How to speak printing and binding

Glossary of terms and techniques

Album: A book containing photographs pasted in place.

Art Cloth Cover: Cotton fabric Fastback Hardcover. This is a bright material ideally suited for art books and professional photography books.

Bindercover: Pre-cut covers in a variety of colors.

Bleed: The part of the image area that prints past the edges of the page and is removed during final trimming.

Bond Paper: Standard office paper. Usually sold in 20# and 24# weights.

Bonded Leather: A leather-based material made by mixing real leather fibers with a latex or similar base. The end product looks, smells and feels very much like real leather, but at a much lower cost.

Book Block: The interior sheets of the book without the cover.

Calendering: The process giving paper a smooth finish by running the paper through smooth cylinders during the manufacturing process. Calendered paper comes in several finishes. At its calendered, paper using this process resembles coated paper in texture.

Case: Industry term for hard cover.

Case Binding: The traditional process of making hard cover books.

Casing-In: The process of attaching the hard cover case to the book block.

Clear Cover: A special plastic material designed to work well with the Fastback binders. Unlike some other plastics, Clear Cover will not melt when binding. It is also compatible with the Foilfast binder, allowing you to add foil printing to transparent covers.

Clear Liner: A thin plastic adhesive sheet designed to make book rebinding easier than ever. Ideally suited to the fast repair of non-archival books.

Coated Paper: Paper that has a fine layer of clay, resin, or some other substrate that gives the paper a smooth, often shiny appearance for rich color printing. Coated papers can be difficult to bind using standard thermal-adhesive methods. Some form of paper preparation is recommended beforehand (see Splitter, notching, milling, roughing).

CP Strip: Special thermal strip designed to let you bind books that are printed on smooth papers, or are printed with a laser printer that uses fuser oil.

Comb Binding: An older punch-and-bind system that uses a thick plastic comb. Sometimes referred to as GBC binding.

Comp Cover: Powis Parker's kidskin, paper-based and patterned material. Available in Hardcovers and in individual cover sheets for external binding.

Comp Strip: Thermal strip that matches the comp cover material in appearance. Ideally suited for special presentations of tape-bound documents.

Crash: The gauze-like material that is glued onto traditional book spines to keep the signatures together. Because the Fastback Binding System does not use traditional binding techniques, the crash (also called the "super") is not required. It is replaced with the binding strip.

Custom bookmaking: Hard cover books individually made by hand.

Debossing: A stamping process with a machine die that leaves an image pressed into the surface of a book cover. Sometimes erroneously referred to as embossing.

Die: (pl.: dies) A tool used for cutting shapes or impressing patterns in other materials. Dies are used for traditional hot stamping to apply foil, emboss paper, or both.

Die Cutting: The process of cutting a pattern in a sheet or book cover using specially-made dies.

Die-cut Window: A window on the front of a Photobook Hardcover that is cut out but not wrapped.

Dye-sub: Short for dye sublimation—a process that converts solid inks into to gases before printing, then back into solids when printing. Dye-sub printing is favored where water-soluble inks will not work, or on surfaces that do not readily accept other types of ink.

Edge Preparation: The treatment of a sheet of paper to create a stronger bind.

Embossing: A machine die stamping process that leaves a raised impression on book cover. See also "debossing."

End Paper: See "Endleaf."

Endleaf: (pl.: endleaves) The stiff paper that attaches the book block to the front and back inside covers.

Fastback Binding System: Powis Parker's unique thermal binding system that allows you to make tape bound, perfect-bound and hard cover books one at a time in an office environment.

Foilfast printer: Powis Parker's foil printer, which prints in foil from most office computers.

Foilfast Title Sheet: Adhesive sheets that match Powis Parker's Suede and Comp Hardcovers. Designed to work with let you add foil printing to your books.

Font: At one time, font referred to the available characters for a typeface at a specific size (e.g., Helvetica 12 pt.). With the advent of desktop publishing, the concept lost its meaning and today is today interchangeable with typeface.

Full Bleed: A page that has an image that prints all the way to edges on all four sides. See also: Bleed.

