After your designer finishes typesetting your book, they will send you a PDF for the first round of proofing. If your PDF view is set up to show single pages instead of two-page spreads, it will be hard to tell why certain pages are blank. Change the PDF view, and you’ll see that the blank pages are always on the left. They will be totally blank ­— no headers, no footers, no page numbers.

This is because, in most books, the chapters and sections start on the right-hand page. What you’re seeing in your PDF is actually both sides of each page, or both sides of each sheet of paper. The left-hand side, or back side, of the sheet is called the verso page. The right-hand side, or the front of the sheet, is called the recto page.

When we read a book, it’s natural to start a new chapter or section on the right. We don’t even notice the blank verso page before the chapter opener. But on a computer screen, the blank pages in a series of typeset pages is glaringly obvious. Some authors just can’t stand to leave it blank, so they put quotes or little stories on those pages. That’s fine, but it really isn’t necessary; in fact, it’s easier on the eyes to have some white space to break up the text.

The other place you might find blank pages is at the end of your book. This is because the printer lays out the pages in “signatures,” and the book designer needs to add blank pages to create even signatures. A full signature, or “sig,” is 32 pages, a half-sig is 16 pages, and a quarter-sig is 8 pages. (Most printers will allow a 4-page sig, but it increases the printing cost.) Your designer will make sure the page count adds up to a multiple of 8. BTW, this is the total page count of the book, starting from the very first page, not the first numbered page.

So when you proof that PDF, know that the blank pages are intentional. It might look funny on screen, but the printed book will look good.