October 2011

What are Your Options for Binding Books and Other Materials?

Just as you have many choices for printers, paper, and folding, you’ll find lots of options for binding your projects, too. Each binding method has a specific benefit, whether it’s low cost, durability, or the ability to lie flat when open. Be sure to ask your printer for advice on choosing the appropriate binding for your project.

Here are some of the most common binding methods and applications for each of them.

Case Bound (Hard Cover)

You would likely choose this kind of binding for reference books, archival materials, textbooks, children’s books, and gift books.

With case bound binding, the signatures of paper (usually one signature is 32 pages) are glued together, then glued to a gauze strip. After that, the entire book block is glued with end sheets onto hard covers. For added durability, the signatures can be sewn together first, allowing the book to lie flatter than a perfect bound book (see on the next page) but not as flat as Wire-O® or spiral bound books (see on the following pages). The spine of the book can be squared or rounded depending on the equipment that the case binder has. Notice it has hinges (grooves) along the edges of the cover near the spine.

Some hard covers feature printed artwork laminated to the boards. Others can have dust covers, which are the paper “jackets” you see on books. Those books with dust covers usually have a cloth covering on the boards. Alternatively, they could have paper covers that look like cloth, but are less expensive. The title of the book may be foil stamped onto the spine and/or front cover.

Perfect Bound (Soft Cover)

Most commonly used for paperback books and documents, soft covers are bound in a similar way as hard cover books. Perfect binding is also used to bind novels, annual reports, and self-help books.

With this type, after the signatures are gathered, the spine is ground to create a rough surface and then glued to a paper cover. For added durability, the spine can be notched (cut with v-shaped slits), allowing more surface for glue. This is called notch-perfect binding. While the glue is still hot, the paper cover gets wrapped around the spine. Alternatively, you can ask to have the signatures sewn instead of glued. The sewn option allows the book to open somewhat flat, though not as much as other kinds of bindings.

Otabind or Lay Flat

Otabind or Lay Flat binding is frequently used for technical manuals, directories, cookbooks, and reference books. In this type of binding, the signatures are gathered and glue is applied to the spine, then the book block is capped covering only the glue. The capping is side glued and a cover is applied, adhering only to the side glue and detached from the spine. This particular process was patented, but the patent has expired, which is why you’ll hear the term “Lay Flat” binding more often than Otabind.

Its advantage is in its name; a book with Lay Flat binding opens completely. You’ll find it’s much easier to use a cookbook that lies flat on a counter than one you have to hold in your hands to read.

Spiral Bound

You’ll find that spiral binding is well suited for short prints runs of reports, brochures, presentation materials, workbooks, and manuals.

With this type of binding, the cover and interior pages are punched with holes through which a single plastic or wire spiral is inserted. You’ll find the plastic spirals available in many colors and wire spirals mostly available in black. This versatile, inexpensive binding allows the pages to lie flat, although they may not align exactly. Beware: The ends of the spiral can snag fabric and other things.

Wire-O® Binding

Used for reference manuals, address books, cookbooks, and journals, this type of versatile, durable binding will allow the pages to lie perfectly flat on a counter or table.

With this type, the cover and interior pages are punched with holes through which a double looped wire is inserted. Why a double looped wire? Because it allows for nearly perfect alignment between pages. Ask your designer or printer for additional variations available.

Saddle Stitched

Used on thin booklets, brochures, newsletters, and catalogs, saddle stitching is among the most widely used and inexpensive kinds of binding available.

With this type of binding, the signatures are all gathered and folded together. Then they are placed over a “saddle” and stapled along the spine. The book lies relatively flat, but it doesn’t have a spine and may not last under heavy use. Quick to assemble, saddle stitching can accommodate gate folds and foldouts.

If your document is thicker than a quarter of an inch, you likely won’t be able to use this style of binding.

Side Stitched

Also a fast, easy, and inexpensive type of binding, side stitching requires a minimum of a one-inch margin on the spine side. It’s commonly used for digitally produced documents, manuals, and large brochures.

With this type of binding, the loose pages and cover are stitched together with staples on the outside of the book block. The cover can be two sheets or one sheet wrapped around the spine. It won’t allow the pages to lie flat and thickness of the document is limited.

