When considering which bookbinding option is right for you, you also need to consider your budget and design style. If you’re struggling with any of these questions or still aren’t sure the differences between our popular bookbinding types (hardcover, perfect, saddle-stitch, wire-o, or spiral), then you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dive into our ultimate bookbinding guide so you can print your next order or books or booklets with confidence.

Your Ultimate Book Binding Guide

Book Binding is defined as the process of taking printed inside pages and assembling and securing them within a cover. We offer several types of bound book options: hardcover, saddle stitch, perfect bound, spiral, wire-o, and hardcover book printing and binding. We will also explain the terms: How to bind a book, how are books made, softcover, self-cover, hardcover, and page count. Our bookbinding company is fast, easy, and affordable

A SOFTCOVER BOOK printing is like a paperback novel, catalog, or magazine. The pages are bound within a pliable cardstock cover. Whereas a hardcover book has a cover made from thick, rigid paperboard (like an elementary school textbook).

SOFTCOVER BOOKS are printed on a more durable heavier-weight cardstock paper to give your book a little more thickness and heft. We recommend 80# or 100# gloss or matte cardstock for the cover and 80# or 100# gloss or matte text for the inside pages. 70# gloss text is available when weight becomes an issue, for example, mailing.

We offer 4 types of softcover binding: Perfect bound, saddle-stitched are our most popular binding types. We also offer spiral bound and wire-o binding.

• Softcover books offer the BEST VALUE.
• They are more popular, affordable, and offer a quicker turnaround time than hardcover books.
• The cover can be UV Coated with a luxurious high gloss finish.

Self-cover Books have the same paperweight for the front and back cover and the inside pages. We only offer self-cover for Saddle Stitched Books. Our best value suggestion when producing a self-cover booklet is to use 100# Text (Gloss or Matte) for both the inside and cover papers. Your final product will look and feel professional.

• Easier to fold into a self-mailer or put into an envelope
• Does not require the durability and longevity of a heavier cover
• More easily damaged when mailed.
• 80# or 70# gloss text are also available when weight becomes an issue, for example, mailing.

We Offer 5 Types of Softcover Book Binding Types:

Browse each of the binding styles and keep in mind which stands out to you most and which would align with your business, brand, or idea. At PrintingCenterUSA we offer Saddle Stich, Hardcover, Perfect Bound, wire-O and Spiral bound books. From sizes, finishes, and paper types we have many options to explore and experiment with. Order one of our free sample packs to feel each and every sample we have to offer.

Saddle Stitch Booklets

Saddle stitch printing is the most popular form of binding, inexpensive, simple to make, and offers the fastest turn-around time yet very professional looking. We offer saddle stitch self-cover and softcover booklets and calendars with smaller page counts between 8 and 92 pages.

How To Saddle Stitch A Book

Saddle stitching is basically single sheets of paper, printed on both sides, collated in page number order, folded in half, then stapled through the fold along the left edge or top edge, securing the sheets together and then trimming the 3 sides to the desired, finished size. They can lay flat and stay open when you are flipping through the pages, which makes them easier to read. Commonly used for booklets, magazines, comic books, and coloring books.

Page Count for Saddle Stitch Binding

You must have a page count that is evenly divisible by 4. Each sheet of paper will contain 4 of the booklet’s numbered pages. For example, if you are printing an 8.5” x 11” saddle stitch book, its pages and cover would be made from 11” x 17” sheets that are folded in half to the size of 8.5” x 11.” The cover page counts as page 1.

We can print saddle stitch orders that are 8 – 92 pages. In other words, your document (counting the front and back cover) should be one of the following page counts:8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 40 | 44 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92

For books over 92 pages, perfect binding, spiral binding, and wire-o binding are recommended.

Hardcover Book

A hardcover book, also known as hardbound, casebound, or hardback, is a book that is bound with a rigid paper board for a more protective cover. It usually has a flexible hinge near the spine which allows the book to lie flat on a surface when it’s opened. Hardcover books are available in a variety of cover options including, but not limited to paper stock, leather, cloth, or leatherette.

Hardcover books are often the number one choice for when people are making coffee table books, art books, yearbooks, textbooks, bibles, and cookbooks. Not only because they are seen as more expensive, but they look nicer and more professional because hardcovers are a lot more durable than paperback books. Collector items, gifts, keepsakes, are prioritized as high-value items for hardcovers to convey this value and longevity.

How are Hardcover Bound Books Made?

The hardcover book is meticulously crafted, comprising two main parts: the outer cover and the book block or interior pages. The covers are printed on thin sheets, laminated, and then carefully cut, glued, and folded onto a dense, thick board, resulting in a high-quality, long-lasting book. The book blocks are bound with glue to provide a reliable and durable binding. Once the covers and book blocks are created, they are combined to produce your final printed book, ensuring a product of exceptional quality.

Page Count for a Hardcover Book

For hardcover books we can print them with 30-400 inside pages that will be counted the same as saddle stitch for the inside pages only. For the cover you will upload it as two cover pages and a spine or as one big spread. You will not have to submit an additional inside cover page because it will be covered with a white paper that helps bind your book together.

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Perfect Bound Booklets

Perfect bound is the most popular type of softcover binding. Perfect bound books are inexpensive to make and provide a durable, high-quality attractive square spine look that can’t be matched. A paperback book, catalog, or magazine is a familiar example.

What is Perfect Binding

Perfect binding book printing is single sheets (text weight) paper printed on both sides and collated in page number order, one on top of the other, and gathered into a book block. The spine edge is ground off. The softcover (a thicker cardstock) is placed over and around the book block (interior pages) and attached by the application of a strong yet flexible PUR glue along the binding edge, creating a professional-looking square spine that can be printed on. The other three sides of the booklet are then trimmed to the desired finished size to give them that clean “perfect” edge, thus the name “perfect” bound. An open perfect bound book does not lay flat like a saddle stitch, wire-o, or spiral-bound book.

Perfect Bound Design Tips

Gutters: because perfect bound books cannot lay completely flat without breaking, there is a portion of each inside page that will lose visibility into the spine. This inside gutter can take up between ¼” and 3/8” of each page. Be mindful of this while designing and add an extra ½” cushion to the binding-side margins of each page of your perfect bound book.

Crossovers or images that span two adjacent pages, inside of perfect bound books are not recommended.

Spine Width: A unique feature of perfect bound books is the ability to design the spine if it is larger than 1/8th inch (2″ thick maximum). You can keep it a solid color, add text or have one continuous image covering the front cover across to the back cover. Determining your spine width depends on the number of pages and the paper stock you have selected.

Click Here to Download our Spine Calculator

Number of Pages Accepted

Perfect bound book printing is the ideal choice for publications with higher page counts. The minimum number of pages is 28 pages to 2” thick maximum.   2-page increments are required when ordering.

We can print spiral and wire-o orders that have 8 pages – 800 pages (or up to 1 ¼ inch thick) and we require them to be in 2-page increments.

Spiral Bound Books

Spiral bookbinding is more durable than wire-o binding but does not have the professional look of a wire-o bound book. A spiral bound book uses a durable plastic coil which makes it an ideal option for everyday use as reference material. The plastic coil allows for frequent use that will not damage the bookbinding coil. The spiral-bound printing allows books to lie flat and fold or wrap back around themselves (360 degrees).

Spiral Bound Book Printing

Coil-bound books are great for instruction and repair manuals, cookbooks, directories, workbooks, handbooks, guides, annual reports, and other reference materials. Plastic spiral binding is also excellent for wall calendars and planners that hang flat against the wall.

Spiral-bound booklet printing offers different coil colors, sizes, and diameters to accommodate a higher page count (8 pages – 800 pages) up to 2 3/4” thick. You cannot print on the spine or add or remove pages. Crossovers or images that span two adjacent pages, inside of perfect bound books are not recommended. Available only in the black coil.

