Bound so it opens the way you meant it to.
Binding is the decision most likely to be made by whoever’s quoting rather than whoever designed it — and it decides whether a spread works or disappears into the gutter.
Five ways to hold it together.
Saddle stitched
Folded and stapled through the spine. Lies flat, fast, best under about 60 pages.
Perfect bound — EVA or PUR
A square, printable spine for 32 to 400 pages. PUR glue is stronger and more flexible than EVA, so the book opens flatter.
Case bound
A hard cover, for the book that has to survive being owned for a decade.
Spiral & wire-o
Opens completely flat — manuals, recipe books, planners.
Pads
Glued at the head, tearing off cleanly.
Worth knowing before you design it.
- Spine width isn’t just thickness. Page count, stock caliper and binding all count. We’ll give you the exact measurement.
- Grain direction. Paper folds cleanly with the grain and cracks against it.
- Creep. On thick saddle-stitched books the inner pages push out. We allow for it — keep content off the outer edge.
- Covers want scoring. Heavy or laminated covers crack without it.
Setting up the file
Single pages
Supply in reader’s order, not imposed spreads.
Work out the spine
Use the spine calculator in our help centre, or send page count, stock and binding and we’ll confirm the width.
Mind the gutter
Design across the spine only if the binding lies flat.
Bleed & safe area
2mm bleed, critical content at least 2mm inside the trim.
How we do it
Horizon finishing — a four-clamp PUR perfect binder and an A4 landscape saddle stitcher — sitting directly after a B2 digital press. That combination is why short-run books are a normal job here rather than a special favour.
