Post-press & Bindery Common Questions
Q: What is thickest perfect bound book you can bind?
A: Our Muller Martini perfect binder can bind books with spine sizes anywhere in the range of one-eighth to one and eleven-sixteenths of an inch. The dimension of your spine can be computed from the caliper or thickness of the paper you are using and the number of leaves or sheets in your book.

Q: What is the maximum number of pages recommended for a saddle
stitched book?
A: The maximum page count for saddle-stitched books is 72 pages. For larger documents, we advise you to transition to perfect, Wire-O, or plastic coil binding. As the number of leaves in a saddle-stitched book increases, the inner leaves are pushed toward the face by the accumulating thickness at the saddle, and the page image shifts correspondingly toward the face. While imposition programs can adjust somewhat for this effect called "creep," the margins of the inner leaves become smaller, and beyond a certain point the visual effect becomes unacceptable.

Q: Which binding is the least expensive – perfect, Wire-O, or plastic
coil?
A: In run lengths up to 500, the differential in cost of these bindings is negligible. As run lengths increase, perfect binding becomes the least expensive option because the material costs of Wire-O and plastic coil are inherently higher. Of the three, plastic coil at higher run lengths is the most expensive, not only because of material costs, but because of the hand labor involved in installing it.

Q: What can I do to eliminate cracking along the folds of my brochure?
A: Grain direction of the paper and proper scoring are keys to minimizing the tendency of paper to crack when folded. Our house sheets have been carefully selected, not only for superior printability, but also for their scoring and folding characteristics.

Q: How can I be sure my full-bleed, solid black presentation folders won’t scuff in transit?
A: The correct coating will greatly retard scuffing. We use a high-rub aqueous coating for most applications. In cases where aqueous is used in conjunction with spot varnishes for special effects, we can individually shrink wrap or slip sheet with a superior soft tissue paper to ensure against scuffing. UV coating and lamination are other alternatives when scuffing or marring is an issue.

Q: If I print a large quantity and don't want it all shipped at once, can you store it for me?
A: We operate a variety of long-range shipping options for our customers, from warehousing for simple incremental deliveries, to full-scale, just-in-time, and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) programs.

Q: Can you ship my job to multiple destinations for me?
A: In addition to our fleet of delivery trucks, which make daily pickups and deliveries throughout Silicon Valley at no additional charge, we can arrange shipping of your job anywhere in the world through any of the standard common carriers. We have daily scheduled pickups from both Federal Express and United Parcel Service (UPS).

Q: My project includes an oversize sheet that requires folding. Will you be able to handle it?
A: Our MBO folder can fold sheets up to 28 by 40 inches.

Q: My project includes an oversize sheet that requires perfing and scoring. Will you be able to handle it?
A: Our Rosback scoring and perforating machine can take sheets up to 29 inches wide.