Text 2 Paperback binding

Brochures and magazines A common method of binding bro­chures and magazines is wire-stitching — which can be saddle-stitching or side-stitching (also called stab-stitching).

In saddle-stitching, the folded section is positioned on a metal 'saddle' under a head that inserts wire staples (cut from a continuous coil of wire) through the spine.

Side-stitching is used for thicker publications with more than one section. Here the folded sections are gathered in order and the staples are forced through the side about 6mm (^]/4 inch) in from the spine. Obviously a side-stitched publication will not open flat easily, and the designer should allow a wider back, or centre, margin (or gutter).

Perfect binding Most paperbacks (and many magazines and hardbacks) are 'perfect' bound; the method is known also as 'unsewn binding'. After folding, the folded sections are loaded on to a perfect binding line, which first gathers the sections in the right order and then removes the back fold, trimming off about 3mm 0/4m), and grinds the cut spine to roughen it. The book block

¹ (which now consists of individual leaves) is then glued at the spine, both to hold the leaves together and to attach the book block to the cover. The books are then trimmed using a three-

| knife trimmer or guillotine to give a smooth edge all round and are ready for packing.

A variation of this technique is known as 'burst', or 'notch' or

I 'slot', binding. With this technique the spine of the section is perforated (in effect, slashed across its width) on the folding machine and the sections then go through a perfect binding machine, but do not have their spines removed. Instead, glue is forced into the perforations to hold the sections together. This is stronger than unsewn binding and cheaper than sewn.

Sewn book binding Some paperbacks are sewn. After gathering, the sewing machine inserts threads through the spine of each section and then uses further thread to join the sections to each other to form the book block. In a separate operation, the cover is then glued to the spine and the books are trimmed.

Spiral, wiro and plastic-comb binding These methods are use for manuals and shorter-run publications, or where the ability fi the result to lie flat is important (computer manuals for example In spiral binding, holes are drilled through the cover ar pages, which are then joined together using a wire or plast spiral coil. Wiro binding is similar- but instead of a coil has construct the 'fingers' of which go through slots in the sheet Plastic-comb binding is the plastic equivalent of wiro binding.

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