Tag Archives: Perfect Binding

PERFECT BOUND BOOKLET PRINTING

What is perfect bound booklet printing?

Perfect binding is a bindery choice commonly used for multiple page soft cover printed booklets and printed catalogs. “Perfect bound booklet printing” simply describes a soft cover publication that requires the professional look of a magazine with a wraparound cover that is hot glued to the interior sheets. It’s the preferred choice for booklets with as few as 4 sheets or more. Perfect binding is a great looking bindery choice for product catalogs, magazines, comic books, instruction manuals, look books, and a whole lot more. Lastly, our short run digital perfect binding equipment can provide you with perfect bound book printing, up to 2” thick, in as little as 3 work days.

Thin perfect bound booklet-blackcover with white ink from SLB Printing in Los AngelesShort run perfect bound booklet printing from SLB Printing in Los Angeles Perfect bound booklet with corner hing scoring from SLB Printing in Los Angeles

 

 

The Process of Perfect Binding a Booklet

How is a perfect bound booklet made? A booklet has 2 components, the cover and the interior sheets. To begin, the cover is scored and then folded twice creating a continuous square spine which the interior pages are hot glued into. Relief scores, also known as hinge scores, are added to provide an exact area for the cover to open up on. The hinge scores add to the overall clean and professional look of the binding. The machine that does the actual binding will grind a groove into the binding edge of the interior pages to allow the hot glue to adhere better.  Then the cover is wrapped around the hot glue and the appropriate pressure and binding time is set for the thickness of the catalog.  After allowing the glue to cure for several hours, we 3 side trim the booklet to its final desired size.

The hot glue we use is either PUR for our larger runs or EVA for the short run or small page count jobs.  In our opinion, both glues perform equally well for most of the standard house stocks we carry. When the job calls for just a few sheets or a small quantity of 500 books or less, we use the EVA glue on our smaller perfect binder, Otherwise, we use the PUR on our high volume production perfect binder.

I will explain other binding choices in more detail in another blog. For now, you can go to our bindery page to review other options by clicking here.

How to Determine Your Page Counts

Perfect bound page layout sample for booklet printing from SLB Printing in Los Angeles

Page Layout for Perfect Bound Booklet Printing

It’s very important to understand how to accurately describe the page count for your booklet.  Using the terms “Sheets” or “Pages” can get confusing so let’s try simplifying this. A sheet of paper has 2 sides. For calculating pages in a perfect bound booklet, each side is a “page” so 1 single sheet is really 2 pages.  However, if you require printing on only 1 side of the sheet, you would need to describe the page count as such. 

 

So, for a 42 page booklet, you either have a 21 sheet booklet printed 2 sides making up 42 pages or you have a 42 sheet single sided booklet.  If you forget to accurately describe the booklet using one of these phrases, your estimate and spine width will probably not be accurate!  This leads us to the next topic.

How to Determine the Spine Width

As you now know, the cover for a perfect bound booklet is one continuous sheet that gets wrapped around the interior pages. Therefore the spine width needs to be determined before the final cover layout is completed.  There are really only two main factors to consider, number of sheets and the thickness of the sheet.  If the interior has 42 sheets and is printed on 50# offset paper, it will be thinner than using 100# gloss or 80# uncoated text.  SLB Printing can help you determine the spine width after the choice has been made for sheet count and paper type. We always advise the need and importance for an accurate spine width measurement to help insure the final product comes out as expected.

Landscape, Square or Portrait size perfect bound booklets

Perfect bound digital booklet printing comes in all shapes and sizes.  SLB Printing has the equipment to provide you with several unique types of perfect bound books.  Let’s start with landscape size, we can print a cover that can accommodate a landscape booklet up to 12” tall by 13”wide and it can be as thin as 1/8” or as thick as 2”.  Square booklets as small as 6” and standard portrait booklets are all within the manufacturing ability of SLB Printing as well. The best thing about being able to print digitally is the ability to provide you with short run quantities for your booklet printing needs.  So if you just need a short run quantity of 5 or 10 booklets, that’s easy for SLB Printing. 

Dark Cover Stocks printed with White Ink and more!

