2023 Inspiration Book
Bound Perfectly
What is perfect binding?
For the longest time, we only had saddle stitching in-house, but around this time in 2019, we added perfect binding to our list of in-house services, recently upgrading even further to the 2020 Muller Martini Pantera Perfect Binder.
Okay, cool. But what is perfect binding? And what options do you have with it?
So this is perfect binding:
And, this is saddle stitching:
With perfect binding, the cover wraps squarely around pages that are glued together, rather than being all stapled together.
Here’s all you need to know about your options for perfect bound booklets…
Page Count
- Minimum: 48 pages + cover (But! This number can fluctuate depending on the paper stock and weight you choose.)
- Maximum Page Count: The limit does not exist. (Well, it does at more than 1,000 pages. So, as long as you aren’t planning on needing as many pages as a Harry Potter novel, you’ll probably be fine.)
Spine Width and Placement
- Spine width depends on the number of pages. Your sales rep will be able to tell you the width once the paper stock and page count has been established.
- Minimum Spine Width: 1/16″
- Maximum Spine Width: 2″
- The spine width is important when creating your cover art. You will be able to put information on the spine, which is something you can’t do with saddle stitching.
- Placement can be horizontal or vertical.
Perfect bound books of various page counts and spine widths.
Design Customization
Paper Stock Change-Outs, Foil Stamping, Raised UV...
- Cover: Foil stamping, soft touch, raised UV, reticulated varnish… you name it, it can go on the cover.
- Signatures: Groups of pages can be different paper stocks in multiples of 4, 8, 12, 16…
- Single Sheet Inserts: Pages can also be inserted individually into the book in front of or in between sigs. This allows you to just change the stock of one page or add any type of embellishment on a single interior page. Such as the example of a translucent page insert below.
- Crossovers: Yes! Images and design elements can cross over page spreads.
This perfect bound book had single page velum inserts and a cover with raised UV. See more specifications for this project.
Size of Booklets
- Minimum size: 3” x 3 7/8”
- Maximum size: 12” x 15.5”
(Choose any combination of measurements in between these measurements. Heck, you could do 3” x 15.5” if you wanted. We won’t stop you.)
Assorted sizes of perfect bound booklets.
Other Specifications
- PUR Glue: Just know these books will not fall apart. It takes 24 hours to dry, but these books will. Not. Fall. Apart. They just won’t.
- Camera System: Scans barcodes on sigs to ensure the pages don’t get out of order. If there’s a sig in the wrong place, it tells the operators, allowing them to pull that book out and fix it.
- Pre-Gather: for books over 200 pages, sigs are first glued in smaller groups, then as a whole to ensure that they won’t fall out.
See it in action!
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