How To Spiral Bind a Book

Spiral-bound printing is single sheets of paper printed on both sides, cut down to trim size, and collated in page number order. Then a continuous plastic coil loop shaped like a long spring pass through a row of punched holes at the edge of the printed piece the binding can be on the left or top of the project depending on how the project is designed

Wire-O Books

Wire o binding is similar to the spiral binding. Wire-o binding uses a looped metal wire which makes it an ideal option when the product is for a more formal use with an organized and professional look such as a presentation. It uses a black metal wire and offers a lower page count than spiral binding. Great for workbooks, annual reports, instructional books, manuals, calendars, reports, presentation booklets, and more!

What is Wire-O Binding?

Wire o binding is single sheets of paper printed on both sides, cut down to trim size, and collated in page number order. The wire often referred to as a wire comb or twin-loop / double-loop binding, has pre-formed pairs of two small loops of wire that run along a C-shaped spine that looks like a comb. These wire loops are inserted through each of the square holes that have been punched through the edge of the printed book’s cover and pages which allow the pages of your book to line up precisely. A wire closer squeezes the spine until it is round securing the cover and pages. the binding can be on the left or top of the project depending on how the project is designed.

Wire-o binding will generally have a lower page count than spiral up to 1¼ “thick. The wire is available in different lengths for your bound books and calendars. The color of the standard wire we offer is black. You cannot print on the spine, add or remove pages. Crossovers or images that span two adjacent pages are not recommended.

We can print spiral and wire-o orders that have 8 pages – 800 pages (or up to 1 ¼ inch thick) and we require them to be in 2-page increments. They may cost a little more.

Create A Lookbook or Portfolio to Showcase Your Work

Lookbooks and portfolios are a great way to showcase your work and professionally display your photos or products. Different types of books work better with other bindings. Here are a few popular book styles that coincide with our available binding:

Popular Saddle Stitch Books:

• Programs
• Marketing Booklets
• Portfolio Books
• Coloring Books

Popular Perfect Bound Books:

• Magazines
• Photo Books
• Look Books
• Yearbooks
• Product Catalogs
• Memory Books
• Art Books
• Handbooks

Popular Spiral Bound Books:

• Manuals
• Cookbooks
• Guide Books
• Directories
• Workbooks
• Handbook
• Notebooks
• Journals

Popular Wire-O Bound Books:

• Manuals
• Annual Reports
• Presentation Books
• Directories
• Report Book
• Guide Books
• Business Books
• Calendars

Regardless of the style of look book or portfolio booklet you want to create, we have the tools you need and the binding options to make your project look amazing.

How to Choose What Size Book to Print

Most online printing centers offer a variety of printing sizing for various projects. Here we go over some of the standard sizes so you can choose the most cost-effective option for your next book. When you order online with PCUSA, we automatically fill in our pricing calculator with the most popular and inexpensive options for books and booklets.

Portrait Sizes

• 25 x 11
• 5 x 8.5
• 6 x 9
• 5 x 11
• A4 (8.27 x 11.69)
• A5 (5.83 x 8.27)
• A6 (4.13 x 5.83)

Landscape Sizes

• 5 x 5.5
• 9 x 6
• 11 x 8.5

Square Sizes

• 6 x 6
• 8 x 8

Though these are just the most commonly ordered and the easiest for our machines to print, we also offer the option to order custom-sized books. All we ask is that the height of your custom size book is between 4” and 9” and the width should be between 5” and 12.”

The number of pages your booklet project can have will depend on which binding type you choose. Here’s what you need to know:

Saddle Stitch: You can have a page quantity anywhere between 8-92 for Saddle Stitch Binding.

Perfect Bound: You must have a minimum of 28 pages to print a perfect-bound book. Page counts can go up to 2 inches thick, depending on the thickness of the inside pages.

Spiral: 2 inches is the max with this form of binding.

Wire-O: 1.25 inches thick is the max.

What’s The Difference Between Soft & Hard Bound Books?

A softbound book, also known as a paperback, softback, or softcover, is characterized by the paper cover, often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardbound or hardback books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, plastic, or leather. The pages on the inside of a paperback are made of paper different from the material on the cover.

Softbound books are usually much less expensive, as they are easier to make and more flexible than hardbound books. However, though hard-bound books are more expensive, they are more durable, last longer, and are much more equipped to protect the paper content.

Choosing the correct binding for what you want your book to be will help you set a budget and decide the other details for your book printing.

Printing In Black and White Vs. Full Color

At PrintingCenterUSA, we have two types of printing; full-color CMYK (also known as 4-color process or 4/4) and black and white printing (black only, 1-color process, or 1/1).

For full-color CMYK printing, we use four colors of ink: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK to create millions of colors. Of course, we also have digital RGB printing, but CMYK printing creates a quality finish that stands out from digital printing.

Black and white or black-only printing only uses one color of ink, black or K. Black and white printing is more cost-effective since it requires less setup and materials. However, it’s important to note that the black produced using only K is not as deep as the color Rich Black, which is made using all four colors of CMYK.

Do You Need a Custom Cover for Your Book?

When you’re self-publishing a book or looking for help with your next printing project, there are lots of exciting design choices to make. From the type of book, format, size, paper choices, binding options, and more, all of these play a big part in your publication’s overall look and feel. Take a look at some of your favorite books and booklets and consider how all of these decisions contribute to the book and why you love it.

The cover of the book might be the most important part of the process, so consider the binding that will work best for the purpose of your project. The choice of book cover comes down to your personal style and aesthetic preferences and the reading experience you hope to create.

Though soft covers or paper covers are more affordable, they don’t last as long. Hardcovers are more expensive, but they last longer and often look more professional than self-covers.

Comparing Softcover vs. Self-Cover Book Binding Types

While describing the book binding options above, we mentioned softcover and self-cover. Here is a brief look at soft cover and self-cover to give you a better grasp.

A SOFTCOVER BOOK is like a paperback novel, catalog or magazine. The soft covers are printed on a more durable heavier weight cover cardstock paper to give your book a little more thickness and heft. We recommend 80# or 100# gloss or matte cover cardstock for the cover and 80# or 100# gloss or matte text for the inside pages. 70# gloss text is available when weight becomes an issue, for example, mailing. Below is a saddle stitch example of softcover (the darker colored cover in the example is a heavier weight than the inside pages).

• We offer 4 types of softcover binding: Perfect bound & Saddle-stitched are our most popular.
• We also offer softcover Spiral bound and Wire-o binding.
• Softcover books offer the BEST VALUE.
• The cover can be UV Coated with a luxurious high gloss finish.
• They are more popular, affordable and offer a quicker turnaround time than hardcover books.
• A hardcover book has a cover made from thick, rigid paperboard (like an elementary school textbook).
• At this time, we do not offer hardcover books.

SELF-COVER BOOKS have the same paper weight for the front and back cover and the inside pages. 100# Text (Gloss or Matte) is recommended. We only offer self-cover for Saddle Stitched Books. Below is a saddle stitch example of self-cover (the cover and inside pages are the same paper weight).

• Easier to fold into a self-mailer or put into an envelope 
• Does not require the durability and longevity of a heavier cover
• More easily damaged when mailed.
• 80# or 70# gloss text are also available when weight becomes an issue, for example, mailing.

Common Book Sizes

Some of the most common book sizes are as follows:

• Magazine/Catalog: 8.5″ x 11″
• Children’s Book: 8.5″ x 11″ or 11″ x 8.5″
• Paperback Novel: 5.5″ x 8.5″ or 6″ x 9″
• Comic Book: 6.625″ x 10.25″
• Booklets: 8.5″ x 11″
• Art Book: 8.5″ x 11″ or 9” x 12”
• Photo Book: 8.5″ x 11″ or 9” x 12”

What Is a Bound Book?

