Binding

Most books are held together — bound — in one way or another. The major ways of binding a book are:

• Saddle stitching — The pages of a book are held together with staples through the spine. This form of binding is usually suitable only for books with some 64 pages or less and the finished product may look a bit like a magazine

• Perfect binding — The pages are glued together at the spine side prior to the cover being wrapped around the content and glued to the spine — the end result is usually known as a paperback. Suitable for books with a minimum of 56 pages.

• Case binding — The cover of the book is glued onto stiff boards to form the 'case'; the content is either glued or sewn at the spine side and then attached to the case with 'endpapers'. Books bound in this way are commonly referred to as hardbacks. Suitable for books with a minimum of 56 pages. For smaller quantities this is often a manual binding method and hence not very economical.

• Wireo binding — The cover and text pages are drilled multiple times on the spine side. A plastic-coated metal wire is then fed into the holes and crimped to close. This type of binding is often used for calendars, but also for manuals, instructions or work books as it allowes the book to open perfectly flat. The down side is that you don't have a spine to show the title and author.