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Collate in printing means putting the pages of a multi-page document into the right order, one complete set at a time. Print three copies of a 4-page report collated and you get 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Uncollated, you get 1-1-1, 2-2-2, 3-3-3, 4-4-4 and sort them yourself.
What does collate mean in printing?
The word comes from the Latin for “bring together”. In print it describes the order the pages come off the machine. A collated job arrives as finished sets, ready to staple, bind or hand out. An uncollated job arrives as stacks of identical pages, which is quicker for the printer but leaves the sorting to you.
| Setting | 3 copies of a 4-page document come out as | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Collated | 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 | Reports, handouts, booklets, anything read in page order |
| Uncollated | 1-1-1, 2-2-2, 3-3-3, 4-4-4 | Single-sheet flyers, forms you file by page, jobs you will hand-assemble |
Collated or uncollated: which should you pick?
Pick collated whenever someone will read the pages in order. Handouts for a meeting, a price list stapled in the corner, a training pack: all collated. Pick uncollated when every page is a separate item, such as a stack of the same flyer, or when page 1 and page 2 go to different people.
On a home or office printer, collating is a tick box in the print dialog. It can make a long job slightly slower to start, because the printer works through the whole document before it begins the second copy.
How collating works on a professional print job
When you order printed products from us you don’t need to ask for collating. Anything that is bound arrives in page order, because binding only works on collated pages:
- Saddle stitched booklets are printed on folded sheets, nested in order and stapled through the spine.
- Perfect bound booklets have their pages gathered in order and glued into a square spine.
- Wiro bound booklets have collated pages punched and held on a wire coil, so they lie flat.
- NCR sets are collated into sets of two, three or four coloured parts, so each set writes through as one form.
What you do need to get right is the page order in your file. Send it as one PDF with page 1 first, in reading order, at the finished page size. We impose it (arrange it onto the print sheets) for you.
Collate, gather, impose: the words that come up next
- Gathering is collating for bound books: stacking folded sections in order before they are glued or sewn.
- Imposition is arranging pages on a big print sheet so that, once folded and cut, they read in order. Page 1 and page 8 of an 8-page booklet sit side by side on the same sheet.
- Saddle stitch means stapled through the fold. Page counts go up in fours (8, 12, 16 and so on), because each sheet makes four pages.
- Simplex and duplex mean printed on one side or both sides of the sheet.
More terms are in our print glossary, and the file side is covered in saving a PDF for printing.
Quick answers
Does collated cost more? On a home printer, no. On professional bound products it is part of the job and already in the price.
What does “uncollated” mean on a print quote? That you receive stacks of each page, not sets. It is rare for booklets and common for loose single sheets.
Is collate the same as staple? No. Collating puts pages in order; stapling or binding then holds them together.