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

Binding with a soft or paperback cover is no longer considered the cheap option as unusual and special materials can also be used. The simplest is glue binding, a solution which is not particularly long-lasting unless it is executed to perfection. Thread stitching is a more resistant binding option, suitable for editions with a greater value. There are also cloth and staple options which are ideal for short-lived brochures and magazines, including a more refined version using Singer sewing. As well as the numerous binding choices available there is also the option of simply folding the publication without any binding.

Recommended grammage from 220 gsm to 360 gsm

Illustrated books

Glossy coated paper is often used for illustrated books because the very compact surface prevents bleeding. Thanks to its greater printability, the printing screen dots are sharper and reproduction is better. Laid, embossed or pearly papers with a particular texture can also be chosen. There are also marked and natural papers which are particularly suitable for printing certain types of images, since they 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

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Coloured papers

One of the most frequent uses of coloured papers is for covers and for endpapers, but it is not rare to also find them on the inside pages of books. Four-colour printing on coloured paper is complex, but can be worthwhile, as long as chromatic consistency to the original image is not required. Alternatively, printing a white ink layer first with HP Indigo or screen printing for example may prevent the colour of the substrate from interfering with the image. You can achieve very interesting effects by processing the images in a creative way. For example, by printing the negative of an image with a bright covering ink on dark paper. Coloured paper is also an excellent solution to highlight the different sections of a publication, easily drawing the reader’s attention to a specific page.

Jackets

Hardback covers are often accompanied by a jacket; originally intended to protect books (they are also known as dust jacket), they soon became a full-scale cover for sales. The simplest version is a sheet of lightweight paper “wrapped” around the book, but other unusual methods can also be used: for example, a folded poster may become a book jacket.

Recommended grammage da 110 gsm a 150 gsm

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).