Cover and printing techniques

Cover graphics and printing play a very important role in any project as these elements give the reader a very first impression of a book. Cover images may be printed directly on the coating, usually in four-colour offset printing, but there are also many possibilities to add a special touch with lithography or letterpress printing, or by choosing a coloured paper and overprinting text and graphics using screen printing or heat printing techniques.

Binding

After printing, the book is assembled through binding. Specific papers are available for this process, their features are high abrasion, tear resistance and lightfastness, obtained using long fibre kraft pulp, in addition to anti-scratch and anti-fingermark treatments.Hardback binding involves finishing board elements (two covers and the spine) with a sheet of paper. It is also joined by many variants: these include Bodonian binding, characterised by two stiff covers and a flexible spine.

Recommended grammage
Boards: from 500 gsm to 700 gsm
Lining: from 100 gsm to 140 gsm

Photobook

Glossy coated paper is often used for photobooks because the very compact surface prevents bleeding. Thanks to its greater printability, the printing screen dots are sharper and reproduction is better. Depending on the effect to be achieved, brighter or softer, and the type of photo, it is possible to opt for a coating which is glossy or opaque or for a natural paper. In fact, some marked and natural papers are treated to preserve brightness and sharpness, such as the Stucco series and X-Per papers.

Find out more about Fedrigoni special papers:X-Per,Stucco

Find out more

Inserts

It is always possible to include pages of different formats, thanks to the use of inserts. This solution can be very effective in the case of illustrated books, when it is necessary to give dedicated space to some images that would not be fully appreciated if reproduced in the standard page size. Inserts are also used to add individual pages of different material and it is better that they are placed between one signature and the other, if possible overlapping it, or fixed with glue (tipping).