We have a number of house stocks for the interiors that include uncoated, matte and gloss finishes.  But what really is unique is our ability to take a dark stock like a deep red, kraft or even black colored cover stock and print on it with white ink. Very few printing companies have this ability and it’s something that needs to be seen to be appreciated.  Come into the store and ask to see samples of our white ink printing and perfect binding booklets. 

Perfect Bound Digital Booklet Printing

SLB Printing provides the speed and look you need for your short run perfect bound booklet printing with our full line of digital, 4 color presses and our 4 color + white ink press.  Call the professionals at SLB Printing for your short run booklets as well as your bulk order long runs of 1,000 or more. Let us show you what great customer service combined with quality digital printing really look and feel like.

Landscape Perfect Bound Catalogs up to 13” wide.

Landscape Perfect Bound Catalogs up to 13” wide.

Short run Landscape Perfect Bound Catalog printing comes to SLB Printing!  OK so big deal, right?  YES IT IS because this means YOU can now enjoy short run lengths (as few as 2) for our landscape orientation or square shape catalogs. We also now offer a wider selection of specialty cover stocks including kraft and other dark color papers. These short run jobs can be completed in as little as 3 work days.  Oh, and BTW, did I mention we can print the dark colored papers with white ink on our new CMYK + white digital press?

Why a 28″ long sheet is needed for Landscape Perfect Binding

The appeal of landscape orientation catalog printing has grown over the years. However, limited sheet lengths of 19” on digital presses meant that a conventional offset press would be needed. Unfortunately, with the minimum run of 500 or more.  This is because an 11” landscape book requires a 25” long sheet. This puts the job out of reach for digital presses with 19” maximum sheet lengths.  NOT ANYMORE! SLB Printing has ended the madness by installing a digital press capable of printing a sheet length up to 52” long!  This easily makes a short run of 13” wide landscape catalogs a reality.  28” long paper is all that’s required for a 13” wide landscape catalog.

Landscape perfect bound short run options from SLB Printing in Los Angeles

The volume of calls asking us to add this service to our short run offerings has dramatically increased this year. So, we decided that now is the time to make the addition to our digital press line up. Prior to now, we have only offered landscape printing on longer runs of 500 or more books.  But as of now, that’s all changed with our new machine. Short runs that are as few as 2 copies can now be achieved with 3 work day production time.

What is a Landscape Booklet?

What is a landscape booklet?  A landscape booklet or catalog is bound on the short end making the width longer than the height.  Designers like this format because it provides more viewing area when the catalog is open.  We do not recommend crossovers for perfect binding, but it’s not unheard of.  Being able to view 2 pages full of graphics at 26” wide is truly unique and impressive.  Come by our store and see for yourself what landscape perfect bound catalogs can do to enhance your product.

Visit our Catalog Printing page for more information on Perfect Binding landscape or square books. When it comes to 5 STAR reviews, we have a pretty good reputation for getting the job done too. Check us out on Google to see what everyone says about our service.

Anime Expo Week in Los Angeles – $25 Off Comic Books Printing

Anime Expo week in Los Angeles has kept us pretty busy. SLB Printing cranks out the Comic Books, flyers, special event tickets, retractable banner stands, and show booth banners. Over 5,000 Comic Books were produced for various exhibitors and resellers. The largest of these orders was only 600 pieces.  The hard copy proofing process has been critically important to all the Anime Expo clients to make sure their products look their best on our digital presses.

Our 3 high-speed digital presses have been cranking out the comic books and the bindery room has been busy with perfect binding the books. Wire-O, spiral binding, and saddle stitching departments have all had their share of rush work this week too! Wide format jobs for the retractable banners and show booth signage has also been busy. Deadlines as tight as 24 hours have been met and we are so thankful for all the new clients from all over the world who have found out just how quick and easy SLB makes the entire printing, color correction, and proofing process.

