Want some insights into commercial bookbinding? Take a look at this video I found recently called “Americans at Work” that was produced back in 1961 by the AFL-CIO union. The video shows the bookbinding process in an early 1960’s bindery and highlights the tasks involved in the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Or7wetXQs After a very short introduction about […]
DIY Bookbinding reader John Grafton took the basic concepts from the basic bookbinding tutorial and gave it a little twist. John made his own binding jig to speed up the work and improve overall quality. In addition, he used another technique. Before applying glue to the spine of his book he notched it. The notches […]
I did not start out to be an indie but that is where I ended up. I have published the book, “Mr. Prescott and the World Beyond…” from the ground up including making my own book trailer as you will see on my site. My story is about a wealthy man who has an encounter […]
I recently recorded this DIY Bookbinding video tutorial showing how to create a simple origami mini-booklet from a single sheet of paper. This is a fun craft project to do with kids and makes a great book-themed school activity. Primary skills required are paper folding and simple cutting. Applying glue is optional, but something I […]
I just found this really nice bookbinding demo video from a self-publishing author. His method of printing 2 books together, using a cheap thermal binding machine to do the final gluing, and then cutting the book in half at the end is pretty clever. If you have to use a copy shop’s stack cutter to […]
When I began searching for instructions on how to bind a book I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to find a reliable and useful information. I only wanted to create a simple paperback book (I later learned that paperbacks are called ‘perfect bound’ books) but found a huge number of websites that were […]
During a holiday this summer I made a simple bookbinding jig to help speed up my efforts when creating paperback books (you can read more about the bookbinding jig in this article.)
There are a lot of options available on the market for perfect bound bookbinding equipment. Most are expensive and geared toward companies running fulltime binderies. Others are pitched at the business market and focus on creating bound reports. There are even a few binding solutions aimed at small operations looking to create short runs of […]
Figuring out which glue to use for my perfect bound book projects turned out to be one of the most challenging aspects of the bookbinding process. Gluing the edges of a bunch of sheets of paper together is tricky. The glue must be strong, flexible, easy to apply, dry quickly (but not too quickly), and […]
A simple little origami paper trick started a new interest for me in bookbinding – and eventually this handmade bookbinding tutorial. I found a blog article with a link to a PDF file that, when printed out and folded, created a very useful little 8 page expense tracking booklet that would slip in your pocket. […]
