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While many printers choose to fold signatures prior to sending them to a bindery, the quality of the finished project can be greatly enhanced when your saddle stitching provider performs the folding as well. This is particularly true for projects with critical crossovers or over- and undersized formats. Here are some considerations when asking your finisher for signature folding and saddle stitching:
Doing Laps
Including binding laps is the most effective way to produce a saddle stitched book. Industry standard is a 3/8" lap, plus the 1/8" face trim for a total binding lap of 1/2". This lap is critical for allowing the stitcher's fingers to hit and pull the book open, allowing the signature's center to fall over the saddle. When planning your project, keep in mind that all laps should be on the same side of all forms as they travel through stitching equipment. "Reverse laps" will slow production.
Going Lapless
Design constraints, however, often dictate the need for signatures without binding laps. Books with flush gate or roll folded signatures must be suction opened, meaning there is no physical piece of equipment that will mechanically open the signature. While suction opening is perfectly doable and often produces exciting books, clients should be made aware early in the design process that spoilage will be higher and run times slower. A complete list of typical spoilage standards is available on the Rickard Bindery website at www.rickardbindery.com.
No Perforations
Perforations are often placed on the spines of signatures to help release excess air and relieve wrinkling once they're folded. While signature perforations are fine for perfect binding projects, they should not be placed on signatures destined for saddle stitching. Often, the stitches will simply break right through the weakened points in a perforated spine.
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When aligning critical crossovers on saddle stitched books, plan your projects for parallel folding rather than right-angle folding. |
Go Parallel
If your book project includes critical cross-over text, images or charts, it's best to use parallel folds for your signatures as opposed to right-angle folds. If your right-angle folds are misaligned by even 1/32", crossovers will be misaligned by at least 1/16" - which is objectionable.
The Rickard Advantage
The layout of your project often determines its success or failure. At Rickard Bindery, we are experts at helping in the design process. Whether it's making z-folded stitched books or the need to suction feed 12 pockets, we'll help you find a way to get your project completed.
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