Short answer: a Dubai company profile is usually 8, 16 or 44 pages. Up to about 32 pages it is saddle stitched; beyond that it needs glue binding and a spine. Real prices run from AED 150 for a single A4 copy to AED 2,890 for 1,000 saddle-stitched A5 booklets and AED 3,260 for 1,000 44-page glue-bound catalogues. The counterintuitive part: at 1,000 copies a 44-page catalogue costs less per copy than a 16-page booklet at 500. Quantity moves your unit cost far more than page count does.
Below is how to spec a profile properly — structure, binding, paper weight — with live store prices in AED, VAT inclusive, delivered across the UAE.
What actually goes in a company profile
Most profiles printed in Dubai are handed over in one of three situations: a government or semi-government tender, a supplier registration, or a first meeting with a client who wants something physical to keep. That decides the page count more than your content does.
| Pages | Use case | What fits |
|---|---|---|
| 8 pages | Leave-behind at meetings, trade shows | Cover, who we are, services, 2 projects, clients, contact |
| 16 pages | Standard corporate profile | The above plus team, methodology, certifications, case studies |
| 24 pages | Consultancies, contractors | Adds project gallery and detailed capability statements |
| 44 pages | Tenders, product catalogues | Full technical specs, HSE policy, licences, product tables |
Two rules save reprints. First, page counts must be multiples of four — a booklet is made from folded sheets, so 14 pages does not exist; you print 16 and leave two blank or fold them into the design. Second, if the profile will be submitted for a tender, check the tender document for a maximum page count before you lay anything out. Plenty of well-designed 44-page profiles get trimmed to 20 the week of submission.
Binding: saddle stitch vs glue vs hard cover
Saddle stitch
Folded sheets stapled through the spine. It lies flat, costs the least, and works from 8 up to roughly 32 pages. Past that the pages start to fan at the open edge and the booklet will not stay shut. This is the right choice for almost every 8 to 24-page profile.
Glue binding
Also called perfect binding: the inner pages are trimmed flush and glued into a wrap-around cover with a printed spine. It needs enough bulk to form that spine — in practice around 40 pages and up — and it is what makes a profile feel like a book rather than a brochure. The 44-page catalogues below are glue bound.
Hard cover
A kappa board cover printed on both faces, used for low-volume premium pieces. 50 A4 landscape catalogues, 24 pages on 170 gsm with a hard cover, cost AED 1,420 — about AED 28 a copy. Expensive per unit, but for a boardroom handover of fifty copies it is the format that gets kept on a shelf instead of in a drawer.
Paper and cover weights
The spec that separates a profile that feels substantial from one that feels like a flyer is the cover, not the inner pages.
- Inner pages: 170 gsm. Heavy enough that print does not show through from the reverse side, light enough to fold and bind cleanly.
- Cover: 300 gsm. This is the standard on our 8-page and 44-page products and it is the right call for almost every profile.
- All-through 200 gsm for short profiles where you want every page to feel like a cover — used on the 250-copy A5 product below.
- Lamination: matt for corporate and technical work, gloss for product-heavy catalogues where photography needs to pop. If you are undecided, our lamination guide covers how each finish ages in the hand, and paper GSM explained covers weights across every print job.
Real company profile prices in Dubai
Live store prices, AED, VAT inclusive. Delivery is five business days for saddle-stitched work and seven for glue-bound catalogues, counted from final artwork approval.
| Product | Pages | Binding | Qty | Price (AED) | Per copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booklet A4, 170 gsm | 12 | Stitched | 1 | 150 | 150.00 |
| Catalogue A4 landscape, hard cover | 24 | Hard cover | 50 | 1,420 | 28.40 |
| Booklet 20 × 20 cm, art matt 250 gsm, matt laminated | 12 | Stitched | 500 | 1,890 | 3.78 |
| Booklet A5, 170 gsm | 16 | Stitched | 500 | 3,000 | 6.00 |
| Booklet A4 to A5, 200 gsm | — | Stitched | 250 | 3,990 | 15.96 |
| Booklet, 300 gsm cover, open A4 close A5 | 8 | Saddle stitch | 1,000 | 2,890 | 2.89 |
| Booklet, 300 gsm cover, open A3 close A4 | 8 | Saddle stitch | 1,000 | 5,200 | 5.20 |
| Catalogue, 300 gsm cover, open A4 close A5 | 44 | Glue binding | 1,000 | 3,260 | 3.26 |
| Catalogue, 300 gsm cover, open A3 close A4 | 44 | Glue binding | 1,000 | 5,680 | 5.68 |
Browse the full range in booklets and catalogues, or read the deeper booklet and catalogue printing guide.
