Everything You Need to Know About Book Binding

When you need a high-quality, durable option for presenting your printed materials, you should know you have plenty of choices when it comes to book binding. You might think book binding is simply a fastener that holds your material together, but truly professional binding can evoke a powerful image, enhance durability, or make your material far easier to read.

Today, let’s go over some of the best binding options available for consumers looking to custom print their catalogs, special event books,  leaflets, manuals, and more.

Saddle Stitch

The most common and affordable form of binding for catalogs and marketing materials, saddle stitch binding is ideal for the 8 to 80 page range. Pages are folded in half and then stapled together along their center fold. A professional custom printing and binding company will make sure to eliminate creep, where outer pages protrude farther along the edge.

Perfect Binding

Perfect binding is most commonly found on magazines and paperback books. In perfect binding, all pages are firmly secured and attached to one another with adhesive. Also called edge binding, perfect binding is ideal for books and catalogs over 40 pages in length. Perfect binding will be more expensive for large amounts of material than saddle stitch, but may be necessary depending on your specific needs.

Square Back Binding

Looking for an affordable middle-ground between the more expensive perfect binding and the most economical saddle-stitch binding? In square back binding, pages are folded along the center then stapled, but then pressure is applied to the spine to create a squared-off appearance. When you need a large digital printing project that’s fewer than 120 pages, square back binding is an exceptional choice for your needs.

Spiral & Wire Binding

The reason why so many school notebooks, employee handbooks, and user manuals use spiral and wire binding is because they are eminently affordable and durable. All pages have holes punched along one edge, and then individual wire circlets or spiral metal or plastic is fed through them to bind the pages together. While you definitely won’t choose spiral and wire binding as an option for your self-published novel, you can certainly take advantage of the option for a vast range of other materials.

Choosing Your Custom Binding Options

As you can see, you  have a wide range of options depending on your specific needs. So, when you set out to have your custom printed material bound, make sure to consider:

• How many pages you’ll need. Many binding options only work for smaller page counts, while others will make your material feel more like a book.
• If it needs to be mailed. If your material will be regularly handled, stacked, and delivered, you may want to use perfect or square back for durability.
• How it’ll ultimately be used. For manuals and catalogs that will be frequently read, it’s smart to go with spirals or wire binding because of their long-term durability. Perfect and square back binding are better for occasional use, as in the case of a book.

At Linemark, all of our professional styles for custom binding are printed and bound with unparalleled care and attention. We want your custom-printed book, catalog, manual, or otherwise to look attractive and remain durable through the toughest applications.

To learn more about our custom binding solutions, reach out to a member of the Linemark team today.