A bound book is a collection of printed pages that have been assembled within a cover. In many cases, the cover is either thicker than the interior pages or made of a different material to provide durability to the finished book.

Like we mentioned earlier, there are different types of binding, the most popular being perfect binding, saddle-stitched, wire-o, and spiral bound.

When most people think of a “bound book,” they think of perfect binding. Read on as we describe the process of printing a perfect-bound book.

The Process of Printing a Bound Book

Our customers love perfect bound books because they are pretty inexpensive and provide a durable and professional book that looks high quality. Perfect bound is the ideal choice for books and paper collections that have a higher page count. The minimum page count is 28 pages, and your book can be up to 2 inches thick! With perfect binding, you get a softcover bound to the individual inside pages using flexible glue, which gives you a printable square spine that looks clean and sophisticated.

During the binding process, your printed sheets are gathered into a book, one right on top of the other, and the edges are trimmed to perfection. Then your book is glued into a wraparound cover and then cut again for size. This gluing process creates a beautiful square spine, but because of this, the pages will not lay flat while you are flipping through them.

Perfect bound book printing is ideal for novels, directories, magazines, manuals, yearbooks, catalogs, and really any book that has a lot of pages. If you want your book to feel professional, you want to choose a bound book printer like PrintingCenterUSA for the best possible quality.

Types of Books

There are so many possibilities when it comes to ordering custom books or booklets. Here are some of the most popular book types we see come through every day at PrintingCenterUSA:

• Directories
• Cook Books
• Picture Books
• Coffee Table Books
• Art Books
• Coloring Books
• Children’s Book
• Photography Display Book
• Portfolio Books
• Student Handbooks
• Biography Books
• Baby Books
• Memory Books
• Recipe Books
• Cartoon Books
• Wedding Books
• Research Books
• History Books
• Safety Books
• Prayer Books
• Training Books
• Manuals
• Portfolio Magazine Style Book
• And more!

Ready To Order? Choose PrintingCenterUSA for All Your Book Binding Needs

Now that you’ve read our ultimate bookbinding guide, you’re ready to order your amazing books. Choose your size, style, size, and binding options, and place your order online today. Still, have questions? Get in touch with one of our expert customer service representatives who can answer your questions, help you figure out all the details, and walk you through the process.

What are you waiting for? Order your book or get a free quote today!

The post Bookbinding -The Ultimate Guide appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

</table >

Type of Binding /  All Variables	Saddle. Stitch	Perfect Bound	Spiral Bound	Wire-O. Bound
Page Count Restrictions	8-92 Pages	28 Pages – 2″ Thick	8 Pages – 2 3/4″ Thick	8 Pages – 1 1/4″ Thick
Page Increments	4 Page	2 Page	2 Page	2 Page
Cost	$	$$$	$$	$$
Cover	Softcover, Self-Cover	Softcover	Softcover	Softcover
Custom Sizes Available
Mailing Services
Cover Paper	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated, Cover & Text	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Cover	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Cover & Text	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Cover & Text
Inside Paper	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Text	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Text	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Text	Gloss, Matte, Uncoated Text
Cover Ink	4/4, 4/1, 4/0, 1/1	4/4, 4/1, 4/0, 1/1	4/4, 4/1, 4/0, 1/1	4/4, 4/1, 4/0, 1/1
Inside Ink	4/4, 1/1	4/4, 1/1	4/4, 1/1	4/4, 1/1
UV Coating Available
Soft Touch Lamination
Hole Drilling Available
Proofs	PDF, Hardcover	PDF, Hardcover	PDF, Hardcover	PDF, Hardcover
Easy to Write In
Durability
Professional	3/5	5/5	3/5	4/5
Design Tool
Templates
Can Print on Spine
Can Lay Flat
Flip Pages 360
Crossovers Recommend
Needs Additional Room for Margins

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In the ever-changing job market, it can be hard to leave a lasting impression with a potential employer, customer, or client. One sure-fire way to make sure that you are remembered is with a custom portfolio book. Not only will a well-made portfolio book showcase all of your qualifications in a neat and professional way, but it will cause you to stand out in a sea of generic candidates.

What are Portfolio Books?

A portfolio book is a visual representation of you or your business’ abilities, skills, knowledge, outstanding projects, and more! It tells of your potential and the value that you will bring. Individuals can use portfolio books to demonstrate their tangible qualifications for a position. Companies also use portfolio books to educate their consumer base about what they can do for you. These are also called company biography books.

Do I need a Portfolio Book?

Portfolio books are great tools to accurately showcase the results that you brought to your other clients and are a more in-depth showcase of your services. If you are a company looking to record the history and value of your business, a company biography book is a great way to stand out among the competition.

It is important to include the right information and to make sure that your book is well-designed. Remember, this book is going to be a reflection of your business, so it has to demonstrate your professionalism and your organization. If you are a seasoned worker and are looking for a job, you need a portfolio book. This is especially true if you have a career in graphic design, architecture, technology, etc.

How to Create a Professional Portfolio Book

It can seem a little bit daunting to compile your portfolio book, but don’t worry! We have created a simple list of all of the information you should include in your portfolio:

What Information to Include in a Company Portfolio Book

• Table of Contents: Make it easy for potential customers and clients to find the information that they’re looking for.
• Company Biography: A short blurb on what your company does and the values that your company practices.
• Key Workers: Recognize the key cogs in your business; give each person a photo and short description on what they do at your company and why they love it.
• Overview of Your Services: Give a short description on all of the services or products that you offer. Include pictures!
• Case Studies, Photos, Examples: Include a couple of pages or a spread showcasing your best work.
• Customer Testimonials: Include some of your best reviews from your customers!

What Information to Include in a Personal Portfolio Book

• Work Samples: Include some of your best work. For example, any reports, studies, projects, presentations, or anything else that you were particularly proud of.
• Career Summary and Goals: This is a great opportunity to show your work ethic, ambitions, and management philosophy.
• Resume: Be sure to include your traditional resume as a summary of your education, work experience, accomplishments, and honors.
• Skills and Marketable Qualities: Time to really sell yourself! What do you bring to the table? Create a detailed examination of your abilities, how many years of experience you have in that skill, and specific experiences that demonstrate an application of that skill.
• Accomplishments: Include a list that highlights any notable accomplishments you have had in your career to date.
• Testimonials of Service: Include letters from prior co-workers, managers, or customers that recommend you for that position.
• Awards, Honors, Degrees, Certifications: Include evidence of certificates, awards, licenses, or degrees.

Designing Your Portfolio Book

The content of your Portfolio Book is only half of what you need to focus on. Once you have your collection of work that you want to present, you have to focus on the presentation. Portfolio books are recommended to be between 20 – 40 pages, so how are you going to make all the pages interesting?

Be sure to include relevant images! These can be of you working on a project or the results of a project. You don’t want to bore your potential employer or customers with a mass amount of text and no pictures. Make sure you use high-resolution photos so that your pictures are as clear as your potential. Imagine if you were reviewing a graphic designer’s portfolio book and they had blurry images. Would you trust them to do good work? Consider dedicating an entire page to a beautiful photo to break up your text. If you only have a digital file of a work sample that you want to use, consider creating a mockup to creatively showcase your work.

Types of Portfolio Books

The goal of your portfolio book and your career will influence how your booklet looks. Are you in an artistic field with lots of pictures and graphics? Or are you in a mathematical field with charts and numbers? This will influence the type of binding, paper, and size you will want to get.

