Leuchtturm1917 notebooks: softcover and hardcover, A5 to A4+

Which format suits you

Medium, at 145 x 210 mm, is what most people pick: open it out and you have an A4 sheet, closed it still fits a bag. Composition B5 (178 x 254 mm) is the middle size that works well on a desk. Master A4+ (225 x 315 mm) is deliberately larger than true A4, so loose sheets and handouts fit inside completely. Pocket (90 x 150 mm) goes in a coat pocket and Paperback B6+ (125 x 190 mm) sits just above it.

Hard or soft cover

The difference is not only the cover. A softcover holds 123 numbered pages whatever the format. With a hard cover that scales with size: 251 pages for Medium, 219 for Composition B5 and 235 for Master. The hard cover protects better and doubles as a writing surface, the soft one bends with you and weighs less to carry. Both lie flat, because the sections are sewn rather than glued. Master comes as hardcover only, Paperback B6+ as softcover only.

Paper that takes a fountain pen

The paper is acid free, FSC certified and slightly cream coloured. Medium, Composition, Paperback and Pocket use 80 gsm, Master uses 100 gsm. A fountain pen writes well on it, though at 80 gsm you will see your writing show through faintly on the back. For a broad or wet nib, take the Master with its heavier paper, or look at the 120g Edition.

Choosing the ruling

Dotted gives you dots on a 5 mm grid: enough to keep your lines straight, but barely visible in the finished page. Ruled runs at 6 mm, squared uses the same 5 mm grid as dotted, and plain leaves everything open. Every book has a table of contents at the front, eight perforated sheets at the back and a fold-out pocket in the rear cover.