Creating America's Most Beautiful Books for Over 20 Years
Just a Few of Our Binding Styles - We Also Offer Dozens of Custom Options
Scroll Down the Page to See Award Winning Cover Designs
Case
Case Binding – Adhesive and Smyth Sewn
Cloth with Bronze SpineBeautiful Antique Style Binding - See More Below |
We Beautifully Bind Every Kind of BookSimply put, there is no cover style that we can't bind for you. Yes, we have even provided ancient hand bound "Monk Binding" with a wood cover tied together with leather for a client that needed something much different. And there are also clients who want everything from hardbound sewn covers, to saddle stitched magazines and catalogs, to spiral bound music books. From that special incredibly beautiful cover that sells your book and wins awards, to the most simple utilitarian journal, we do it all. You can enjoy a quick quote or we will help you conceptualize and design YOUR masterpiece cover that gets across you special message to the world.
Masterpiece - Multiple Foils, Embossing, Special Inks |
Soft Covers
Printing Books
Our Focus is on printing books. And we are so confident your book project is a good candidate for Petersen Books, we’ve created an interactive pricing tool which challenges you to find an area where we may not be the ideal print partner for your current project. No gimmicks. No pushy salesperson. No tedious request for quotation submittal. One of our friendly representatives will be with you in 24-48 hours’. Get your results in an INSTANT with our "Instant Pricing Chart."
Book Interiors
Petersen Books offers various trim sizes from very small to very large art books. If you can dream it, we can do it! The majority of the interiors printed at Petersen Books will be done using the latest digital inkjet web presses. Our Screen TruePress Jet 520 EX Mono is used for single color black interiors. Unlike earlier digital presses which tended to produce gray-looking ink, the TruePress Jet520 EX Mono is widely considered the best digital press on the market and it produces deeper, richer blacks. The Screen TruePress Jet 520 4-C Digital Inkjet Web is employed to print 2 and 4 color interiors. This cutting-edge press offers colors that pop and smooth reproduction of gradients while printing 420 ft. per minute at maximum speed.
Bind Styles
To insure the lowest price and highest quality, Petersen Books has a complete in-house bindery department that includes saddle stitch, perfect binding, case binding (adhesive and side sewn), mechanical binding (spiral/wire-o/comb), loose leaf, 3-hole drill, lay-flat, and PUR binding. Take your pick from the various bind styles we offer. If you don’t see what you’re looking for here, just ask.
Saddle Stitch
Saddle stitching, or booklet-making, is common for small booklets, calendars, catalogs, and some magazines. Several sheets of paper are printed, folded (the fold becomes the spine of the booklet) and two or more staples are placed in the fold. This can be done as a self-cover using the same paper as the interior pages, or a cover can be applied, typically a heavier grade of paper.
Perfect Binding, Adhesive Binding, Notch Binding and Sewn Covers
Perfect binding is commonly referred to as a paperback. Many magazines found on newspaper stands also use perfect binding. It usually consists of various sections or book blocks being assembled with a cover made from heavier paper. These book blocks are notched on the spines to allow adhesives to penetrate the pages and attach them to the covers. We also offer PUR binding for those customers who want their books to lay flatter when opened and when printing on a coated stock. The books are bound similarly to a normal perfect bound book but with a PUR (Poly Urethane) adhesive. In some cases PUR is used as a less expensive solution for Ota-bind and lay-flat binding. We are comfortable perfect binding from 1/8” to 2.50”, however, we have been known to bind smaller and larger when asked. Our Kolbus Systems Binder and our Kolbus Ratio Binder together allow us to produce adhesive book blocks for hardcover case binding, and perfect binding for soft cover. Both Kolbus binders run inline end sheeting, and we have the option of providing cold glue, EVA Hot Melt, or PUR for standard coated text stocks. We offer inline book splitting between the binder and the trimmer for 2-up signatures. Ask us about our splash gluing and trimming for your mechanical binding jobs.
Mechanical Binding
Workbooks & notebooks use this method because they need to open flat. The sheets are punched with round, oval or slotted holes on the binding edge. Then wire or plastic coils or rings are inserted through the holes keeping the book together. Examples are plastic spiral coil binding, wire-o, and comb binding. We can also produce semi-concealed coil bound books that allow for a printed spine for being displayed on bookshelves. We are able to mechanically bind up to 3/4” automatically and up to 3” manually for standard binding projects. The scope of binding possibilities has an even great range for customized manufacturing.
Adhesive Case Binding
Adhesives have come a long way and work great for binding hardcover books for normal use. Adhesive case is a style of hardcover binding where the signatures or book blocks are glued instead of sewn. Covers can be printed on coated stock or different materials can be used including Rainbow and Ecological Fibers’ materials. These materials can be foil stamped, embossed, etc. The book blocks are notched and roughed for glue penetration into the paper and reinforcement cloth is applied to add strength to the bind. This bound book block then has head and tail bands applied, if desired. It is then married together with the case, or hard cover, that has been made separately. This type of case binding works well and is great for a lower cost alternative to Smyth sewing. PUR Adhesive can also be used to create an even greater flexibility to the spine. We can easily produce up to a 2.25” thickness for adhesive case bound products. If your book will be larger than this, that’s okay; we’ll do our best to find a way to produce it as well.