Make sure you choose a portfolio printing company that will be able to offer you the creative liberty and guidance to execute your vision. At PrintingCenterUSA, our easy online platform makes it a breeze to create your perfect custom portfolio book. PrintingCenterUSA offers 4 different binding options, shown in the image to the right (from top to bottom): wire-o, spiral, perfect bound, and saddle stitch. We would recommend saddle stitch or perfect bound because they are the most popular options. Wire-O is also a professional option.

Depending on the type of portfolio book you are creating, we have different types of paper to beautifully showcase your work. If your portfolio has lots of images like for a graphic design portfolio or photo book, we would recommend using 100# Gloss Cover and Insides to make your images shine! If you are creating a portfolio that is more text-heavy, we would recommend using a 100# Gloss Text for the Cover, and 100# Matte Text for the insides. Matte paper will have a minimal glare, making it easier to read the text on the page. Many people also enjoy 70# uncoated paper.

So, what size should you make your portfolio? You can order your Portfolio Book in a variety of sizes at PrintingCenterUSA. PrintingCenterUSA offers your traditional 8.5 x 11, but don’t feel like you have to be limited to that. PrintingCenterUSA can print portrait, landscape, and square books ranging from 4.5 x 11 to 12 x 12! Large portfolio books can easily impress and smaller, more affordable, books are great for leaving-behind after an interview or meeting.

If you are looking to stand out from the crowd, create a portfolio book with PrintingCenterUSA. PrintingCenterUSA’s top-notch customer service is happy to help you create your perfect Portfolio book. Use PrintingCenterUSA’s photo book maker to easily create your book!

The post Steps to Making a Professional Custom Portfolio Book appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

Every business owner, marketing employee, and graphic designer should understand that when it comes to brand recognition, consistency is key to generating loyalty in a customer. This means that following well-established brand identity, i.e. fonts, colors, imagery, tone, etc, could increase your revenue growth by up to 30% at a rate 3x faster than a company with inconsistent branding.

Seems worthwhile, right?

Well, surprisingly enough, less than a quarter of businesses have a formalized branding style guide or brand book that is enforced. If you’re one of these businesses lagging behind, don’t worry, we’re here to help you develop, design, print, and enforce your brand.

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First off, what is a brand style guide?

A brand style guide is a set of detailed guidelines on a business’s visual and communication identity. It explains the rules to be followed when it comes to brand colors, fonts, imagery, tone, and much more. Contrary to popular belief, brand guidelines for a company do not just apply to the marketing team. They apply to every email, phone call, comment on social media, and every single interaction with a customer. In turn, the brand identity is something that should be a part of the basic training for all incoming employees.

Why should your business create a brand book?

Brand consistency is a long game that never ends. Over time, consistent usage of brand identity across all platforms will build recognition and loyalty with your audience. Your customers are quietly/subconsciously making judgments about your company and whether or not you are worthy of their trust. Even minor deviations in consistency can throw off your target market’s impression of the business. In the example on your right, you can see the brand of the creative agency &Walsh successfully stay consistent across three platforms – web, social media, and print.

It’s not all about the customers, though. A well-executed style guide will also establish a uniform culture for your employees. Setting the expectation of the work environment from the very beginning will help ensure employee retention and happiness.

What are the key elements of a brand guide? 

1. Who you are
   Who you are centers around your company’s vision, mission, and values. If you define these areas clearly, then your employees will have a clear direction and truth in every interaction between fellow employees as well as your customers.Goal / Vision – The goal and/or vision of the company is critical to spark initiative in employees. Tell them where the company is going. What is the five year plan? This gives employees something to latch onto and align their personal growth goals with in order to grow with the business.Mission – The mission of the company is slightly different than the vision as it is more focused on what you offer the end consumer. For example, PrintingCetnerUSA’s mission or vision statement is:“Our mission is to provide our past, future, and current customers with a mistake-free, top quality printing experience on time, every time.”Here you see that it’s more about the day-to-day bottom line of your business as opposed to the vision where you’re dreaming about the future.Values – The values of a company are more or less the personality traits. How would you describe your business? Use PrintingCenterUSA’s values as an example. Here, we detail the core values that all employees must have. If an employee were caught being rude to a customer over the phone, they would be in direct violation of our “Respect” and “Communication” values. If an employee went out of their way to provide resources to the customer and personally ensure the perfection of the finished product, then they would be in line with the “Expertise,” “Excellence,” and “Quality” core values.
2. Who is your customer?
   It is critical to also breakdown your target audience using user personas. These user personas are personifications of the types of customers you have or want. Give your four key types of customers names, photos, personal mottos, demographics, short bios, personality traits, motivations, goals, and frustrations. If you do this well and really get to know your customer, then you will be able to constantly grow with them in mind.
   For example, let’s create a quick PrintingCenterUSA persona. Let’s call her Sarah Shopsalot.
   Sarah’s personal motto is “It’s always cheaper on the other side.” She has a large family and her own startup business, so budgets are tight and closely maintained. She’s cautious, never making impulse purchases, and she will research and learn whatever it takes to save time or money. Her frustrations are not knowing how to do something right the first time. Her motivations are to grow her business and be a successful role model for her children.While that might have seemed like a silly exercise, it allows you to think out of the box on the who’s, what’s, and why’s that motivate your customer to choose your business. With this information you can better predict Sarah Shopsalot’s behavior, provide her the resources she desires, and therefore tailor your marketing efforts to generate a reliable return.
3. What do you look like?
   This section clearly defines the usage guidelines for key visual brand elements.
   
   Logo
   In the logo section you will introduce all versions of your logo. You will explain and demonstrate clear space guidelines, when and where a certain version is appropriate, and the dos and don’ts of the logo usage.Colors
   This is where you breakdown your brand colors, acceptable pairings, gradients, and example scenarios for color usage. Be sure to include the RGB, CMYK, and Hex code versions of the colors (and Pantone codes if necessary) so employees can easily stay on brand at a glance.Fonts & Typography
   List the company fonts, acceptable variations, and examples of when and where to utilize them. For example, PrintingCenterUSA’s brand font is Arial, but for a project where a script font is applicable, we will use Parkside.Imagery
   This one can be slightly trickier. It is best to use examples of photos and imagery that are on-brand and as well as examples of a photo that would be off-brand. This can be in image content (i.e. the image is inappropriate) or in image usage (i.e. the image is pixelated or skewed).
4. What do you sound like?
   Tone of voice is very important for a company to get right, especially one in customer service. What tone refers to is the type of language that is used when dealing with a customer, writing copy, posting on social media, or even sending an email. The tone of your company should reflect your core values as well. For example, if a company has a core value of being straightforward, then a customer service representative should be able to be clear and concise in the communication with a customer instead of beating around the bush. Here are some questions to ask yourself when determining the tone of your company: Are you more professional?
   Are you more emotional?
   Which generation(s) are a part of your target audience?
   Do you utilize humor?One thing that is always important with tone is to utilize good grammar and readability. There isn’t a single company out there that can use poor grammar to their advantage.

Brand Style Guide Examples

Creating a brand book can definitely be overwhelming, so it’s absolutely necessary to look at real-life examples to get you started. We have gathered some of our favorite real-world examples below to get you started.

1. Netflix
   We all know, love, and recognize our favorite movie streaming service. Their brand has been very consistent throughout the years which has certainly kept consumers like you (and me) coming back month after month, year after year. Take a peek at their logo guidelines hereto see some of the subtleties that have kept you addicted for so long.Netflix not only has clear visual asset guidelines, but they also take it a step further with a Netflix Culture Guide for employees. Here you’ll see how serious they take their brand and how they diligently integrate it into every facet of their company.
2. Walmart
   Oh, Walmart. You wouldn’t think that a retail store born out of Arkansas would be SO thorough, but Walmart truly has their brand painstakingly figured out more than any company I have ever seen. Take a look at their style guide here.Yes, it actually is 54 pages. Every single detail has intention behind it, from the secondary spark logo to the tone used by customer service representatives. If you’re looking for an in-depth example to pull from for your brand guide, look no further. This document will definitely serve as a model for your book.
3. Asana
   One of the prettiest brands on this list, the Asana brand is a great example of a contemporary digital company showcasing themselves right. It’s clean. It’s fun. It’s versatile. This brand will 100% be able to grow and evolve with the company. Take a look at the designer’s case study on the brand creation here to get a feel for the company and a first-hand look at the ideation process behind it.
   About halfway down the page, you’ll see that this was actually published into a physical book, something we highly recommend your company does too.

