Bookbinding is a valuable skill that is fun and satisfying to learn. For some it is a hobby, or a chance to put a personal project into tangible form. For others, it is an essential task for preparing business publications or getting a graduate thesis ready for submission.
Bookbinding also has an artistic element. For centuries, artists and crafts people have assembled books with paper, and thread, leather and gold leaf to create printed masterpieces.
For the average hobbyist, there are 3 primary bindings to use in a book project:
1. Plastic Coil Bindings
These bindings punch a series of holes in the spine edge of the paper and then thread a plastic coil through them to hold the pages together. This binding is used commonly to bind reports or small workbooks in office environments and the supplies and equipment needed can be purchased at most office supply stores.
The main benefit of a plastic coil binding is that it allows the book to open flat. Because of this, it is commonly used to bind cookbooks.
2. Saddle Bindings/Booklets
This binding is made by stacking a collection of pages together, binding them in the middle of the page with either thread or staples, and folding the whole thing in half to form the booklet. It is an easy and cheap way to bind a book with low page counts. When too many pages are included, this binding causes the unbound edge of the pages to fan out.
3. Glue Bindings (Perfect Bound)
Perfect bindings are the method used to create trade paperback books. A block of pages are clamped together and then a coating of flexible glue is applied to the spine. The cover is pressed into the warm glue which cools quickly and leaves behind a strong and durable binding.
Any of the bindings mentioned above can be accomplished by the do-it-yourselfer. Plastic coil bindings will require some hardware investment, but can also be done by most copy centers as well. Stapled booklets will require a swing arm stapler of a saddle stapler to provide the extra room required to get the staple head positioned at the spine. With a standard stapler, the paper hits the hinge before it is in far enough.
Bookbinding also has an artistic element. For centuries, artists and crafts people have assembled books with paper, and thread, leather and gold leaf to create printed masterpieces.
For the average hobbyist, there are 3 primary bindings to use in a book project:
1. Plastic Coil Bindings
These bindings punch a series of holes in the spine edge of the paper and then thread a plastic coil through them to hold the pages together. This binding is used commonly to bind reports or small workbooks in office environments and the supplies and equipment needed can be purchased at most office supply stores.
The main benefit of a plastic coil binding is that it allows the book to open flat. Because of this, it is commonly used to bind cookbooks.
2. Saddle Bindings/Booklets
This binding is made by stacking a collection of pages together, binding them in the middle of the page with either thread or staples, and folding the whole thing in half to form the booklet. It is an easy and cheap way to bind a book with low page counts. When too many pages are included, this binding causes the unbound edge of the pages to fan out.
3. Glue Bindings (Perfect Bound)
Perfect bindings are the method used to create trade paperback books. A block of pages are clamped together and then a coating of flexible glue is applied to the spine. The cover is pressed into the warm glue which cools quickly and leaves behind a strong and durable binding.
Any of the bindings mentioned above can be accomplished by the do-it-yourselfer. Plastic coil bindings will require some hardware investment, but can also be done by most copy centers as well. Stapled booklets will require a swing arm stapler of a saddle stapler to provide the extra room required to get the staple head positioned at the spine. With a standard stapler, the paper hits the hinge before it is in far enough.
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