Binding Methods

What is Perfect Binding?

Perfect Binding

The spine or the book is cut and roughened, adhesive is applied to the rough edges and a cover is glued firmly in place. Bleeds and crossovers are also handled differently on perfect bound books.

Perfect BindingAdvantages

  •     Versitile
  •     Overall look and visual appeal
  •     Printable spine
  •     Longevity
  •     Ability to creatively interleaf pages

Limitations

  •     Doesn’t lay flat. Not suggested for applications in which hands-free reading isimportant [e.g. cookbooks, technical guides, directories or instruction manuals].
  •     Minimum thickness of 1⁄8″ inch needed if spine is printed or1⁄16inch if spine isn’t printed.

THE PROCESS

  •     Folded signatures or single leaves are gathered into a stack.
  •     The spine side of the stack is milled to remove the folded edges, and roughened toexpose the paper fibers. The edge of each page is left exposed.
  •     Hot melt adhesive is applied along the spine edge of the book. The glue does notpenetrate; it flows around the exposed fibers.
  •     The cover is applied to the spine while the glue is hot. It is then pressed onto thespine, and wrapped around the book block.
  •     Hot melt dries in 2 to 25 seconds.
  •     The book is run through a three knife trimmer to trim the face, the head and the foot.

 

What is Spiral Binding?

Spiral Stitching

To bind using a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through punched holes.

Spiral BindingAdvantages

  •     Versatile & widely available
  •     Almost any material can be punched and bound, including paper, plastic and laminates.
  •     Lays flat.
  •     Ability to creatively interleaf pages.
  •     Finished piece folds over 360 degrees [useful for technical and reference applications].
  •     Well suited for short runs.
  •     Can accommodate grain short and most paper weights.

Limitations

  •     Not as sturdy as double loop wire.
  •     If the wire is crushed, it will not return to its original shape.
  •     Pages will jog when open and pages will step up when turned. Crossover designs willnot align.
  •     Wire ends are left unfinished; may snag or pull.

THE PROCESS

  •     Holes are drilled or punched.
  •     Continuous spiral wire is fed into the holes sequentially.
  •     Wire is crimped on both ends to prevent unravelling.

 

What is Side Stitch Binding?

Side StitchingSide Stitching

Stapling the signatures together on the side rather than the fold.

Advantages

  •     Versitile & widely available
  •     Almost any material can be punched and bound, including paper, plastic and laminates.
  •     Lays flat.
  •     Ability to creatively interleaf pages.
  •     Finished piece folds over 360 degrees [useful for technical and reference applications].
  •     Well suited for short runs.
  •     Can accommodate grain short and most paper weights.

Limitations

  •     Not as sturdy as double loop wire.
  •     If the wire is crushed, it will not return to its original shape.
  •     Pages will jog when open and pages will step up when turned. Crossover designs willnot align.
  •     Wire ends are left unfinished; may snag or pull.

THE PROCESS

  •     Loose pages are collated and assembled into a stack.
  •     The loose pages are stitched or stapled parallel to the spine.
  •     When binding signatures, the head, foot and face of the book are trimmed.