The maths most people get backwards
Read the table again and compare two rows:
- 500 copies of a 16-page A5 booklet — AED 3,000, or AED 6.00 a copy
- 1,000 copies of a 44-page A5 catalogue — AED 3,260, or AED 3.26 a copy
Nearly three times the pages, twice the copies, and the unit cost falls by almost half. Offset printing front-loads its cost into plates and make-ready; once the press is running, extra sheets are cheap. Page count adds paper, but quantity spreads the setup.
The practical takeaway: if you are debating whether to cut your profile from 24 pages to 16 to save money, you are optimising the wrong variable. Decide the page count your content genuinely needs, then ask what happens to the unit price at 500 and at 1,000. Nine times out of ten the larger run is the better decision — unless your profile carries a project list that will be out of date in six months, in which case print 250 and reprint.
The folder alternative
For tenders and pitches where content changes per client, a printed folder with inserts beats a bound profile. You print the folder once and swap the pages inside for each submission — no reprint when a price list or a project reference changes.
100 A4 folders with pocket, 400 gsm art matt with velvet lamination and 3D gold foil, cost AED 1,425 — AED 14.25 each. Expensive against a AED 2.89 booklet, but you are buying flexibility, and the foiled cover outperforms a stitched booklet in a room full of competing submissions. See folders and the presentation folder guide.
Many firms run both: a bound 8-page profile at 1,000 copies for general distribution, and 100 foiled folders for named opportunities.
How to order
- Confirm the page count in multiples of four, including the cover.
- Send a print-ready PDF — single pages in reading order, not spreads, CMYK, 300 dpi, 3 mm bleed. Imposition is handled at our end. The print-ready artwork checklist has every setting.
- Or use the free design service — send your content, logo and photography and we will lay out the profile for approval.
- Approve the proof. Production runs five to seven business days from approval.
- Delivery across Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi same week; the northern emirates add a day.
FAQ
How many pages should a company profile be?
Sixteen is the safe default for a corporate profile and 8 is right for a leave-behind. Go to 44 only when you have technical specifications, certifications or a product catalogue to carry. Always a multiple of four.
Can I print just one or two copies for a tender?
Yes. A single A4 12-page booklet on 170 gsm costs AED 150. Digital printing makes one-off and very short runs practical, which matters when a tender closes in three days and you need two bound copies rather than five hundred.
What is the difference between saddle stitch and glue binding?
Saddle stitch staples folded sheets through the spine — cheaper, lies flat, works to about 32 pages. Glue binding trims and glues the pages into a wrap-around cover with a printed spine, needs roughly 40 pages minimum, and produces a book-like finish. The 44-page catalogues above are glue bound.
How do I print a bilingual Arabic and English profile?
Two approaches. Either run the languages back to back as a flip book, with English opening left to right from one cover and Arabic right to left from the other, or place Arabic and English on facing pages throughout. The flip book reads better but doubles your page count, so an 8-page profile becomes 16. Tell us which before layout begins — binding direction is decided at imposition and cannot be changed afterwards.
How long does company profile printing take in Dubai?
Five business days for saddle-stitched booklets and seven for glue-bound catalogues, counted from approval of the final artwork, not from the enquiry. Short digital runs for urgent tenders can be much faster — check express printing if the deadline is this week.
Should the cover be matt or gloss?
Matt for corporate, consultancy, legal and contracting profiles — it photographs well and does not show fingerprints. Gloss for product catalogues where colour saturation sells the item. Velvet or soft-touch lamination sits between the two and feels noticeably more expensive than it costs.
Get your profile quoted
Send the page count, closed size and quantity and we will come back with a firm price, or send the content and we will design it first. WhatsApp +971 52 210 0909 or call 052 210 0909.
Start here: booklets and catalogues · presentation folders · business cards.
