Split a page count into selectable signature sizes, expose blank pages, press sheets and binding assumptions.
A 200-page book split into 32-page signatures requires seven signatures because six signatures hold only 192 pages. Seven hold 224, so the arithmetic exposes 24 blank positions before any pagination decisions are made. Those blanks may be redistributed or replaced by another signature scheme.
The press-sheet result multiplies signatures per copy by the number of copies and divides by the number of signatures produced on each press sheet. It is a capacity model, not an imposition diagram, so page order and folding scheme still belong to the provider template.
Compare multiple signature sizes when the binding method allows it. A mathematically efficient signature is not automatically the best production choice if the stock, folding equipment or binding process cannot handle it reliably.
A signature plan exposes blank pages instead of hiding them in rounding.
Perfect binding, saddle stitch and sewn sections can impose different constraints beyond this arithmetic model.
Pagination and creep should still be checked with the provider template or physical mock-up.