---
title: "Flatplan | Printing glossary | IN TEMPO"
description: "A plan of every page of a book as a row of thumbnails: what goes on each page, where the images fall, where chapters start. It is read in sections, often of 16 or 32 pages."
url: "https://www.intempo.fr/en/glossaire/chemin-de-fer/"
lang: "en"
---

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# Flatplan

Also called page plan, pagination plan

A plan of every page of a book as a row of thumbnails: what goes on each page, where the images fall, where chapters start. It is read in sections, often of 16 or 32 pages.

![Flatplan diagram: the pages of a book as rows of thumbnails, one row per 16-page section, the colour images grouped in the same section, where chapters start, and the page count brought to a multiple of the section.](https://www.intempo.fr/diagrammes/en/flatplan.png)

The flatplan: every page as a thumbnail, read here in sections of 16 pages. Diagram: IN TEMPO, licence [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en). [Reuse this diagram](https://www.intempo.fr/en/reutiliser-nos-schemas/)

## In practice

It is the tool for bringing the page count to a multiple of the section: a 150-page book will often cost as much as a 160-page one. It also helps group colour images in the same sections when the rest is black, which can lower the price. Show it to the printer before layout, not after.

## Related terms

- [Printer’s proof](https://www.intempo.fr/en/glossaire/bon-a-tirer/)
- [Paper weight](https://www.intempo.fr/en/glossaire/grammage/)

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