YearBook Publishing And Printing

There are many different binding choices available depending on how many pages your yearbook will have. Each binding gives the reader a different type of experience. It is nice to open the yearbook and smell those freshly printed pages and that nice hard cover and hear the binding crinkle and crack when that first open happens.

Different binding styles have different costs so it will be important to choose the right one for your budget. Lay flat bindings allow you to use a bit more of the space on each page. For yearbooks that have a short page count and space needs to be utilized a lay flat binding option would work well. It would allow the copy and also photos to be brought all the way to the inside edge of each page where other binding options might stop you from getting to close to the inside with fear of cutting pf text and photos. When the yearbook is opened up the pages lay flat allowing for one continuous surface.

With tough economic times right now might be a great time to explore various binding options to keep your costs down as much as possible. traditional bindings can very expensive and generate very little results. Check out lay flat binding when you start to hunt for a new printer for your binding needs.

You have to ask yourself a few things when trying to determine what type of binding you would like to use for your year book. You have to find out how much of a budget you have set aside for binding because different binding styles will have various costs.

Here is a list of various binding styles:

Spiral Bind: This option is popular amongst student for it’s customization offerings. You can choose various different spiral binding colors . This option also allows the yearbook to open fully and not distorting any photos on any of the pages.

Perfect Bind: Perfect bind is similar to what you see on most magazines over 40 pages. This is the classic hard edged binding that gives the magazine a true backbone and rigidness.

Saddle Stitch: Saddle stitch is a good choice for cost purposes. Also if you have less than 80 pages saddle stitch has to be implemented before you can go to a perfect bind option.

Most likely you will be choosing from one of these three options. Each option carries different characteristics and costs so consult with your printer first.

The traditional yearbook is opened with a bit of trepidation. The spine creaks and then, when pressed flat so you can see your crush, whose photo is next to the fold, cracks. The original methods of binding, though effective, tend to make proper viewing of the yearbook difficult. Lay-flat binding is the newest option in yearbook binding.

With lay-flat binding, the yearbook is stitched in such a way that the pages open flat, providing you with a continuous surface on each two page spread. Not only does this prevent the spine from cracking and creasing, it also gives you more space to work with. Photos can be placed closer to the center fold, without disappearing after publishing the book.

When considering your binding options, check the availability of lay-flat binding. It will make your yearbooks easier to use and can be used as a selling point.

When you are looking at printing options, you’ll find that you can choose between having a hard cover or a soft one for the yearbook. Deciding which to go with is the difficult part. Each one has its good points as well as faults. Let’s break the two types down.

Hard Cover

• More durable than a soft cover and offers more protection.

• Offers a professional look.

• Can be used with any amount of pages.

• Comes in a variety of textures.

• Can be foil stamped for a classy touch.

• Tends to be more expensive.

Soft Cover

• Offers more options in regards to cover art.

• Is the cheaper option of the two.

• Personalization is very easy to do, it can be integrated right into the cover.

• May be limited to a certain number of pages, perfect for small schools.

• Texture is limited to glossy or matte.

• Tends to get dog-eared fairly quickly.

This list should help you decide, but you may also want to look at past editions of your school’s yearbook. If you have always had hard covers, people may complain about a switch to soft, and vice versa.