Binding Options: Choose your Style and Create Stunning Printed Pieces

Every detail counts when planning how to communicate a message. Marketing, branding, personal or social initiatives need to be on point and exactly how you’ve envisioned them. Booklets and catalogs can be even more customized with 4OVER4.COM’s Binding Options, providing a fully personalized experience designed to give you a variety of choices to make a professional impact. Pantone Matching System Color Chart, Saddle Stitch Binding, Wire-O Binding, Plastic Coil Binding and Perfect Binding make up our list of options when printing catalogs or booklets for your next campaign or fundraising event. To get a feel for the one that suits your project best, take a look at the list below:

Saddle Stitch Binding

As one of the more popular binding options available, Saddle Stitch Binding consists of a procedure by which your booklet, catalog, menu, directory or other print material is bound by stapling the pages together through the fold. This is one of the most budget friendly options and perfect for booklets that consist of anywhere from 8 pages to 64 pages. For a polished end result, we suggest using a thicker glossier paper stock for the cover. If you anticipate a greater number of pages, we suggest Wire-O or Plastic Coil binding.

Wire-O Binding

With Wire-O Binding, also known as Twin-Loop Binding or Double O Binding, the pages are hole punched along the side of the print job. A flexible wire is then inserted into the pages, and then a wire closer is used to squeeze it until it binds the pages together. Documents that are bound with wire binding will open completely flat on a desk and allow for a 360 degree rotation. Suited for inhouse presentations, books, booklets, calendars, day planners and other small readers. With Wire-O Binding, you’ll be able to craft highly functional calendars and booklets, ideal for note-taking activities, student oriented products and corporate related branded assets. Free handouts or gifts are also perfect for this kind of binding option. It’s classic, it’s effective and sturdy.

Plastic Coil Binding

An alternative to Wire-O Binding, Plastic Coil is one of the most popular binding options due to it’s relatively low cost and durable properties. The binding process is the same as that for Wire-O. It securely grips your papers together and allows for a 360 degree page rotation.
Available in different colors for full customization, Plastic Coil Binding is the perfect choice for anyone looking to mass produce school projects, presentation documents or manuals.

Perfect Binding

If you’re booklet requires a refined and polished look, we suggest Perfect Binding. This durable binding method uses hot glue adhesive that is applied to the outside edge of the pages and then married, or pressed, into the cover. After the book is printed, the top, bottom and face are trimmed. With this option, you are also able to print along the spine of your catalog. Though pricier, its professional appearance and longevity make it the best option for magazines and corporate materials that will be read again and again.

So… which one should you go for?

There are two crucial factors you should have in mind in order to make the right choice amongst these binding options. Let’s talk about them.

• Purpose: The first thing to consider is what you are planning to do with your print product. Annual catalogs and books that are over 64 pages will look professional and stunning with Perfect Binding. If you’re planning a one-time presentation or mail catalogs to your customers monthly, we suggest Saddle Stitch Binding as it’s durable and cost efficient.
• Longevity: Ask yourself if your binding choice is going to be meant for something you’re going to use once, or if your project is long-term and you’ll need a more durable binding option. Saddle Stitch and Plastic Coil are intended for short-term, while Wire-O and Perfect Binding are the best choice if your booklets will be used more frequently.

Fun Fact: What is Palm-Leaf binding?

The history of book binding dates way back to the 5th Century BCE in India and South East Asia. At that time, palm leaves were popularly used as writing materials. These were the basis for one of the earliest forms of bookbinding.
Each sheet had a hole through which a string would be inserted to bind the palm leaves together. The oldest binding of this variety in existence today is a Sanskrit Shaivism text from the 9th century discovered in Nepal. Today, it is preserved in the Cambridge University Library.

Popular products that require binding:

• Booklets
• Catalogs
• Calendars
• Wire-O Coil Calendars