From these choices, it becomes clear that various applications call for different kinds of bindings. Ask your printer for the kind best recommended for your project.

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Karen Saunders is the owner of MacGraphics Services, a unique graphic design firm for today’s entrepreneur. Get your copy of her free audio: Put the Bling Into Your Brand and free eCourse: 5 Deadly Design Mistakes that Could Kill a Sale and How to Avoid Them by visiting http://www.macgraphics.net/FreeStuff.php You can also contact her at 888-796-7300, or Karen@macgraphics.net.

September 2011

What to Consider When Buying a Desktop Scanner

In this digital age most photos are created as electronic jpg files inside our cameras, but sometimes we need to scan old photos, drawings or paintings as digital images for projects. Currently we are designing the cover and interior or a biographical book. Many of the old photos we plan to use in the book were taken decades before the invention of the digital camera.

I would like to share some basic information about scanners so you know what to consider when buying a scanner. Some of our clients prefer to scan the old photos and give us the files.

Scanners are popular tools for doing desktop publishing and web design. You’ll find a wide range of scanners available—from a low-cost black and white hand-held variety to high-quality, professional color devices. For the highest quality, printers and service bureaus use expensive drum scanners. The high-quality scans they produce are required for high-end printing projects such as book and magazine covers, images for coffee table books, and advertisements. A skilled operator using a CCD (charge-coupled device) flatbed scanner can produce similar high-quality scans.

Optical Resolution

When determining which scanner to use for your work, look for optical resolution specifications. These are two numbers that indicate how many pixels per inch (e.g., 600 x 600 PPI) are scanned in each direction. (I suggest you ignore the interpolated resolution numbers—these are measurements made when the scanner inserts new pixels between scanned ones.)

How much resolution your scan needs depends on how you plan to use your scanned images. For example, photos for offset printing are usually scanned at 300 PPI. Line art (such as black and white pen and ink illustrations) for offset printing need to be scanned at 1200 PPI to ensure that the lines are smooth. Images to be printed on desktop laser or color inkjet printers are scanned at 100 to 200 PPI. Photos and line art for the Internet are scanned at 72 PPI while images for PC-PowerPoint presentations are 96 PPI. Text that will be converted to text characters (using OCR technology) are scanned at 300 to 400 PPI.

Eye-Popping Tip. Always scan your images at the final size you plan to use them. Do not enlarge your scans, as they will lose resolution.

Dynamic Range

Most flatbed scanners have a dynamic range of about 2.4. If you need to display better detail in shadow areas or you plan to scan negatives and slides, you may be better off using a top-quality color flatbed or drum scanner that can provide a dynamic range of 2.8 to 3.2.

Bit Depth

Most color scanners are at least 24-bit, which results in near-photographic quality in terms of the range of colors. Scanners that are 30-bit and 36-bit can capture billions of colors. I recommend these for scanning slides and negatives, but beware that few software packages can open these files. Note: Not all monitors can display 24-bit color. If you’re using an 8-bit (256-color) monitor, then a 24-bit image may look blotchy on screen.

Other Considerations

In general, CCD (charge-coupled devices) produce better scans than low profile, less expensive scanners. Make sure the scanning bed is large enough for your documents. Consider the scanner’s speed and determine if you need a slide adapter. Sheetfed scanners take up less room on your desktop, but you can’t scan a 3-D object or book using this kind of scanner.

An option that may come with a scanner and affect its cost is software. Yes, you will need to have photo-editing software (such as Adobe Photoshop) to create quality scans, especially from less-than-perfect originals.

Eye-Popping Tip: OCR (optical character recognition) software allows a scanner to read handwritten or printed text, then convert it into text characters that can be read by any word processing software. OmniPage and Text Bridge are examples of two OCR software programs.

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Karen Saunders is the owner of MacGraphics Services, a unique graphic design firm for today’s entrepreneur. Get your copy of her free audio: Put the Bling Into Your Brand and free eCourse: 5 Deadly Design Mistakes that Could Kill a Sale and How to Avoid Them by visiting http://www.macgraphics.net/FreeStuff.php You can also contact her at 888-796-7300, or Karen@macgraphics.net.