Allied Bindery

Bound for Excellence

Planning Tips for Die Cut Covers

Planning Tips for Die Cut Covers

A common approach to jazzing up the cover for your perfect bound, saddle stitch or mechanically bound project is to utilize a die cut cover. Designs may include die cut windows or even specifically die cut words. There are a number of things to remember when planning for the use of a die cut cover.

Don’t forget the spine grind allowance!  Often, a die cut cover on a perfect bound book is meant to align with text or graphics on the first page of the book. If the designer forgets to accommodate a spine grind off margin on the text, the die cut shape or window will not align as desired. Forgetting to accommodate the spine grind margin can throw off the alignment between cover and text by at least 1/8”.

Don’t forget to incorporate a “choke or spread”.  If the desire of the designer is to have the die cut window fully cover a graphic design on the first page of text, the graphic design must be planned larger than the die cut window. Since each production process will contain some level of register variation, the die cut window needs to be smaller than the design that it is meant to cover. If the window and the graphic are designed at the same size, a register variation as small as 1/64” will result in a visually displeasing effect.

Conversely, if the designer wants the die cut window to frame a graphic or word, the die cut window must be larger than the item that it is meant to frame. This will allow for some minor process variation, without creating a visually displeasing effect.

Be careful with the choice of die cut shapes when designing the cover. Long die cut slits or narrow die cut channels in a cover are a recipe for getting caught up in equipment and destroying the cover. Solicit the input of your trade bindery representative to help identify ways to make your project design successful.

Involving the Sales and Planning Professionals at Allied Bindery can help you avoid potential problems with the design of a die cut cover.

Do’s and Don’ts When Planning Oblong Trim Size Projects

Sometimes, from a visual perspective, nothing catches the eye like an oblong book or brochure design.  Because an oblong trim size can be more difficult to fold, stitch and bind, there are a number of planning tips that must be considered to make the production of your project flow smoothly.

Consider the benefits of printing and binding your oblong project in a multiple-up format.  Oblong projects usually combine wide pages with narrow (short) spine heights, presenting feeding and travel difficulties
on stitchers and binders.  Planning your oblong project to be printed and bound in a two-up, three-up or more format, provides the bindery with a much more stable product to feed through collators and along saddle or gathering chains.  A multiple-up format often reduces production costs, both in the printing and binding process, while insuring a higher level of cosmetic quality.

Make sure that you understand the minimum and maximum size limitations of the bindery equipment when selling, planning and printing oblong projects.  Projects may look great right through the printing process, but finding out that one of the dimensions is either too small or too large to feed through bindery equipment can result in a very expensive and embarrassing mistake.

Consider a two-up, oblong format or perfect binding, Allied Bindery can assist you with creating Come & Go layout formats on many jobs, saving considerable cost through the printing, as well as the bindery production process.  Having book saws on both of our binding lines allows for a high level of productivity, while providing significant cost and price advantages to our customers.

Oblong projects often require folding layouts that include accordion and double parallel folding in consecutive folding gates.  Allied Bindery can help you plan the accordion fold layout to minimize the potential for dog-ears that may occur during the subsequent double parallel folds required to finish a signature.

Involving the Sales and Planning professionals at Allied Bindery can help you avoid problems such as recognizing or avoiding potential production challenges with oblong projects.

Mechanical Binding Planning Tips

An important consideration when planning a mechanically bound book (wire-o, plastic coil, spiral wire) is that it is not bound directly on the spine edge of the book.  Rather, the binding medium is inserted through punched holes that are 1/8” in from the spine edge of the book.  As a result, there are a number of considerations that must be included in the planning process.

A “clear margin” allowance must be incorporated between the trimmed spine edge of the sheets and the beginning of the text or graphics on the printed page.  This margin varies depending upon whether the project is planned to collate from single sheets or from the use of an adhesive bound book.  Higher page count projects are often more cost effective to produce by starting with an adhesive bound book.

When collating single sheets, or loose leaf option, the printer must ensure that at least 1/2” of clear margin is planned for the text and cover pages between the spine edge and the start of printed text or graphics.  When the bindery punches the text, there must be a minimum of 1/8” of paper left between the trimmed spine edge of the sheets and the start of the punched hole.  This 1/8” of paper provides the strength for the spine edge of the sheet and helps prevent an easy or inadvertent tear out of the punched sheet from the finished book.  An additional ¼” of clear space will be used for the actual punch hole.  This will leave 1/8” of clear space prior to the start of the text or graphics on the printed page.

If the printer has planned the mechanically bound project to be produced from an adhesive bound book, a clear margin space of 5/8” should be incorporated into the spine edge of the text.  Whether it will be the printer or the trade bindery that initially adhesive binds the book, the first 1/8” of the spine must be trimmed off the book in order to create the loose leaf book block for punching.  The remainder of the clear margin allowance is the same as explained for the loose leaf option.  Failure to incorporate the appropriate clear space margin may result in punch holes penetrating important text or graphics, creating either a cosmetic or informational problem for the end user.

Another key attribute to be considered by the printer is the mechanical binding option that is chosen.  Wire-O, Plastic Coil and Spiral Wire will all provide a book that lies open perfectly flat.  However, if cross alignment of text and graphics is a specific requirement, Wire-O is the only choice that will provide a direct cross over.  Both Plastic Coil and Spiral Wire will “step up” or offset the cross alignment between the open pages.

Tabs, inserts, semi- concealed covers and concealed covers all require special planning requirements.  It is best to involve your binding partner in the planning process in order to avoid unpleasant surprises later in the production process.

Involving the Sales and Planning Professionals at Allied Bindery will help you to plan for the most cost effective and schedule efficient project completion.  Give us a call and let us help you achieve your customer’s expectations.