Bindings for Printed Products

How many different ways can you bind printed products? There are numerous ways you can bind manuals, books, calendars, guides, directories, catalogs, full color brochures and all other printed products. Here are a few very basic guidelines:

Looseleaf-Printed sheets are loose and have holes drilled in them to put in a binder.

Tape Binding-Usually done on demand copy type where it is actually done in line and comes out of the machine finished. This simulates perfect binding but has no grind on the spine and the tape shows.

Side Stistching-Staples go through the front of the paper to the back but are stapled on the side of the sheet.

Saddle Stitching-The pages are stitched by staples through the spine of the book. The pages have to be done in 4 pg increments and there is a limitation to how many pages can be stitched.

Perfect Binding-This is what you usually buy in a book store when you get a soft cover book. It gives you a square spine and the paper is actually ground on the spine and then glued to the cover. This can now be done both conventional and on demand. There are many cousins of perfect binding(layflat,PUR,OTA,smythe sewn, etc.)

Wiro Binding-A wire of loops is inserted through punched holes in the paper in loops. This binding will lay flat.

Spiral Binding-Metal as above but in circles going through punched holes.

Plasticoil Binding-Plastic loops are put through the punched holes.

Case Binding-These are hard bound books like bought in a book staore. These can be smythe sewn, side sewn or adhesive bound.

These are the basic bindings that most printed products will be bound by.

Written by Buzz Tatom