When brainstorming and designing your book, we also recommend starting the actual design of the book from a template if you cannot afford to hire a designer. Template websites like Envato will surely get your project off on the right foot.

To Print or Not to Print – That is the Question

Yes, yes, 1,000 times YES. Many companies make the mistake of only publishing their brand guidelines digitally. This simply won’t cut it! For your employees to eat, breathe, and live by your brand, we highly recommend that you print physical copies. Designers and employees should be able to quickly refer to the book as if it were a standard operating procedure— because it is. Plus, let’s be real, it’s a lot harder to ignore a physical book than a link buried somewhere in your email that you forgot to bookmark.

Here’s what we recommend:

1. Print a perfect bound brand book. This will reiterate to your employees that your company means business. The professional and stylish appeal of a perfect bound book reinforce the seriousness of the contents. It is a physical example of how to use your brand and is therefore the greatest way to train an employee on usage. The perfect binding option will also allow you to print on the spine, which makes it easy to identify on a shelf for quick reference.
2. Print brand materials as well. Business cards, letterheads, presentation folders, etc. This will help keep your company consistent throughout any form of communication.
3. While the majority of advertising is done digitally nowadays, print will never die. Consumers still respond to physical advertisements such as postcards, flyers, catalogs, and much more at a ROI that is impossible to ignore. These printed materials are also excellent ways to add yet another reinforcement of brand to your target audience.

Set your business up for success by establishing a brand style manual! If you don’t have the design software to do it, try out our photo book maker by clicking the link below.

Click Here to Start Your Brand Book

The post Create a Brand Book | Tips and Examples for your Style Guide appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

Have you ever relaxed on a friend’s couch and noticed an expansive ‘photo-heavy’ book sitting on a rustic coffee table?  That is what we call a coffee table book.  Today we are going to look at coffee table book printing and hopefully give you a better understanding of the wide arching term: coffee table book.  We will discuss: what is a coffee table book, what sizes are common, pages in a coffee table book as well as the making of a coffee table book here at PrintingCenterUSA.

What Is A Coffee Table Book?

PrintingCenterUSA considers most coffee table books to be a bit larger than usual printed as a perfect bound book.  The books are soft-cover and placed on top of coffee tables to be used as conversation starters represented most often by exceptionally curated photos.

What Size Is a Coffee Table Book?

When making a coffee table book, size matters.  You are going to want to display your images and stories in a large book format.  You want it to stand out and selecting one of the sizes below will certainly help draw the attention of your guests:

• 8×8 – This square option makes for a fun book to flip through while displaying your images in a different size.
• 8.5×11 – The portrait option allows you to better showcase vertical images.
• 11×8.5 – Landscape options are a go-to if most of your coffee table book images are landscapes and have wider exposures.
• 11×11- This larger book we offer will pop on any coffee table.

How Many Pages Should A Coffee Table Book Be?

The page count in your coffee table book is going to vary with how many photos are in your database that you want to share.  But, PrintingCenterUSA has some standard page counts to consider when it comes to your book.  The binding option recommended is perfect bound which means you will need a minimum of 28 pages.  From there we often see the most common page count lingering around 200 pages.  This page count also will allow you as a photographer or self-publisher to provide content on the spine, adding an extra touch of professionalism.

Making Your Coffee Table Book

Now that we have discussed the basics and have a better understanding of what a coffee table book is let’s dive into making and designing your coffee table book.  There is probably a theme to your photography and you’re going to want that to be represented in your coffee table book.  Many common themes that work well centered on a coffee table are associated with travel, fashion, art books, and fine photography.  People will also display their wedding or family photos in a high-quality coffee table.  Not only does it become a conversation starter with your guest but a great way to look back on memories with your close family!

Learn More: Book Layout: 9 Easy Steps

Once that theme is identified and you’ve selected the high-resolution photographs or illustrations that best display your story, it’s time to organize the book.  We find it best to show your story in certain formats.  A good starting point would be chronological, geographical, or color based.  Some of the best coffee table books follow a distinct color pattern that creates a very cool coffee table book.  Other creators tend to design the coffee table book in a way that represents the emotions in the photographs.

The beginning pages can outline the contents of the book with text and then the rest of the book should be focused on the eye-catching images.  Some artists and photographers like to add little captions for locations which makes it easier to harken back on the memories.  Once the design of the book is finished it’s best to consider the paper specs which we look at next.

Paper Stock

The paper stock selected at checkout will have an effect on the overall appearance of your coffee table book.  There are a few different options we recommend here at PrintingCenterUSA when it comes to coffee table books.  If you’re looking for a subtle approach to presenting your images then choosing 80# or 100# matte text is an excellent option for the inside pages.  Images for your book might appear a little more subdued or flat; great for black and white. When your images are full of bright colors, you’ll want to consider a gloss text for the inside pages.  This will reflect the light a little more and really make your image ‘pop.’  

The cover plays a most important role in creating an elegant coffee table book.  PrintingCenterUSA offers multiple options when it comes to your cover paper that will certainly make for quality books.  You will want to go with a 100# cover option which will allow for a nicely constructed book.  Adding UV coating on the cover (recommended by PrintingCenterUSA) will make for an extra glossy finish.   And if you’re really looking to impress your guests then choosing soft-touch lamination for your cover finish will take the coffee table book to the next level.  The soft-touch lamination will also allow you to sell your coffee table book for a little more if that’s what you’re looking to do!

Learn More: Choosing The Perfect Paper For Printing

Printing a coffee table book is a unique way to express your passions.  PrintingCenterUSA is here to help you create a masterpiece with premium paper and binding options.  We also offer an easy to use (and free) book design tool right on our website.  Our vibrant colors will help you create an iconic coffee table book that will last for years to come.

The post How to Print a Coffee Book appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

There are many different types of binding for books and booklets. There are just about as many factors that go into determining which binding type is best for your needs. Therefore when choosing book binding styles, If you are feeling overwhelmed with questions, we are here to help! Here are some of the top questions you should ask yourself as you choose a binding for your project:

• What’s my required page count?
• How will the book be used?
• Where will the book be used? 
• Who will use the book? 
• How will it need to function?

While perfect binding is great for magazines and product catalogs, spiral binding or wire-o binding is probably the better option for projects such as manuals and cookbooks. If you’re on a budget, saddle stitch binding is the optimal choice. 

Before we get into the nitty gritty, take a look at our various binding options for printing below.

Get an Instant Book Price: Learn More

Request a Free Sample Pack: Learn More

Types of Binding for Printing: An Overview

Saddle Stitching 8-92 Pages | $$$$ Sheets of paper (two pages on front, two pages on back) nested, folded, stapled together, then trimmed down to size.	Perfect Binding 28 Pages – 2” Thick | $$$$ Pages stacked (one page on front, one page on back) together then cover is wrapped around and glued to spine.
Spiral Binding 8 Pages – 2 3/4” Thick | $$$$ Cover and pages are stacked (one page on front, one page on back) together, hole punched, then bound by a plastic coil.	Wire-O Binding 8 Pages – 1 1/4” Thick | $$$$ Cover and pages are stacked (one page on front, one page on back) together, hole punched, then bound by a metal looped wire.