Dust Jackets
Dust jackets are typically used in conjunction with case binding also called hard bound books. They are usually printed and laminated or UV coated and applied loosely over the case bound book. This prevents the book from being scuffed and gives the author space for a bio or advertising on the back or inside flaps.
- PUR, Hotmelt and Cold Glue available
- Smyth Sewn
- French Flap
- 2 Up Inline Book Saw
- Hinge Score
- Die Cut Covers
- Custom
Printing Books
Our Focus is on printing books. And we are so confident your book project is a good candidate for Petersen Books, we’ve created an interactive pricing tool which challenges you to find an area where we may not be the ideal print partner for your current project. No gimmicks. No pushy salesperson. No tedious request for quotation submittal. One of our friendly representatives will be with you in 24-48 hours’. Get your results in an INSTANT with our "Instant Pricing Chart."
Book Interiors
Petersen Books offers various trim sizes from very small to very large art books. If you can dream it, we can do it! The majority of the interiors printed at Petersen Books will be done using the latest digital inkjet web presses. Our Screen TruePress Jet 520 EX Mono is used for single color black interiors. Unlike earlier digital presses which tended to produce gray-looking ink, the TruePress Jet520 EX Mono is widely considered the best digital press on the market and it produces deeper, richer blacks. The Screen TruePress Jet 520 4-C Digital Inkjet Web is employed to print 2 and 4 color interiors. This cutting-edge press offers colors that pop and smooth reproduction of gradients while printing 420 ft. per minute at maximum speed.
Bind Styles
To insure the lowest price and highest quality, Petersen Books has a complete in-house bindery department that includes saddle stitch, perfect binding, case binding (adhesive and side sewn), mechanical binding (spiral/wire-o/comb), loose leaf, 3-hole drill, lay-flat, and PUR binding. Take your pick from the various bind styles we offer. If you don’t see what you’re looking for here, just ask.
Saddle Stitch
Saddle stitching, or booklet-making, is common for small booklets, calendars, catalogs, and some magazines. Several sheets of paper are printed, folded (the fold becomes the spine of the booklet) and two or more staples are placed in the fold. This can be done as a self-cover using the same paper as the interior pages, or a cover can be applied, typically a heavier grade of paper.
Perfect Binding, Adhesive Binding, Notch Binding and Sewn Covers
Perfect binding is commonly referred to as a paperback. Many magazines found on newspaper stands also use perfect binding. It usually consists of various sections or book blocks being assembled with a cover made from heavier paper. These book blocks are notched on the spines to allow adhesives to penetrate the pages and attach them to the covers. We also offer PUR binding for those customers who want their books to lay flatter when opened and when printing on a coated stock. The books are bound similarly to a normal perfect bound book but with a PUR (Poly Urethane) adhesive. In some cases PUR is used as a less expensive solution for Ota-bind and lay-flat binding. We are comfortable perfect binding from 1/8” to 2.50”, however, we have been known to bind smaller and larger when asked. Our Kolbus Systems Binder and our Kolbus Ratio Binder together allow us to produce adhesive book blocks for hardcover case binding, and perfect binding for soft cover. Both Kolbus binders run inline end sheeting, and we have the option of providing cold glue, EVA Hot Melt, or PUR for standard coated text stocks. We offer inline book splitting between the binder and the trimmer for 2-up signatures. Ask us about our splash gluing and trimming for your mechanical binding jobs.
Mechanical Binding
Workbooks & notebooks use this method because they need to open flat. The sheets are punched with round, oval or slotted holes on the binding edge. Then wire or plastic coils or rings are inserted through the holes keeping the book together. Examples are plastic spiral coil binding, wire-o, and comb binding. We can also produce semi-concealed coil bound books that allow for a printed spine for being displayed on bookshelves. We are able to mechanically bind up to 3/4” automatically and up to 3” manually for standard binding projects. The scope of binding possibilities has an even great range for customized manufacturing.
Adhesive Case Binding
Adhesives have come a long way and work great for binding hardcover books for normal use. Adhesive case is a style of hardcover binding where the signatures or book blocks are glued instead of sewn. Covers can be printed on coated stock or different materials can be used including Rainbow and Ecological Fibers’ materials. These materials can be foil stamped, embossed, etc. The book blocks are notched and roughed for glue penetration into the paper and reinforcement cloth is applied to add strength to the bind. This bound book block then has head and tail bands applied, if desired. It is then married together with the case, or hard cover, that has been made separately. This type of case binding works well and is great for a lower cost alternative to Smyth sewing. PUR Adhesive can also be used to create an even greater flexibility to the spine. We can easily produce up to a 2.25” thickness for adhesive case bound products. If your book will be larger than this, that’s okay; we’ll do our best to find a way to produce it as well.
Dust Jackets
Dust jackets are typically used in conjunction with case binding also called hard bound books. They are usually printed and laminated or UV coated and applied loosely over the case bound book. This prevents the book from being scuffed and gives the author space for a bio or advertising on the back or inside flaps.