Please
select links below for guidelines on book binding preparation
Guidelines
for Limp Binding
Styles of Limp Binding
Guidelines for Case Binding
Guidelines for Case Making
Guidelines for Saddle Stitching
Guidelines for Sewing
Guidelines for Wiro Binding
Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Folding
Guidelines for Forme Cutting
Guidelines for Forme Manufacturing
Click here to download a PDF version
of these guidelines
for printing
(If you do not have Adobe Acrobat PDF reader on your system,
click
here to download it from Adobe.)
GUIDELINES
FOR LIMP BINDING
These guidelines apply to the range of limp bound products that we produce.
These are;
Perfect Bound
Burst
bound
PUR Bound
Section
Sewn Drawn on Cover
Please follow these rules when producing products that are limp bound.
Minimum
Size untrimmed: 148 x 100mm
Minimum
Size trimmed: 100 x 80mm
Maximum
Size untrimmed: 410 x 305mm
Maximum
Size trimmed: 380 x 300mm
Minimum spine width: 2mm
Maximum spine width: 60mm
Perfect Bound, Burst Bound and Section Sewn be it cased
or drawn on cover work we will require an ink and coating free
area on all spine areas of pages inner and ourters to ensure
you of a high quality job. The ideal situation will be to have
an ink and coating free area of 3mm either side of the spine.
For Perfect binding on coated stocks we strongly suggest
the use of PUR adhesive. We recommend that if an all over
varnish is required on a Burst Bound book PUR is used.
All covers should also be ink and coating free of the spine
area including the hinge side glue area. As The Bindery will
be unaware and unqualified to distinguish if a particular job
has the above mentioned coverage, therefore we will not be
responsible if the product falls apart. Please ensure that all
appropriate personnel are informed of this information to
prevent any incorrect binding.
Covers
must be a minimum of 3mm longer than the folded
section at both head and foot, and not the final trim size,
to create a glue trap.
Grain
direction of cover and text to run head to foot. Do
not mix text stock with a mixture of right
grain and wrong
grain direction stocks.
It
is essential to avoid any application of ink or varnish or
laminate within 5mm of the spine on the inside
of covers,
front and back.
Note: glue does not adhere to printed or laminated surfaces.
On
jobs with line-ups, stock should be pre trimmed before
printing to ensure folding accuracy. For quality results,
avoid
line-ups in between sections.
The
lay mark should be clearly marked on all sections
supplied.
Do
not crease covers. Creasing of the covers is carried out on
the binding line during the binding process.
STYLES
OF LIMP BINDING
Perfect
Binding - 3mm milled off the spine and cover glued on.
Spine
measurement required.
No
lap(s) required.
Don't
have to wrap or insert odd sections.
Gloss
art papers are not recommended for this binding style.
Odd
sections second to last section (exception with colour impositions).
Under
80 pages consider the grammage of the paper and the
option to saddle staple.
Burst
Binding - sections are folded with notches or perforations in the
spine to allow glue to penetrate without the spine being cut to single
leaves and cover glued on. The process is suitable only for 4, 8, 12
or 16 page signatures.
No
lap(s) required.
No
sections to wrap or insert.
Burst
Binding 24pp or 32pp should be limited to 80gsm on
uncoated stocks or 90 gsm on coated stocks.
Spine
measurement required.
Odd
sections second to last section (exception with colour impositions).
PUR Binding - Poly Urethane Reactive
PUR is similar to perfect binding and requires the same 3mm spine grind.
The major difference is that we can bind books with an all over varnish and full colour bleeds into the spine without the need to mask out or cut blankets.
A mixture of stocks can be used up to 200gsm. UV Coating of text up to 170gsm can be bound using PUR.*
We can advise on specific applications using PUR.
*First and last leaf must have a print and varnish free area of 4mm + 3mm spine grind
PUR is extreamely strong but it requires 8 hours to cure.
No lap(s) required.
No sections to wrap or insert.
Gloss art suitable for this style of binding.
Lay flat is excellent on lighter stocks.
Section
Sewn, Drawn on Cover - sections sewn together and cover glued on.
7mm
to 12mm lap required on all sections.
Lap
should be on a common edge throughout the entire
book.
Any
4pp or 8pp sections must be imposed to insert or wrap
around another section.
All
folded sections must be the same size from head to tail.
Spine
measurement required.
GUIDELINES
FOR CASE BINDING
Ten
or more processes may be involved in the binding of a book in the traditional
"hard cover" or "case bound" style, but the basic stages are: folding,
collating and gathering; sewing; endpapering; trimming; rounding and
backing; back lining; making cases; casing-in; pressing and jointing;
dust jacketing. The book blocks may be perfect (burst) bound or section sewn.
Unsewn
Casebooks will be perfect or burst bound using
roundable hotmelt glues and with a lining applied to the spine.
The trimmed book block is then cased-in with endpapers into
a hard case.
Sewn
Casebooks will be section sewn and then glued with
a lining applied to the spine. The trimmed book block is then cased-in
with endpapers into a hard case. When considering a hardcase book, the
following options are available:
Square
back or round back.
Head and tail bands.
Foil stamping on the case on front, spine or both.
A dummy should be produced for all case bound books to determine
the exact dimensions of the book block for the case/cover and dust jacket.
This service is provided free of charge by The Bindery.
