What is perfect binding?

Simply put, perfect binding is a bindery method which involves printing a book's cover on a heavier paper (usually cardstock), applying a strong adhesive to the inside of the spine, and inserting the book's collated inner pages firmly into the adhesive. The adhesive then dries and holds the pages into the spine firmly, and the uneven edges of the inner pages are trimmed off to make the book's edges smooth. Perfect bound books present a quality of professionalism not often achieved by spiral and comb binding, and is often used for magazines, journals, product catalogs, and paperbacks.

Designing the pages...

Like all books and booklets, you should design the pages of your book as single pages, NOT as book spreads. We will arrange the single pages appropriately to be printed in the proper sequence. If you send us files with book spreads for pages, we will need to get corrected files from you before we can begin printing, which will delay the process.

Designing the cover...

Because of the way the book is created, laying out the cover design for your book is different than doing the same for a spiral or comb-bound book. Unlike other book types, the cover for perfect bound books is actually one larger sheet, double the size of the inside pages plus a little extra to accommodate the spine. So while your front or back cover may appear to be 8.5" x 11", it is actually one sheet slightly larger than 11" x 17" to make room for the spine.

The best way to lay out your covers is to do the front and back as two separate pages. Do not place text or important graphics too close to the edge, as it may get clipped when the book is trimmed. If you are printing on the spine, create a third page for this but make it only a single line of text, confined to a length just under the height of the book to leave a buffer zone. (So if your finished book is 8.5" x 11", make the spine no wider than 8.25" to be safe)