Thank you to all our current and new Anime Expo clients for making this the busiest year ever for producing comic books!  SLB Printings impeccable reputation on many of the popular online review sites helped out of town exhibitors feel comfortable coming to our store and trusting us with their last-minute Anime Expo Week in Los Angeles printing needs.  But Comic Books is just part of the Anime Expo Week printing that SLB Printing produced.  Posters, Retractable Banner Stands, Backdrops, Special Event Tickets, Flyers, Postcards and more were all part of the many requests that we were given with impossible deadlines that our print shop made possible.

SLB Printing was established in 1984.  In November of 2012 we moved into our new location at 2818 S. Robertson Blvd.  Plenty of on-street parking and in back of the store is available too.

Call SLB Printing today at 310-558-4752 and let us help with your Anime Expo Week in Los Angeles printing needs. Mention you read this blog and receive $25 off your next order for Comic Books during all of the 2016 year.

For more information on the Anime Expo Show in Los Angeles, visit the show site at http://www.anime-expo.org/

Perfect Binding: Creating The Perfect Booklet

If you’re in the business of marketing and branding products and services, then you’ve probably had to have booklets made at one time or another. If that’s the case, you should know that not all booklets are made the same. We’ll be glad to talk you through and explain the differences between perfect binding and saddle stitching. It’s our goal to help you create the perfect booklet for your needs.

You might ask us, “First of all, why would I need a booklet made?”

That’s a valid question. At SLB Printing, as well as in the rest of the printing and bindery industry, we use “booklets” as a term for a small bound book. The book is typically made with a paper cover. So if your business gives out catalogs and pitch books, or if you’re a magazine publisher, then you’ll definitely want a booklet printed. The same goes for comic book creators who are interested in printing copies of their work.

Perfect Binding for booklets

What goes into printing the better booklet?

If you’re looking to have a standout booklet printed, the most important thing to look for is a printing company that can give you consistently vibrant full-color prints.  This is true whether you’re having your magazine or catalogs digitally or color offset printed.

Keep in mind that the choice between digital or offset printing has little to do with quality.  Both processes should always give you clear, beautiful and precise prints regardless. Instead, picking between one or the other depends on how soon you need the booklets and how many copies you need. For instance, if you need 300 or less, we recommend digital printing for saddle-stitched booklets with a maximum of 40 pages (or what we call “short run”). This is especially true if you’re looking for quicker turnaround times. For longer run booklets of 500 or more which have a maximum of 72 pages, it’s more cost-effective to go with offset printing. Either method can also be finished with perfect binding instead of saddle stitching.

Aside from printing techniques, pick out the appropriate printing material for your booklet. Your printer should typically have a variety you can select from. At SLB Printing, we can hook you up with glossy or matte stock, and you can choose between uncoated and laser weight options as well. We also offer self-cover or card stock covers.  The former meaning that we can use the same paper for the cover as we do for the interior. For a cardstock cover, we can even customize your booklets to include pockets which you can use for ad inserts or calling cards.

Of course,  getting an amazing-looking booklet is not a one-way street. To make sure you get the booklet of your dreams, it’s important to provide your printer with a high-resolution file to print. We request our clients to submit their PDF files built with 300dpi graphics and type generated in the CMYK format.

Perfect binding styles make perfect booklets

The final step to getting the perfect booklet is making sure it’s bound sturdily. Printing companies usually have thermally-activated and stitched binding. SLB Printing also offers saddle-stitched booklets which is durable and great for short run booklets, or you could go with our newest service: Perfect Binding. 

Perfect Binding is the perfect option if you’re looking to have paperback book-quality binding done. This is great if you can imagine having your own trade paperbacks, manuals, or graphic novels printed in quantities of as little as 1 to as many as 250 (or even more).

Perfect bound booklet with corner hing scoring from SLB Printing in Los Angeles

SLB Printing offers perfect binding on booklets at a maximum size of 8.5” x 12”. We can do this on relatively thin booklets with a minimum of 5 sheets of paper to something as thick as 2-1/4 inches.  You can always contact us for more size and paper options.

To find out which binding technique is perfect for your booklet, feel free to ask your printing company.

And that’s how it’s done!

Printing and binding the perfect booklet doesn’t have to be such a daunting experience. All it really takes is finding a great printing company who can walk you through the experience and make sure you get what you really want.