch
Pronunciation Two to One Three to One Four to One Five to One
Holes on Letter Size
(Depending on Margin) 		21 Holes 32 Holes 43 or 44 Holes 55 Holes

2:1 Pitch for Wire-O Bindings - Two to one pitch hole spacing is used for twin loop wire binding, also called wire-o binding. The wires are threaded through holes that are spaced with two per inch, so an 11" binding edge would have 21 holes, depending on the end-sheet page margins. 2:1 pitch spacing is used for larger diameter wires from 5/8 to 1 ¼", which looks nice with the wide spacing. Sometimes special smaller diameter wires also come in a 2:1 option, but users usually prefer the tighter spacing of a 3:1 in those cases.

3:1 Pitch for Wire-O Bindings - Three to one pitch hole spacing is used for twin loop wire-o binding as well. With three holes per inch, they are spaced a bit closer together and used for smaller wire diameters from 1/4" to 9/16". 3:1 pitch on a letter size paper will have 32 loops or 32 holes.

4:1 Pitch for Plastic Coil Spiral Bindings - Four to one pitch hole spacing is used for plastic coils, also called spiral binding. With four holes per inch, this tighter spacing works well with the continuous loop of a spiral bind. This standard spacing works with all coil sizes, industry wide. So you can make tiny 6mm coil books or huge 50mm coil books with the same hole spacing.

5:1 Pitch for Plastic Coil Spiral Bindings - Five to one pitch hole spacing is also used for plastic coil spiral binding, however, is a more rare spacing that is primarily used by specialty print shops with the proper equipment to punch five holes per inch. As you can imagine, those holes are very tightly spaced.


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Mallory Morsa, Binding101 Product Expert About the Author • Mallory Morsa has been part of Binding101 since 2008 and she is the primary content creator for BUY101® information. She began in customer service and sales where she honed in her skills to provide the customer with professional, fast, and accurate information. Shortly after, she was promoted to sales supervisor and also took on the role of product expert, training the team on new products. Throughout this time, she also wrote content for the site, as well as contributed stock photography and videography. As the team grew, she moved to an official position as the content specialist and social media manager. Her skills in these variety of areas give her the unique expertise to not just create content for the web, but to create content for you, the customer. She has a Bachelor's degree in business management and marketing, was on the Dean's List each year, and graduated Summa Cum Laude. In her free time, Mallory's favorite things to do include volunteering at the animal shelter by bottle feeding neonatal kittens, reading at the park, cooking plant-based meals, playing board games, hiking, and binge streaming TV shows with her furbabies and family beside her.