Fuser Oil: Oil that is used to prevent laser printer toner from sticking to the heating element. Fuser oil can cause problems when binding because it leaves a fine layer of oil on a sheet, which can prevent the binding adhesive from coming in full contact with the paper.

GBC Binding: See "Comb Binding."

Glossy Paper: Paper coated with a slick and shiny surface. Often used in magazines, yearbooks, and photo books.

Grain Direction: The direction in which the fibers of the paper are oriented. It is important to ensure that the grain direction is parallel with the bind to achieve the best results.

Hardcover Guide: Assembly jig used to center and attach a Fastback Hardcover to a book block. It is also used to identify the correct Fastback Hardcover book widths, and to attach Foilfast Title sheets to the covers.

Headband: The narrow piece of striped or solid fabric at the top and the bottom of each book block. The headband was once an integral part of the binding process, but now it is purely decorative.

Hot Foil Stamping: The process of applying foil to a sheet or cover by applying heat and pressure. Hot foil stamping requires special equipment and dies similar to those used for debossing.

Inkjet: A printing process that uses liquid inks sprayed onto paper to create images.

Kromekote: A brand of coated card stock often used for business cards.

Library Cloth Cover: Rayon fabric Fastback Hardcover. This is an extremely rugged cover designed for heavy use, such as one might experience in a library or similar setting. Ideal for binding books for heavy use purposes or a traditional look and feel.

Linen Strip: A Fastback Super Strip made to resemble the "crash" used in traditional hard cover bookbinding.

Long Grain: See "Paper Grain."

Marbled Paper: Decorative sheet of paper printed with a pattern that resembles marble. Often used for endleaves in expensive books.

Matte Paper: Paper that is coated with a non-glossy surface. Matte paper is often used to create drama when combined with printed photos which appear shiny in comparison to the paper.

Memory Book: A scrapbook or photo album devoted to specific people or events.

Milling: A technique used to help bind perfect-bound books. The binding edge of the book block is abraded to expose more fibers and increase the size of the binding edge. Normally it is used with calendered or coated paper to improve the bind.

Minilab: A retail store department or kiosk that offers on-site film processing. A quick print outlet.

Newton: A unit of measurement used to measure bind strength. A newton is the amount of force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram at a rate of one meter per second squared.

Notching: A technique used to improve the bind on perfect-bound books. Small notches are cut along the binding edge to increase the edge area available when the book is glued. Normally it is used with coated or calendered paper to improve the bind (see, The Photobook Binding Challenge White Paper).

Page Turn Test: A test used to determine how many times a book page will turn before falling out. The equipment used for this test mimics the action of a person aggressively turning a page in a book.

Paper Grain: The direction in which the fibers in a sheet of paper line up. Paper grain is normally either short grain or long grain. [diagram]

Paper Weight: There are several methods of measuring paper weights. Designations such as "bond" and "text" indicate weight measurements based on specific master sheet sizes (see Paper Weights Chart for more information). As a universal weight comparison, most papers also list the weight in grams.

Perfect Bind: Perfect-binding is the process of binding individual sheets directly to the inside spine of a softcover. This is process used most commonly to bind paperback books.

Perfectback Strip: Powis Parker's patented strip that allows you to make softcover (paperback) books with a Fastback binder. Perfectback strips are available for the 15xs and the 8x binders.

Photo Book or Photobook: A book that consists primarily of photographic images.

Photobook Production Cell: Powis Parker's system for creating photo books. The Photobook Production Cell consists of a Fastback Splitter, a Fastback Photobook binder, and a Fastback Hardcover Guide.

PhotoPro Strip: Powis Parker's patented thermal adhesive strip designed for use with the Fastback 25 Photobook binder, and the Fastback Splitter.

PowisPrinter: Foil printer designed to add titles to spines on tape-bound books.

Pressure Sensitive Adhesive: Adhesive that does not require heating. Powis Parker uses this type of adhesive on its Hardcover adhesive panels, Foilfast Title sheets, and Perfectback LF and PS strips.

Pull Test: A test used to test how firmly a sheet of paper is attached to its binding (see also, "Newton").

