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.
Paper cover: Woodstock Grigia paper 225 gsm
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
Offset UV printing on Woodstock Bianco paper 80 gsm
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.
Suggested grammage: from 110 gsm to 150 gsm
(ZUS)
by Jérôme Saint-Loubert Bié / X Artists’ Books / Média graphic
Fedrigoni Top Award 2019 / First place
Sensitive Urban Areas, or “ZUS”, are poor districts on the outskirts of Paris defined by the authorities as areas needing policies designed to offset the emergence of social problems.The visual journey by photographer Benoît Fougeirol analyses these areas not only through images but also using graphics, models and techniques borrowed from architecture and urban planning. The author highlights the stubborn vitality and abandonment of the ZUS and raises questions about individual perspectives. The care underlying the production of this book and its socially relevant content thoroughly impressed the Jury.
(ZUS)
by Jérôme Saint-Loubert Bié / X Artists’ Books / Média graphic
First place
Sensitive Urban Areas, or “ZUS”, are poor districts on the outskirts of Paris defined by the authorities as areas needing policies designed to offset the emergence of social problems.The visual journey by photographer Benoît Fougeirol analyses these areas not only through images but also using graphics, models and techniques borrowed from architecture and urban planning. The author highlights the stubborn vitality and abandonment of the ZUS and raises questions about individual perspectives. The care underlying the production of this book and its socially relevant content thoroughly impressed the Jury.
Features
Soft cover
Printing techniques: UV-offset printing, lithography, hot foil stamping
Binding: perfect binding
Photobook
Coloured paper
Jacket
Fedrigoni papers
Further details
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All you have to do to become a true connoisseur is to try it out: buy "The Forms of Paper" on-line: the kit includes a Guide to selecting and using paper in graphic design accompanied by Fedrigoni swatch books with samples of paper in different weights and colours.