Perfect Binding … with a Twist!

Perfect Binding

Think this week’s product is a basic perfect bound magazine? While we excel in perfect binding, we specialize in adding processes like die cutting and, in this case, pattern gluing.

Perfect Binding

When you look closely at the cover of this book, you can see that the cover panel has the title die cut so the underlying printed middle panel shows through.

Perfect Binding With A Twist

Normally, a double thick cover is simply full surface glued. That wasn’t an option for this job because the glue would squeeze through the die cut portion. We pattern glued the middle panel and then folded the die cut panel over, which ensures a close bond between the middle and cover panel without any glue residue showing.

In addition to regular perfect binding operations (section folding, perfect binding and 3-knife trimming), this job required die cutting, pattern gluing and hand folding of the cover.

When a perfect binding job–with a twist– comes across your desk, please give us a call!

Our Latest Innovative Breakthrough: 24pt Cover Perfect Bound Books

The product I’m featuring this week is an example of how we are continuously innovating and improving upon book binding options.

Perfect binding has long been a common form of book binding, but it has some drawbacks – namely its limitations regarding cover thickness. Perfect bound books have been limited to a maximum cover thickness of 18pt … until now!

Our advancements have now made it possible for us to produce perfect bound books with 24pt covers! This opens up a world of possibilities for designers and printers that want to create durable books, without the cost of adding a hard, case bound cover.

Perfect bound books with 24pt covers can be intricately die cut, foil stamped and high die shaped (PMC die shaped).

With the developments we’ve made in perfect binding, there’s no telling what kinds of amazing book designs you’ll be seeing from us in the future!

Clever Binding for 4pg Layouts

Clever Binding for 4pg Layouts

Clever Binding

Clever Binding

Singer Saddle Sewing is an increasingly popular binding option for simple 4pg layouts (oversewn/side sewing is a good option for 2pg layouts) for two main reasons: 1) Centre sewing creates a hand-crafted, sturdy book for a reasonable cost. Since the setup is relatively inexpensive, compared to other binding techniques, it’s ideal for small quantities. 2) Centre sewing is also much more customizable, which allows for more creativity in the final product.

Specialties Graphic Finishers Binding & FInishing

Singer sewn books are very similar to saddle stitched books, except thread is used to stitch the pages together rather than them being stapled. The books are stitched, much like fabric is, on industrial sewing machines. This is where the “Singer” comes from. The Singer Corporation has been the world leader in sewing machines since the 1800s and has sold more machines than all the other sewing machine makers put together.

Specialties Graphic Finishers Binding & FInishing

The designer can choose a specific colour (or mix 2 colours!) of thread to compliment or contrast with the cover. There is also a range of thicknesses and textures of thread. The ends of the threads can be left loose at the top and bottom of the spine or be trimmed short.

 

For more information on Clever Binding please contact Specialties Graphic Finishers here.

 

Concealed Wire-O Binding

Concealed Wire-O Binding

Concealed Wire-O Binding

Wire-O is one of the best methods for binding, because it allows for mixing and matching stocks, page sizes, page foldouts, split binding and the use of plastic sheets. Concealed Wire-O Binding (aka Canadian Binding) is simply a Wire-O bound book that is mounted inside a three panel cover or wraparound panel. We specialize in case wrapped covers, which provide a sturdy and distinguished option for Wire-O books.

Our machinery can Wire-O both standard and highly unusual books. Our 3 collators, 4 automatic punchers and 4 automatic Wire-O machines bind hundreds of thousands of books each year. We can Wire-O books as small as 2” x 2” up to 28” x 40” … up to 2.5” thick!!

Wire-O Binding

The Wire-O Book featured in this post has a case wrapped cover.

Wire-O Book

This Concealed Wire-O book has an elastic closure.

The image above shows the partially concealed Wire-O and fully concealed Wire-O options.

No Wire-O project is too big or small for us. Please give us a call to discuss project.

Special Form Cut Index

Special Form Cut Index

Special Form Cut Index

I recently did a video about how we make step indexes on perfect bound books by trimming the face edge of book pages. We recently had a customer ask for us to cut a special form cut index on a run of Smyth sewn books. This appealing and smooth type of index is a combination of a single 90 degree step cut from the outside and a rounded cut on the inside.

