Tab Cut Calculator — How Many Tabs Fit, and Which Cut to Order
The question every tab order starts with: “I need this many sections — what cut do I want?” Tabzoola's free tab cut calculator shows every layout for your number, with exact tab sizes, from the plant that has die-cut tabs since 1993.
1 full bank of 6 + a final bank of 6 — tabs about 1.67" tall.
All the ways to lay out 12 tabs
| Cut | Banks | Layout | Tab height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/6 | 2 | 1 × 6 + 6 | 1.67" |
| 1/7 | 2 | 1 × 7 + 5 | 1.43" |
| 1/8 | 2 | 1 × 8 + 4 | 1.25" |
| 1/9 | 2 | 1 × 9 + 3 | 1.11" |
| 1/10 | 2 | 1 × 10 + 2 | 1.00" |
| 1/4 | 3 | 2 × 4 + 4 | 2.50" |
| 1/5 | 3 | 2 × 5 + 2 | 2.00" |
| 1/3 | 4 | 3 × 3 + 3 | 3.33" |
Rule of thumb: fewer banks read cleaner in a binder; taller tabs fit more text. Below 1" per tab, keep titles short or step up a cut.
Sizing the binder itself? The binder size calculator turns your page and tab counts into the right ring size.
Building an estate planning binder? The estate binder builder turns the documents in the plan into the section list, the cut and the price.
Run a site your readers size binders on? Embed this calculator free — one line of HTML, no cookies, no tracking.
Common picks: chart binders use 1/8 or 1/10 cut (medical chart tabs), court binders use 1/8 (legal exhibit tabs), and everyday office binders use 1/5 (3-ring binder dividers).
Tab-cut basics
What does tab 'cut' mean?
The cut is the fraction of the binding edge each tab occupies. A 1/5 cut means each tab takes one-fifth of the edge — five tabs cascade down the page before the pattern repeats. A set of tab positions is called a bank.
What if I need more tabs than one bank holds?
The tabs continue in a second bank, starting back at the top. For example, 12 tabs in a 1/5 cut is two full banks of five plus a bank of two. Fewer banks generally read cleaner in a binder.
How do I choose the right number of tabs for my dividers?
Count the sections your binder actually needs — one tab per section — then let the calculator above turn that number into the right cut and bank layout. Fewer sections with long titles suit a lower cut (wider tabs, 1/3–1/5); many short-labeled sections suit a higher cut (1/8–1/10). If you're between counts, order the sections you use today; sets reorder easily when the binder grows.
Which cut is most common?
1/5 cut is the everyday standard for office and reference binders. Legal exhibit and medical chart sets often use 1/8 or 1/10 cuts for more positions per bank.
Custom printed tabs from Tabzoola
Tabzoola prints and die-cuts tabs to order in Schaumburg, Illinois, priced instantly online with a free PDF proof: custom index tabs, custom binder tabs and custom tab dividers with your own titles, legal exhibit tabs, estate planning binder tabs, custom Mylar tab dividers and medical chart dividers.
Open source: the tab cut logic behind this free Tabzoola tool is published under the MIT license as legal-binder-tools on GitHub, for anyone building their own legal or binder software.