Endpapers
Endpapers
must be the same size (head to tail) as the folded
section that it is being tipped onto.
Enpapers
should be produced on an uncoated woodfree
135gsm paper stock.
Endpapers
should have the grain running head to tail.
Endpapers,
and the sections that they are being tipped
onto, i.e. first and last sections, should have 3mm of
unprinted paper along the spine to ensure good adhesion.
Cased
Book Sizes (Automatic production)
Minimum size 100 x 80mm
Maximum size 380 x 297mm
Minimum spine width 3mm
Maximum spine width 70mm
GUIDELINES
FOR CASE-MAKING
Please
follow these guidelines when producing cases:
Please
advise if the book is to be round backed or
square back.
Please
specify the thickness of the board for the case.
These can be 1800 microns (24 oz), 2400 microns (32 oz),
3000 microns (40 oz).
Please specify the material to be used for the case material
e.g. Wibalin (printed or plain), vinyl cloth, linen,
imitation
or real leather, printed and laminated paper.
Printed
case material (paper) should always be laminated.
Case material should be no heavier than 150gsm (Preferably 135gsm).
If case material is printed, allow 25mm bleed on all edges
over and above the finished size (open book size
including spine width) to allow for case overhang
and
material turn-in's.
The
case will be bigger than the book block, usually by
4mm on the head, tail and fore-edge.
Please specify if the case material is to be foil stamped or
debossed. If so, is the foil stamping on front,
spine or both.
Film supplied for any foil stamping on the case should be
negative. Always check the availability and colours
of all
case material and head and tail bands if The Bindery
is
to supply them.
A
dummy should be produced for all case bound books to
determine the dimensions for the case/cover and
dust jacket. The Bindery provides this
service
free of charge.
Sizes
of Cases opened flat (Automatic production)
Minimum size 110 x 155mm
Maximum size 380 x 660mm
Joint Width 4 -12mm
Turn in width 8 - 15mm
GUIDELINES
FOR SADDLE STITCHING
The
size or thickness of the final publication usually determines whether
the signatures are side-stitched or adhesive bound. Saddle stitching
is usually the preferred method for products of
less than ninety-six pages.
Our
saddle stitching machine consists of an eight station gathering line
plus a dedicated cover feeder, a two or four wire stitching area and
a trimming section that can trim three outside edges. It is also capable
of either centre splitting or centre double cutting on 2 up work.
The sections should have an 8mm lip on the back half for efficient feeding
on the automatic feeders.
Odd
section should be first section to wrap around
remaining book.
Mailing
cards - Minimum pick up edge must be 70 mm.
Grain direction of board covers must run head to tail
to avoid cracking.
Covers
should be laminated or varnish-sealed to avoid scuffing.
Maximum size of section 450 x 311 mm
untrimmed.
Maximum size of section 440 x 300 mm trimmed.
Minimum size of section 158 x 100 mm untrimmed.
Minimum size of section 148 x 75 mm trimmed.
Maximum format of up to 2 book block 217 x 300 mm untrimmed.
Minimum format of up to 2 book block 148 x 75 mm untrimmed.
Maximum thickness of stitching - 6 mm 1 up
Maximum number of sections - 8 plus cover.
Number of automatic feeders is 8 plus cover feeder
The sections should have an 8mm lip on the back half for efficient
feeding on the automatic feeders.
Odd sections should be the first section to wrap around the remaining
book.
Mailing cards - Minimum pick up edge must be 70 mm.
Grain direction of board covers must run head to tail
to avoid cracking.
Covers should be laminated or varnish-sealed to avoid
scuffing.
2up work should be supplied with 6mm double cut
The
following points should be adhered to for Section Sewing:
All sections must have a minimum of a 7mm and a
maximum of 12mm lap edge either on the back half
or front half of the section, as long as the
lap edge is consistently on the same edge on
all sections.
When sections are folded they must be all the same
size head to tail. 16 page or 32 page sections are
required
for sewing. If printing as 4 or 8 page sections,
then
the job should be planned so as to insert one into
another to make 16 page sections.
All
inserts and wraps must be the same size as sections
and have the same lap edge as the sections.
When
a sewn product has an odd section requirement,
e.g. an odd 4 or 8 page section, then always
plan to
wrap this odd section around a 16 or 32 page
section.
Section sizes for Automatic Section Sewing
Max 380mm x 300mm (H x W)
Min 150mm x 80mm (H x W)
Wiro (Twin Loop) Binding
Please follow these rules when planning twin loop binding
Minimum Size: 80 x 80mm*
*Depending on Minimum punching size / May have to punch 2 or 4up Minimum Punch Size 140 x 135mm
Maximum Size 455 x 490mm
Minimum thickness 1.5mm
Maximum thickness 16mm
Covers should be 1 to 2mm larger on foredge
Minimum 4mm trim off folded sections all round
Pharmaceutical Folding
Minimum flat size 100 x 100mm
Maximum flat size 320 x 420mm
Minimum folded size 55 x 25mm
Suggested stock weight 65gsm to 130gsm
Small sizes maximum stock 85gsm
Forme Cutting
Maximum size 650 x 910mm
Minimum size 190 x 110mm
Minimum 12mm grip
Forme Manufacturing
Formes are produced on sight for our own use and also as a service to our customers
We can make your formes from film or a PDF.
