National government statistics show that sales in the book binding industry are slowly declining. People are no longer turning to book binders for their needs. This is because there are more options available that are efficient and cost effective. When someone wants a book binding, they want it to be perfect for their needs. There are many different elements involved in book binding that must be considered.

The first part is the printing of the book. Many people choose digital book printing as it is a cheap and effective way of getting books printed very quickly. Digital printing is of a very high quality and can be done in a short run of books or en masse for longer runs of print. Most books will be duplex printed; printed on both sides. Although many books are in black and white, colour duplex printing is also available if a book has illustrations or is colour coded.

Another thing that must be considered when binding a book is what kind of binding will be used on the spine. One type of binding that is used is called perfect binding. A perfect binder is what is used on the hardback and paperback books that are sold in shops. This is where the pages of the book are aligned and then glued together into a block of pages. This stack of papers is then attached to the cover of the book, which can be made from a variety of materials such as paper, cardboard, material or even leather. This protects the book and will give it a professional look as it is perfect bound. Another method of binding a book is by saddle stitching. This is where the pages of the book are sewn together down the spine. Although stitching a book means there is no hard cover, the method itself is just as durable as perfect binding. Saddle stitching is often used on smaller publication such as magazines or informational leaflets.

Some people may be looking to have a book rebound and personalised as a special gift for someone. For example, if someone’s favourite book has received years of wear and tear and the cover is falling off, it can be a wonderful gift to have it rebound and with a personalised message in the front. The book could have a new, durable cover added and be restored.

Although statistics show that sales of book binding are falling it is still a thriving art that many people use every day, whether it be to make a document look more professional or as a gift to someone special.

It is common knowledge that presentation skills are vital if you want to succeed in any career path. When people think of presentation skills, they tend to think of public speaking. Presentation skills is even defined as the ‘art of getting the attention of the audience and enthralling them with ideas or performance’ However, any employer will tell you that presentation skills are not just limited to giving presentations in public. Presentation includes how an employee looks at work, if the content of their work is laid out formally and how they present important business documents such as portfolios or new business ideas. If an employee really wanted to prove they have excellent presentation skills, there a number of things they could do to improve how a document looks.

One of the most simple methods is by laminating important documents that will be used again and again, for example, a flow chart of the structure of the business or important health and safety instructions such as fire escape routes. These documents will rarely need to be changed but will be looked at by many people each day. Laminating the document will make sure it lasts longer and doesn’t get damaged easily.

On a longer document, it is important that the sections within the document stay in the right order and are easy to look through. This may be especially important for financial documents showing potential forecasts or for a document outlining a new business idea. Instead of stapling the different sections together and keeping them in a folder, an employee could use wire binding to keep the document together. Wire binding is sturdy and will ensure that all of the sheets of paper remain in the right order. A huge benefit of wire binding is that the papers are still easy to flick through so people can find the section they need easily, especially if there is a detailed contents page at the start of the document.

If an employee has produced a long, wire bound document, they should also think about putting a professional looking cover on the document to make sure it grabs the attention of anyone who sees it. They could use embossed text on the cover to give it a 3D effect and give it a nicer feel. They may also consider putting a UV varnish on the first page so it withstands spills and wear and tear. This varnish will also make the document look more formal and make people want to pay attention to it as has a more authoritative look.

When an important document has lots of sheets and lots of different sections, it is important that they are kept together in the same order. The document may have a contents page at the front stating where everything is so it is vital that the sheets stay in the right order to allow them to be found easily. This is particularly important with documents such as health and safety manuals or instruction guidelines as employees of a business may have to find this sort of information quickly in an emergency. Wire binding is a relatively new process, despite people all over the world using different methods to keep paper together for centuries. Wire binding is a cost effective way of keeping documents securely bound together.

When a document goes through a wire binding machine the first thing that happens is that a hole is punched through all of the sheets. These holes must be directly in line with one another or else the papers will not fit together perfectly and the document will not look professional. The holes will be aligned and then a curved wire spine is put into the machine. This wire spine is threaded through the holes and then, when all the paper is on the spine and aligned, the wire is closed down to make a full circle. This ensures that the paper cannot come off of the spine and will remain in the right place. This is sometimes known as spiral binding and the wire is available in a number of lengths and colours so the owner of the document can choose which one they think will be most suitable for their use. Some people choose to use a double loop, also known as Wiro binding, but this is for visual affect.

Another type of binding is comb binding. This is where round plastic spines are used to hold the pages of a document together very tightly. Comb binding does not allow for the same ease of movement that wire binding does but is a very effective way of holding sheets of paper together and protecting the spine.

Wire binders are most often used in notebooks and flip pads, either down the side or on the top of the sheets of paper. However, wire binding can be used in a variety of circumstances. It makes a long document look more professional than if the pages were just stapled together and is much more sturdy than just stapling. Adding a durable cover to a wire bound document will make it even more safe and look more impressive.