Special Form Cut Index

Special Form Cut Index

We can do a full range of step index cutting:

•  Form cut

•   Full step cutting

•   Corner step cutting

•   Single Bank

•   Double Bank

Special Form Cut Index

Unlike standard index cutting, custom form cutting is done on a different machine. This machine can do the rounded edges and creates a smooth and more durable index edge.

Does your customer need index cutting on their perfect bound or Smyth sewn books? Please give us a call to talk about standard step cutting, corner cutting and custom form cutting.

LAYFLAT BINDING

LAYFLAT BINDING

LayFlat Binding (also called Otabind or RepKover binding), sounds self-explanatory, but it’s a unique binding technique that is done in two stages. Cold glue is first applied to the spine and, when dried 24 hours later, the cover is attached to endpapers on either side of the spine. This creates a visible gap along the spine, giving Layflat Binding its unique appearance. LayFlat Binding takes patience but produces a superior book!

LAYFLAT BINDING

LAYFLAT BINDING

LAYFLAT BINDING

Layflat Binding has two advantages over regular perfect binding. First, unlike regular books, Layflat Books open almost flat. If your client has a graphics-heavy book design, the images are almost uninterrupted across the spine. Second, because the pages aren’t attached to the spine, continuous opening and closing the book won’t crease the spine! This means the spine remains smooth and book titles and copy are always easily readable.

Book Step Cutting

We do Step Cutting on books that are already bound, like perfect bound, saddle stitched or hard back books! Book Step Cutting is a cost-effective alternative for clients that have a book that needs a tab or fold-out tab.

The images above show books that have been Step Cut. Each “step” can be different widths and lengths.

When a book has Face Cutting, the pages get progressively shorter towards the spine of the book resulting in “steps”.

The images above show books that have a Corner Cut.

We have unique machines that do Book Step Cutting, Book Corner Cutting and Book Face Cutting on pre-bound books. The following diagrams illustrate the various types and combinations of cutting available.

• Diagrams #1, #2 & #7 have combinations of Step Cuts, Corner Cuts and Face Cuts

• Diagram #4 above shows a Step Cut, which is by far the most common type

• Diagram #5 shows a double Step Cut

• Diagram #3 shows a Corner Cut

• Diagram #6 shows a Face Cut

 

PERFECT BINDING – 4” THICK

We have just re-engineered one of our perfect binders. We can now Perfect Bind books up to 4” thick! I don’t know of any other bindery that can do this.

PERFECT BINDING

PERFECT BINDING

The book pictured above is Smyth sewn with a drawn-on cover. We can Perfect Bind 4” books that are PUR Perfect Bound as well as Layflat Perfect Bind.

If you need a special Perfect Bound book that is extra thick, give us a call!

OVERSIZED PERFECT BINDING

In this video, I show 3 different oversized perfect bound books. I’ve done a few videos in the past about our oversized perfect binding capabilities, but we’re pushing the size limit again! We can now perfect bind books that measure 20” from spine to face or 20” head to foot. We can also Smythe thread sew books that are 20” wide from face-to-spine.

OVERSIZED PERFECT BINDING

In this video, I show 3 different oversized perfect bound books. I’ve done a few videos in the past about our oversized perfect binding capabilities, but we’re pushing the size limit again! We can now perfect bind books that measure 20” from spine to face or 20” head to foot. We can also Smythe thread sew books that are 20” wide from face-to-spine.

In this video, I show 3 different oversized perfect bound books. I’ve done a few videos in the past about our oversized perfect binding capabilities, but we’re pushing the size limit again! We can now perfect bind books that measure 20” from spine to face or 20” head to foot. We can also Smythe thread sew books that are 20” wide from face-to-spine.

In addition to producing oversized perfect bound books, we can add features like folded flaps on the front and/or back covers (flush or short), which you can see in the image below.

OVERSIZED PERFECT BINDING

Another feature we can add to a 20” wide book is reverse 4pg foldouts, which when opened flat, can make the spread 80” side to side! You can see how amazing this looks in the images below.

 OVERSIZED PERFECT BINDING

If oversized perfect bound book is 20” wide face-to-spine, we can make it up to 18” head-to-foot. If an oversized perfect bound book has a 20” spine, we can make up to a 15” face-to-spine.

OVERSIZED PERFECT BINDING

We can also add foldouts on the top and bottom, which can be triple the height of the book (If book is 15” head to foot, the foldouts could be 45” top-to-bottom)!

