Perfect bound books add a certain style and sophistication
to the look and feel of your books which just can't be matched
by spiral and comb binding. Perfect binding gives you a
professional quality soft cover style book and is the only
binding option that allows you to print on the spine.
We print your cover on a cardstock sheet that wraps around
the interior pages of the book creating the front cover,
spine, and back cover. The interior pages are then glued
into the spine of the book.
Creating a perfect book cover can be an arduous task for the
design newbie. For this reason we have created a tutorial to
help you create a perfect book cover. The tutorial addresses
the basic setup of the cover as well as how to determine the
spine size of the book.
View the perfect book cover tutorial.
Many self-published writers choose this method for their books,
as it is a common binding method for books you see in stores.
Perfect bound books are also a great choice for school year
books, training manuals, magazines, graphic novels, and other
books that require a professional appearance.
Perfect Bound Books: How They're Made
Watch a short video on how we assemble perfect bound books:
"The perfect bound books look great and I appreciate how easy it is to do business with Docucopies. I like being able to make an order in the middle of the night and not have to talk to anyone, or wait for the business to open in the morning. The shipping feature on the website is also clear about when I can expect to receive the books. You are my favorite printing company!"Sarai J. - CA
"I have been using DocuCopies for almost a year now. Love it...this last project was a book for my church. They could not believe the sharpness of the colors and the pictures. All the members loved it. It was for the 75th Church Anniversary and it was certainly a HIT! Kudos to you all. This has made publishing so much easier for JCB Printing and Design. Glad I found you."Daisy W. - NC
"Recently, I submitted a huge order for "perfect binding" books to you all after having a bad experience with my normal printer. I was extremely nervous having never used Docucopies before but I took a HUGE gamble and went for it. I'm so glad I did. From start to finish, I was beyond pleased with the service. My customer service rep, Annie, went above and beyond to make sure my book was perfect. She even noticed some subtle mistakes, made sure I was aware of them and directed me in correcting them. The digital booklet is what really won me over. Being able to see the book exactly as it would be printed put my mind at ease. You all have a new, faithful customer. Thanks for making my experience and my order pleasant and perfect."Kimberly W. - LA
"Being in charge of the yearbook each year is very stressful because I want them to be perfect for everyone. Your staff is always patient with my hysteria and I am always pleased with the end result. I appreciate talking to live support staff with any questions or concerns that I have. Thank you again!"Kim F. - ME
"My friend Carolyn (owns MATINE) referred me to you. I trust her completely, so I didn't really shop around! My catalog came out better than I thought and I look forward to using you every year when I need a new catalog."Meredith A. - DC
Binding Margin
To avoid compromising the spine / glue we recommend you have a minimum .50"-.75" binding margin depending on the number of pages in your book. If you have less margin than this, then you may need to press the book down (more flat) to see the contents of the page. Doing this can cause the spine / pages to come loose over time depending on how hard you press down.
If you are worried how the margins on your book will look, we recommend ordering a hard copy proof so you can see a physical copy and make any necessary changes before we print all of your books.
Cover / Spine Setup
All perfect bound books can have printed spines, but the number of pages in the book determines if you can have text printed on the spine. To see how thick your spine should be or if you can have text on it, visit our perfect book cover setup page.
Perfect Book Cover Tutorial
Page Numbers
If you have page numbers in your file and are printing double sided, it is recommended to have alternating page numbers so they stay on the outer edges of the book. If you have your page numbers all on the left or right side of your pages, then half of the page numbers will be in the gutter of the book making it hard to navigate. For a professional look when printing double sided, alternate the location of the page numbers.
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