How to Arrange Pages

Below you can find more detailed information on each binding type to help make your decision easier.

Explore Each of Our Print Binding Options In Depth

Saddle Stitch Book Printing

Saddle-stitched binding is the most common and cost-effective form of book binding. 

Booklets bound in this way have printed sheets that are folded and nestled together one inside the other and then stapled through the fold line. This allows the booklet to lay almost completely flat when open. This also means that less of your design gets lost in the middle and the book will be easy to handle. 

However, there is a limitation to this type of binding. Staples can only hold so many pages. Therefore, saddle stitching is best for smaller booklets containing less than 92 pages.

Page Count Restrictions: 8 Pages – 92 Pages | 4 page increments

Available in Soft Cover or Self-Cover

Popular Saddle Stitch Books:

• Programs
• Marketing Booklets
• Portfolio Books
• Coloring Books

Page Count Restrictions: 8 Pages – 92 Pages  |  4 page increments

Available in Soft Cover or Self-Cover

Popular Saddle Stitch Books:

• Programs
• Marketing Booklets
• Portfolio Books
• Coloring Books

Saddle Stitch Printing

Perfect Bound Book Printing

Perfect binding is a popular type of book binding you see on soft cover books such as paperback books and magazines. 

The internal pages are printed on both sides of text weight paper, then gathered together (collated) into a book, one on top of the other, in numbered page order. The cardstock cover of the perfect bound book is placed over and around the inside pages, attached along the binding edge by the application of a strong yet flexible PUR glue.

Page Count Restriction: 28 Pages – 2” thick  |  2 page increments

Available in Softcover Only

Popular Perfect Bound Books:

• Magazines
• Photobooks
• Look Books
• Yearbooks
• Product Catalogs
• Memory Books
• Art Books
• Handbooks

Perfect Bound Printing

Spiral binding or coil binding is similar to saddle-stitched binding except that it involves creating holes along the left edge of a booklet’s pages and inserting a continuous plastic coil through the holes. 

This binding allows for a wide variety of sizes and page counts. It also offers the most versatility for the user to lay the pages flat, which is why this is a common binding method for spiral notebooks and journals.

Spiral bound books are easier to handle due to the ease of turning pages, lack of spinal tension, and folding or wrapping back around themselves (360 degree). 

You cannot print on the spine or add or remove pages. Crossovers, or images that span two adjacent pages, inside of perfect bound books are not recommended.

Spiral binding or coil binding is similar to saddle-stitched binding except that it involves creating holes along the left edge of a booklet’s pages and inserting a continuous plastic coil through the holes. This binding allows for a wide variety of sizes and page counts. It also offers the most versatility for the user to lay the pages flat, which is why this is a common binding method for spiral notebooks and journals.

Spiral bound books are easier to handle due to the ease of turning pages, lack of spinal tension, and folding or wrapping back around themselves (360 degree). You cannot print on the spine or add or remove pages. Crossovers, or images that span two adjacent pages, inside of perfect bound books are not recommended.

Page Count Restrictions: 8 Pages – 2” thick  |  2 page increments

Available in Soft Cover Only

Popular Spiral Bound Books:

• Manuals
• Cookbooks
• Guide Books
• Directories
• Workbooks
• Handbook
• Notebooks
• Journals

Spiral Bound Printing

Wire-O Bound Book Printing

Wire-O binding is similar to spiral binding except for instead of a spiral coil, it has a metal coil, as shown above. This binding allows for a wide variety of sizes and page counts. Wire-O tends to be an ideal option for when a project is for a professional setting, but also needs to have the versatility of moving the pages 360 degrees. A good example is an annual report or presentation booklet.

Page Count Restrictions: 8 Pages – 2 3/4“ thick  |  2 page increments

Available in Softcover Only 

Popular Wire-O Bound Books:

• Manuals
• Annual Reports
• Presentation Books
• Directories
• Report Book
• Guide Books
• Business Books
• Calendars

Wire-O Bound Printing

Comparing Softcover vs. Self-Cover Book Binding Types

While describing the book binding options above, we mentioned softcover and self-cover. Here is a brief look at soft cover and self-cover to give you a better grasp.

A SOFTCOVER BOOK is like a paperback novel, catalog or magazine. The soft covers are printed on a more durable heavier weight cover cardstock paper to give your book a little more thickness and heft. We recommend 80# or 100# gloss or matte cover cardstock for the cover and 80# or 100# gloss or matte text for the inside pages. 70# gloss text is available when weight becomes an issue, for example, mailing. Below is a saddle stitch example of softcover (the darker colored cover in the example is a heavier weight than the inside pages).

• We offer 4 types of softcover binding: Perfect bound & Saddle-stitched are our most popular.
• We also offer softcover Spiral bound and Wire-o binding.
• Softcover books offer the BEST VALUE.
• The cover can be UV Coated with a luxurious high gloss finish.
• They are more popular, affordable and offer a quicker turnaround time than hardcover books.
• A hardcover book has a cover made from thick, rigid paperboard (like an elementary school textbook).
• At this time, we do not offer hardcover books.

SELF-COVER BOOKS have the same paper weight for the front and back cover and the inside pages. 100# Text (Gloss or Matte) is recommended. We only offer self-cover for Saddle Stitched Books. Below is a saddle stitch example of self-cover (the cover and inside pages are the same paper weight).

• Easier to fold into a self-mailer or put into an envelope 
• Does not require the durability and longevity of a heavier cover
• More easily damaged when mailed.
• 80# or 70# gloss text are also available when weight becomes an issue, for example, mailing.

Find the Perfect Type of Book Binding Today

Need additional assistance finding the right type of book binding for your needs? Feel free to reach out to us here at Printing Center USA anytime! We’re here to help you find the perfect book binding to fit your masterpiece

Want to see what your booklet or book could look like once printed? Utilize our free file review tool or free templates now.

Otherwise, we invite you to get started with book printing!

The post What Type of Book Binding Should I Choose? appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

Photo Books are books that are primarily comprised of photographs, art, and other types of pictures. They are usually made with a soft-cover perfect binding using a durable cover weight paper. Photo Books come in all shapes and sizes and from all types of people and organizations. No matter the theme of your photo book – we can print it for you!

PrintingCenterUSA provides a free online photo book design tool to help our customers easily create a stunning photo book that will preserve cherished family memories, high school memories, promote a business, showcase art, and so much more. In this blog we are going to take a closer look at the popular photo book types that we see and provide some insider tips on design and order specifications.

Free Sample Packet: Click Here

Instant Photo Book Pricing: Click Here

Types of Photo Books

Wedding Photo Books

Nearly every bride hires a professional photographer to document their wedding day. After waiting a few weeks for the images to be edited, you’re given a huge set of digital photographs. Other than sharing them on Facebook, what do you do with them? A common trend these days is to create a wedding photo book with your favorite photographs from the event. Some brides also want to make wedding invitation booklets with their engagement photos as a unique save-the-date. If you have the photos, then why not?!

But not every bride comes with designing experience. Using our photo book design tool allows you to easily drag and drop your special images into your desired order. Remember-images don’t need to be chronological!

Wedding Photo Books: Learn More

Photography Books

Photography books are mostly made by both amateur and professional photographers trying to showcase a body of work in one place. They make great gifts and are frequently sold for up to $35 a piece (which is an excellent return investment). A common photo book size among landscape photographers is a Landscape (horizontal-bound on short edge) 9 in x 6 in because the format fits best with the ratios of their photographs. This means that they have less cropping to do to their photographs. We also see a lot of 8 in x 8 in square photo books and 8.5 x 11 portrait photo books.

Photography books are a great way to display a unique arrangement of colors and textures present in photographs. Juxtaposing full images with up-close detail shots and/or solid swatches of color are recommended to help guide the viewer to the intended meaning of the photo book. All of this is very simple to do in our photo book design tool.

