Press / Bindery FAQ

Binding: We offer these binding choices:

• Perfect binding: This method, where pages are milled at the spine and glued to its cover, is the most common paperback book.
• OpenBAK Eurobind

Cover Stock: We offer these cover stock choices, and can print up to 6 colors (on either side):

• 10 or 12 point, coated one side: Each “point” represents one thousandth of an inch of paper thickness. The coating on the outside allows for clear, color printing.
• 10 point, coated two sides: Choose this stock to bring an extra degree of clarity and color quality to inside cover printing.
• 65# smooth uncoated: This is a matte-finish stock.

Four Color Process: This printing technique uses four primary colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) to simulate full-color images. Each color is represented by one piece of film and a separate press plate. By overprinting halftone dots of each of the four colors in varying densities, we can produce a wide range of colors.

Grain: The direction of paper fibers. Paper will fold and bind more easily with the grain. To promote the integrity and beauty of our books, we position their spines with the grain. This prevents covers from cracking and allows text pages to lie flat and turn easily.

Inserts: We insert pre-printed pages, diskettes and CD’s into books. Page inserts may be printed by Whitehall or customer-furnished. Our Customer Service Reps work closely with customers to develop a page-inserting plan which meets each customer’s unique needs, while conforming to our press and bindery specifications. See Inserts Tips.

Lamination: Book covers play a vital role in selling your book. That's why they must look beautiful and professional. While a good design and crisp imaging are essential, our GBC Lay Flat® Lamination offers a third, invaluable element, making our book covers irresistible.

GBC Lay Flat® Film was designed specifically to negate the effect of curl caused by moisture, so that our covers lay very flat. As an added value, this protective film is highly durable and provides an attractive finish to book covers. Available in both matte and gloss varieties, GBC Lay Flat® Film Lamination is the superior option for book covers…better than UV coating or varnish.

Make Ready: The steps required to set up a printing press, which include plate and ink adjustment, as well as matching the printing to a customer-approved proof. For short runs, make ready costs represent a significant percentage of the total printing cost.

Register: Printing that is correctly positioned on the page is said to be “in register.” Four-color printing is in register, for example, when all four successive colors are aligned, one on top of the other, so that they produce a single image with no color gaps or overlaps.

Sheet-fed Press: Press that prints single sheets, one at a time. We use sheet-fed presses to print book covers and full-color page inserts.

Signature: A large press sheet upon which multiple pages have been printed. This sheet is folded and ultimately cut to form a group of book pages. We produce two different signatures, one that has 16-pages, and one that has 32-pages. For this reason, your book’s page count must be divisible by 16.

Text Paper: We use acid free, offset paper for text pages. Our text paper meets the following approximate specifications of opacity (paper density or inability to see through paper), brightness, and pages per inch (paper thickness).

Web Press: A fast printing press into which paper is fed from a continuous reel (web roll). We use web presses to print text pages.