How Books are Put Together - Part 2


thick books.

Use a long arm stapler or saddle stapler for center-stapling. If you do not have one, let a print shop do the stapling for you.

Sewing a book together. You can bind a book by sewing the pages together. There are several advantages to sewing books together rather than stapling them:

Sewn books last longer in humid climates because staples rust quickly.

The middle pages of center-sewn books do not fall out as easily as center-stapled pages do.

You can sew a book together with a sewing machine, or by hand. Here are some guidelines to follow when you sew a book together:

Make the stitch length as long as possible (one-fifth inch or five millimeters) so the book is not weakened by too many perforations.

Have a book assembled by a print shop if it is too thick for all the pages to be sewn together at once. Tip: A manual home sewing machine can usually sew through about 10-14 pages.

How to sew a book together by hand. Use a hammer and nail or a sharp-pointed instrument to punch holes in the pages where you want to sew. Sew the pages together with a heavy needle and thick, double thread. Tie the thread ends together securely.

7. Determining pagination. Before printing, the pages of a book need to be arranged properly. This is called pagination. It takes organization and practice to arrange the pages of a center-bound book so that they are in the proper sequence when they are printed and bound.

A center-bound book is usually made up of sheets of paper that have two pages printed on the front and two on the back. The sheets are folded in half to make the book. Each piece of paper makes four book pages. Therefore, the total number of pages in a book must be divisible by four. If necessary, some pages can be left blank. Each side of the paper requires its own stencil or camera ready copy.

Paper size.The sheets of paper should be twice the width and the same length as the book will be.

Example

For an A4 size book, you would need A3 paper.

For an A5 size book, you would need A4 paper.

Page arrangement.Because of the way center-bound books are put together, the pages are not printed in numerical order.

Example

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