Business Photo Books

Believe it or not, photo books are huge for businesses across the board. You can showcase your products, employees, and portfolios in a way that reinforces your brand image. In our photo book design tool, you can easily add text to the pages.
Look Books and Portfolio Books are common examples of a Business Photo Book. Look Books (example on left) are generally associated with the Fashion & Apparel Industry and are made up of large photographs-usually one per page- showcasing the clothing line or jewelry line. There is minimal text involved.

Portfolio Photo Books (example below) are frequently used among creative studios for architecture, branding, and design. They consist of multiple case studies of that display the work made for various clients.

Memory Photo Books

Memory photo books make great gifts for family members and friends. They are usually full of photographs from a certain event, a person’s life, vacation, school year, etc.

School memory photo books are perfect for all levels of education. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a grade school, junior high, high school, or university – a memory book is perfect for your teachers and students!

Family Memory Photo Books capture your family’s history by creating a custom printed memory photo book. Photo books help the memories from your family reunion, holiday or vacation live on forever!

Art Books and Coffee Table Books

Art books and coffee table books are very similar. They are used by artists that are wanting to professionally and creatively showcase a series of work. They include artist’s statements, large images, close up detail images, and captions for each work.

Coffee Table Books are usually thicker, or contain more inside pages, than an art book. Coffee Table books are great for professional waiting rooms or even just at home. 8 in x 8 in square perfect bound coffee table books are very popular right now.

There are many other types of photo books, such as yearbooks, that you can easily create in our online photo book design tool. The possibilities are endless with photo book printing!

Self Publish a Gallery-Quality Art Book: Learn More

Photo Book Design Tool

Our FREE online photo book design tool is the best option for you to design your photo book. It has easy drag and drop images, and the images can even be uploaded directly from Facebook!

There are pre-made photo layout templates that you can just plop your image into instantaneously! To show the layout template options, select the page you are working on, then click “layout” on the left hand navigation of the design tool. Layout options will appear.

You can add text to your photo book as well to caption your images if you’d like. Simply choose a “with text” layout in the layout section and it will be easy to edit from there!

Book Layout | 9 Easy Steps for Designing the Perfect Layout: Learn More

Recommended Order Specifications

You have a lot of options when it comes to order specifications on our pricing tool. Here are a few recommendations to bring your Photo Book project to the next level of quality.

Binding Type: Perfect Binding or Saddle Stitch
Perfect Binding will allow for a very sharp and professional look that will leave a lasting impression on the viewer. With a square spine, you can design and print on the edge as well to make it that much more official.
Saddle Stitch is another popular option for photo books with a smaller page count.

Paper: #100 lb Cover Cardstock and #100 lb Text
The heavier the paper, the higher the quality. Photo Books with thicker, nicer paper can be sold for more money.
While we recommend 100# for Cover and Inside pages, our customers also love our 80# Cover Cardstock, 80# Inside Text, and 70# Uncoated. For 100# and 80# weights, we usually recommend a gloss coating and a UV high gloss finish for the cover cardstock.

Choosing the Perfect Paper for Your Next Print Project: Learn More

Coating: UV Gloss Coating
You can make the cover of your photo book last longer and protect it from smudging or scratching with a luxurious uv high gloss coating.

Size: 8.5 in. x 11 in. Portrait
For most people ordering photo books, 8.5 in. x 11 in. is the most cost-effective option and is still a great size for viewing a lot of beautiful large photographs. We also offer the following sizes:

Note: for landscape photographers, we recommend ordering a landscape size such as 9 in. x 6 in.

Production Time: Wait & Save
Perfect bound photo books are slightly more expensive than saddle stitch photo books. To compensate for this increase in cost, select the “Wait & Save” production time option if your timeline allows for it. We also offer standard and rush production options if your timeline is more sensitive.

If you have any questions or thoughts about an upcoming photo book project, feel free to reach out to us a 800-955-1555 to speak to a representative. Our representatives will be happy to provide you with a free sample packet and to assist you with the design tool if you are having difficulties!

The post Best Photo Book Ideas appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

Straight edges…  Exceptional elegance…  Professional final product…  

Those are just a couple superlatives to describe perfect bound books, magazines, catalogs and more.  When looking at a perfect bound book, your eyes affix to the sharp edges and notable design traits. These design traits add up to the quality experience that is produced from perfect binding.

There are many questions to ask yourself when deciding to dive into a new print project, especially when it comes to perfect bound books.

1. Am I choosing the right size for my final printed product?
2. What type of paper should I go with?
3. How do I work my text in with the art?

With their ability to stand out and exemplify art and stories, perfect bound books are the place to turn to.

Instant Photo Book Pricing: Learn More

We chatted with three talented people who have gone through the prefect bound process a time or two and gleaned some useful tips to share with our audience here.  From children’s books to quarterly magazines we’ve got some amazing products to showcase today!

The Importance Of Choosing The Right Size 

When it comes to sizing your project, there are a lot of options to choose from:

1. 8.5 x 11
2. 5.5 x 8.5 
3. 6 x 6
4. 6 x 9
5. 8 x 8 
6. 4.25 x 11

What’s the best method to help you decide which route to take?  Orientation matters when it comes to perfect bound books because of their high-quality nature; you’re going to want to present your work in the best possible manner.  The orientation of your perfect bound book can sometimes tell the story before you even lay art or text on a page.

This Image Represents 8×8 and 8.5×11 Perfect Bound Sizing 

Pamela Fong, Author and Illustrator, understands the importance of sizing for perfect bound books.  Her experience stems from her artistic background and exceptionally created characters and stories.  Pam knew her latest children’s book, “Smoke,” had to be square.

“The character was intimate.  The neutrality of the square design was a perfect fit,” Pam mentioned.  Her choice to go with the 8×8 option was wrapped around the story and the ability to be in close proximity of space between the viewer.

“Smoke” by Pamela Fong

Sometimes perfect bound books are displaying art or photography, which then guides the way for choosing the size of your perfect bound book.  For example, Justin Kouri designed a perfect bound book for galleryFritz and spoke about letting the art within the book be the place to start when it came to deciding the size.  “Frank’s (the artist) work is mostly 48×48, which has a natural fit for the square orientation. And it leans towards a more minimalist approach,” Justin said of the perfect bound.

Fritz Gallery Art Book Designed by Justin Kouri

Size is a crucial starting point and shouldn’t be taken lightly when designing your perfect bound book.  It speaks to the viewer in different ways, and when you choose the right size, you just know it!

Mixing Up Paper Possibilities 

“The feel is just as important as the visuals,” Leigh-Ann Sullivan said of her quarterly perfect bound magazine Folks Journal.  One look at Folks’ exceptionally designed magazine and you’ll know Leigh-Ann’s background as publisher/creative guru is advice worth noting.

Folks Journal opts to go with an 80# uncoated cover and 60# uncoated text on the inside giving the magazine an exceptional tactile experience for its readers.  When you look at the visuals and art within the magazine, you begin to understand how this paper option reflects its content.

With three types of papers; gloss, matte and uncoated, you’re sure to find the right fit for your perfect bound.  The uncoated option Leigh-Ann went with is non-reflective, and pairs Folks text well with its art.  Uncoated is slightly more expensive than the glossy option, but when you’re selling a magazine, like Folks, it’s worth it because of that tangible experience.  PrintingCenterUSA is all about custom, and your perfect bound magazine or book should reflect that customization.

Instant Booklet Pricing: Learn More

Choosing the Perfect Paper For Your Next Print Project: Blog

Create The “Page Turn”

“The image has to entice the reader to turn the page,” Pam said of her children’s book.  This is an important element to consider when it comes to your perfect bound book. Page numbers, art, ads, text, these are layout related questions for your book that need to be recognized in your design process.