 

Perfect Binding

Why Perfect Binding Might be the Best for Your Project

At Anstey Book Binding we are honoured to be Canada’s leading bookbinder. In business since 1882, we have grown alongside the city of Toronto and the bookbinding industry; our expertise comes from decades of learning and servicing clients both in the GTA and across Canada. At Anstey Book Binding we take great pride in providing our clients finished products of the highest quality using the newest innovation in bookbinding. There is no project too large or too small for us to take on – whether you are producing 50 pieces of a limited-edition perfect-bound book or a thousand brochures for your company – we take the time to produce each piece with the greatest of care.

One of the advantages of working with Anstey Book Binding is that we are able to produce projects with just about any binding method you could want. One of the most common methods currently used is saddle-stitching. Saddle-stitching is frequently used for projects requiring 48 pages are less. While there are advantages to use saddle-stitching for certain projects many times we advise clients to turn to the method of perfect bookbinding instead.

Most of the commercial brochures you receive by mail are most likely saddle-stitched; and for many projects, this is a great option. Saddle-stitching is achieved by printing the contents of a booklet or brochure on larger pieces of paper, folding them together so that their seems align and then running them through a machine shaped like a saddle where they are either sewed or stapled along the centrefold. The entire piece is then finished by trimming off the excess paper (along the top, face and bottom) on three sides.

Saddle-stitching is cost-effective (i.e. they are cheaper to produce!) and are easy to use in items that will be mailed. But there are also some drawbacks to this method – mainly saddle-stitched books will not lie flat on a surface. If you are printing a large amount for marketing purposes and want them to lie flat in a pile on a table this will be hard to achieve. Secondly, if you are designing a booklet or brochure that is at or near the 48-page threshold you will need to take into consideration the paper stock you are printing on and the design of each page. This is because of the natural ‘creep’ which will occur due to the thickness of the paper and the overall booklet as pages are added to the design. If printed and trimmed properly you will notice that the inside pages of the booklet are slightly narrower than the cover and outside pages. This natural ‘creep’ occurs because the mass of the paper nested within each other will push out the centre pages beyond the edge of the cover pages. While trimming the three remaining edges is fairly simple, making sure your design is not sacrificed in the process takes some forethought and planning. You may have noticed that sometimes when looking at booklets things like page numbers might be missing or partially cut off – this is because the designer didn’t take into consideration ‘creep’.

Often when our client’s question whether a saddle-stitched product is for them we find that using a perfect binding method would be a better design decision. The general rule of thumb is that for books or booklets under 48 pages you use saddle-stitching and for projects over 96 pages you use the perfect binding method. For the projects that fall somewhere in between, you can choose either depending on the needs of the piece.

There are a few advantages to perfect binding.

Perfect binding is often used for projects like: catalogues, coffee table books, annual reports or higher-end marketing material. Unlike saddle-stitching, perfect binding has individual pages glued to a spine with a strong glue. Perfect bound books, while slightly more expensive to produce, are more robust and will last longer than saddle-stitched pieces. A tremendous advantage of perfect binding is the flexibility of design. In a perfect-bound book you are able to use different weights and colours of paper throughout the book; you can also use the spine of the book to print the title or other design features. The design process for a perfect bound book is slightly different; as open pages tend not to lie flat you have to be aware not to lose any important information or graphics in the gutter (the centre section leading to the spine) of the piece. At Anstey Book Binding we are always happy to work with clients and their designers to make sure from the outset that all design decisions will work with the final printing process to produce a superior book. If you are doing a fairly small print run, for a project you wish to last for years, perfect binding is most likely the best option for you.

At Anstey Book Binding we are industry leaders due to our ability to stay at the forefront of innovation in the field. We have produced extraordinary pieces working closely with clients to ensure their vision of the work comes to life. We are able to produce books with perfect binding that are extra wide, extra tall and ultra-thin. Our extra tall portrait books can have 18” spines and our extra-wide can measure 19” portrait or landscape and our ultra-thin books can be as small as 1/16” thick, plus cover.

While based in Toronto Anstey Book Binding works throughout Canada and we have many clients in the U.S. We work with small, medium and large businesses – whether you are starting out or are an established company we enjoy working closely with our clients to help ensure your printed material takes your business to the next level. Anstey Book Binding is conveniently located in Toronto at 946 Warden Avenue. We can be contacted via email at info@ansteybookbinding.com or give us a call at 416-757-9991.

For more information on perfect binding please click here.