If you have enlisted printing services for a specific project, bookbinding is a key service to ensure that your documents are presented appealingly. Contrary to popular belief, bookbinding is not merely about stapling the pagers together. Numerous tasks go into this process, such as cutting, folding, gluing, sewing and more, which make the process quite tedious and complex. Hence, not only should you enlist professional bookbinding services, but it is also advisable to familiarise yourself with the options available so that you can get this step right from the start. Here is a simple beginner's guide to choosing the bookbinding techniques you should use for your printed project.

What degree of functionality do you require from the printed documents?

Other than wanting a specific demographic to read the documents that you have printed, one of the first considerations that you need to have is the degree of functionality you expect from the complied and bound work. To begin with, how do you expect the bound work to be utilised? Do you want it to be small enough to fit into a pocket comfortably, or is it better suited to be read on a table or a lap? Another question you should ask yourself is whether you want to the finished product capable of supporting itself when it is in use or is it better if it can fold in on itself. You should also consider the lifespan of the completed work. Is it something that you would not mind being tossed into the trash, or does it need to have an extended lifespan so that the work can be referenced for years to come? Discussing all these aspects with your printing services provider will ensure that the right bookbinding technique is employed to match the functionality you expect from the compiled documents.

What are the specifications of the printed documents?

Once you have determined the degree of functionality you expect from the final product, you need to factor in the different specifications of the printed work, as this will also influence the type of bookbinding technique that would be best for your project. One critical specification that will have a direct impact on the type of bookbinding solutions available to you is the page count. The more pages that you want compiled together, the sturdier the bookbinding needs to be. Thus, you may want to consider techniques such as case binding or perfect binding depending on your budget. Alternatively, if the project comprises a few pagers, saddle stitch binding would be an ideal choice. It is worth noting that the paper type is another key consideration, as it impacts the thickness of the complied work while also influencing the overall durability of the finished project.