Punch and Bind: Any of the binding systems that create documents by first punching the sheets and then attaching the binding element through the punched holes (e.g. velobind or coil binding).

Quarter Binding: A process that uses two different materials on a hard cover, so that the material on the spine wraps approximately one-quarter of the way around the cover.

Ream: 500 sheets of paper.

Release Paper: The paper that covers and adhesive panel on a Fastback Hardcover, or a Perfectback strip. The release paper is removed to expose the adhesive for binding.

Roughing: See "Milling."

Score: A thin, creased line in a sheet of paper, often applied to make stiff material fold at a specific point (such as a paperback book cover).

Scrapbooking: The popular hobby of creating individually made books, often containing photographs and artwork. Many times, the scrapbooks are designed to create a record of memorable events.

Sewing: Collections of folded or loose pages sewn together along the binding edge. Sewing is often used with custom-made hard-bound books. This is a very sturdy form of binding, but it requires expensive sewing equipment.

Short Grain: see "Paper Grain."

Signature: A collection of pages created from a single printed sheet that is then folded and bound. Also the trade name for the adhesive sheets used with the PhotoPress to create books.

Silver Halide: Paper used to make traditional photographic prints with a chemical development process.

Smart Strip Technology: The technology that makes it possible for Fastback binders to automatically adjust bind cycle settings for each type of strip.

Softcover: Wraparound cover made of stiff cover weight paper like those found on paperback books.

Speed Strip: Powis Parker binding strip designed to provide the fastest bind possible. Ideal for high-volume or quick turnaround environments.

Spine: The bound edge of a book.

Spine Wrap: A patented process created by Powis Parker to allow you to add foil printed custom Quarter Panel wraps (see also, "Quarter Binding").

Spread: An image or graphic that runs across more than one page.

Splitter: The Fastback Splitter is a device that creates micro-channels in the center of sheets of paper to help improve the binding. It is primarily intended for use with coated paper.

Stitcher: Powis Parker's stapling equipment. Part of the Studio Photobook System.

StitchFree™: Powis Parker's process to create books that are as sturdy as sewn or stapled books, but without the expense of sewing, or the restrictions of wire stitching.

Stitching: A stapling process using spooled wire instead of individual staples. The term is also sometimes used to refer to sewing. Often used in a saddle or side method to bind pamphlets and brochures.

Strip Binding: The process of binding with a thermoplastic adhesive strip. Sometimes also referred to as tape binding. See also: Tape Binding.

Studio Photobook System: Powis Parker's economy photobook production system. Designed for small businesses or copy centers and print shops that want to add photobooks to their available products. the primary Studio Photobook System consist of  the 8x binder, Stitcher, and Hardcover Guide. Supplies are also available for use with the 15xs binder and third-party stitching and stapling equipment.

Suede Cover: Powis Parker's suede leather-like paper-based cover material.

Super: See "Crash."

Super Strip: Powis Parker's most versatile strip. Ideal for most tape-binding and hard cover binding purposes.

Tape Binding: A generic term for the process of binding a book using an external strip of tape. Tape binding refers to both pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and thermoplastic adhesive tapes.

Temperature Activated Adhesive: Adhesive that is inert until heated. Adhesives of this type are used on all Powis Parker strips.

Thermoplastic Adhesive: A heat-activated, plastic binding substance used to replace traditional animal-based adhesives. The adhesive softens when heated and hardens when it cools.

Typeface: A type style of a single design (e.g., Garamond Light).

Variable Information Postscript Printware (VIPP): VIPP is an open language from Xerox that enables highest-performance output of personalized (variable-data) PostScript documents

Variable Information Printing: The ability to change specific items of information within a document as it prints. Variable Information Printing is used to create several copies of a single document with the information slightly altered according to which person will receive the document. For instance, if you want a different person’s name to appear on the cover of each copy of a book.

Velobind: A punch-and-bind process that uses a thin strip of plastic that holds the pages in place. Pages cannot be removed or replaced without destroying and replacing the binding strip.

Wrapped Window: A window on the front of a Photobook Hardcover that has the cover material wrapped completely around the window resulting in a more finished final product.