Page turners occur when the images and text work together, moving the reader along.  If you’re working with a picture book like, “Smoke,” you want to lead the reader with telling imagery.  As the reader goes from page 1 to 32, the images have to reflect a building story with each turn, ultimately culminating in a conclusion.  The page turn reflects the author’s ability to actively engage with the reader as they move through the story.

Folks Journal

Final Thoughts

Perfect bound books and magazines work well with many types of projects.  Customizable sizing and paper options allow you to truly create a final product that embodies the purpose of the work.   Whether you’re working on Volume VII of your regional publication, writing a children’s book or displaying art, you can be sure a perfect bound book is the way to go!

If you’re unsure of where to start or have limited resources, give our free online booklet design tool a shot and start designing your perfect bound today.

The post Crafting A Perfect Bound Book Project – An Inside Look appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

There are two main things to keep in mind when selecting your binding: (1) what is your final page count going to be?; and (2) do you have a budget?

What is your Page Count?

One big factor when choosing binding is the minimum and maximum page counts needed for both perfect bound and saddle stitch book binding. Saddle stitch binding works very well for smaller page counts, whereas perfect binding is great for larger page counts. If your book is between 8 and 92 pages, saddle stitch is the most cost-effective choice. If your book has over 28 pages, perfect binding becomes another option.

For saddle stitch binding, the higher the page count gets, the more you have to keep in mind about page creep. This is when the inner pages stick out farther than the pages closer to the outer cover. This usually happens when there is a large number of pages or when a thicker paper is being used.

Not sure if your files are right? Check your files for Free before placing an order with our Free File Review 43 point inspection!

A saddle stitch book with fewer pages will most likely not have to worry about creep because trimming may not be as noticeable as with higher page counts. So, if you have a book with a higher page count, perfect binding might be the best option.

Customer Example: Pittsburgh Moto Magazine (84-page Perfect Bound)

Since the majority of magazines you see on store shelves are perfect bound, Pittsburgh Moto, an 84-page publication, chose perfect binding to give their magazine that high quality look and feel you see with other widely circulated magazines. Since perfect binding is superior to the other binding types, it may help increase your return on investment because you can resell these perfect bound books to subscribers at a higher cost.

Another cool characteristic perfect binding offers is that you can put text on the spine if your book is thick enough. Since Pittsburgh Moto prints 3 to 4 issues a year, this binding option allows them to add in their magazine name, year and issue number down the spine, as you see with other magazines.

Are You on a Budget?

Though perfect bound book binding is more expensive than saddle stitch, it offers a highly professional appearance at a fairly low cost. If you plan on reselling your books, choosing perfect binding can help you sell them at a higher cost because of the higher quality and durability it offers. If you’re on a budget and perfect binding is a little out of your price range, saddle stitch is still an excellent alternative (and is still our most popular binding option). Whether you choose perfect binding or saddle stitch, the quality we provide will still give your printed book a sharp and appealing, professional look.

The post Perfect Bound vs. Saddle Stitch; Which Book is Right for You? appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.

At PrintingCenterUSA, we feel that the combination of digital and offset complement each other when it comes to the final price to print a book. We utilize the strengths of each to offer our customers the best of both worlds for quality, price, service and turnaround times.

Digital Printer

With digital printing, there is no make ready.  All work is done to set up a press for printing and the setup is easier, thus lowering labor costs. No printing plates are needed and the file goes directly to press and prints directly from computer to paper. The first copy is up to color. Costs remain constant over all run lengths.

Traditional Offset Printer

Traditional offset printers have much higher nonproductive up-front costs due to longer make ready and set up times. Printing plates need to be made, and there are more setup costs and maintenance associated with making ready. It usually takes about 200 sheets to get your project up to color and ready to be produced. As run lengths increase, costs decline. Short runs under 5,000 are more expensive with most offset printers.

Our state of the art combination of digital and offset printing presses allow us to have lower-cost setup so that short-run booklet jobs don’t have the overhead that big offset printing shops have, which means we can do the smaller jobs of 10 to 5,000 booklets and 10 to 15,000 brochures for less.

We feel that the combination of digital and offset complement each other. Our state of the art set-up and processes allows us to live in the “Area of Best Value” and come through for our customers when quantities vary or are unknown.

Short run digital printing companies only offer quantities up to 500 or 1,000 sheets or booklets. Short run printing jobs under 5,000 sheets or booklets are generally more expensive with most digital and offset printers. At PrintingCenterUSA our offset press fills the gap between 1,000 and 5,000 sheets and booklets. This gives you the best printing costs and the quality of both worlds.

There is a gap in small quantity printing jobs between 1,000 and 5,000 sheets or booklets. Both traditional digital and offset printers are generally more expensive.

You can see in the above graph how the combination of our digital presses and printing partners offer the best value for short-run quantities of 10 to 5,000 sheets and books and makes low-volume printing affordable, where with traditional printing methods the per-copy cost would be too high to be practical.

The graph represents a real-life example between four companies. This will help you better break down your job on a per-book basis and get the whole picture.

Binding Options for your Budget

Just like page count and quantity the other crucial pricing aspect to consider when book printing will be the binding option you choose.  You can learn more about our bindery options here. When it comes to price, let’s take a quick look at our two most common bookbinding types: perfect bound and saddle-stitch.  

In the below graph you will see RED (saddle-stitch) and BLUE (perfect bound) lines indicating perfect bound and saddle-stitch binding options.  The specs were set up to the same specs as the perfect bound example above.  Notice the price of saddle-stitch binding will usually be the most affordable option when it comes time to choose a binding.

The reason for this minor price difference when comparing perfect bound and saddle stitch binding options circles back to time and process.  Perfect binding requires more materials and longer production time. That production time includes roughing up the edges of the book to allow more surface area for the hot glue to adhere to the pages better, and then cure for an extended period of time. This creates a more professional presentation compared to saddle stitch but adds to the cost.  Whereas saddle stitch books do not need the added time to cure (from the glue) because they are simply stapled together.

Also, when comparing the two binding options you have to consider the pages once again to determine if you meet the minimum or maximum page count.  Saddle stitch books are an excellent choice for lower page count projects but can’t exceed 92 pages.  Perfect bound books need a minimum of 28 pages and even then that might not be enough to add the illustrious look you’re going after.  Perfect bound books reach a maximum height of 2 inches so be mindful of your page count.  Once you start adding more pages with the perfect bound option, it allows you to add even more professional qualities to your book like spine printing!

Remember, price shouldn’t be the only thing on your mind when choosing a binding option and it’s important you consider how you want to display your work.  Brush up on some aspects of saddle-stitch here and perfect bound here.

Pricing Calculator

Using our Pricing Calculator, we took a look (see charts below) at some of our most common average order sizes and formats to give you a better idea of pricing books for your next project.  Whether you’re printing a perfect bound children’s book or deciding how to best showcase your photography to potential buyers, the cost will undoubtedly play a deciding role.

When pricing a book, using our free pricing calculator will help you better accomplish your budgetary goals.  Take what you learned in the above sections regarding binding, page count and quantity and play around with our pricing calculator to get the price you’re looking for.  Maybe you need a color cover but only have text on the inside, be sure to change that in the calculator. Explore the printing options that best fit your book printing needs.

Conclusion

Pricing a book doesn’t have to be a complicated process and here at PrintingCenterUSA, we’re here to help.  We offer personable customer service with book pricing experts that can assist you in meeting your financial goals.  Remember when pricing a book for print to weigh the options discussed in this article around quantity, pages and binding variations; these are the cornerstones of nailing down the cost of printing a book.

The post How Much Does It Cost To Print A Book? appeared first on PrintingCenterUSA.