Bookbinding
Emdash Publishing Solutions offers
several kinds of in-house binding services, from standard
perfectbinding to the distinctive and archival.
Perfectbinding
Most softcover books involve loose
sheets of paper, clamped and bound together with glue or
rubberized polymers, producing a clean, square, flexible
spine. Perfectbinding is the most inexpensive binding
available at any quantity, which is part of why nearly all
books produced are perfectbound. Emdash uses only nontoxic,
long-lasting polymers — rather than glues which
produce toxic odors — to produce professional and
durable perfectbound books. Even the finest perfectbound
books have a limited life expectancy — age and
handling will wear out even the best polymer backing.
Casebinding
The majority of hardcover books
produced today in North America and in Europe are
casebound, which means that a hard cover (or case) is
attached to the leaves (pages) of the book using the same
process as perfectbinding. This results in a professional
and durable covering for books that will be handled over
and over again. Casebound books resist becoming ragged or
tattered at the corners, and because their spines flex less
during reading, generally last much longer than
perfectbound books.
Sewn Bindings
Emdash Publishing Solutions also
offers archival-quality hand stitching for small runs of
books meant to be keepsakes for generations to come. Even
before Gutenberg's printing revolution, books were produced
by gathering pages together in signatures, which were then
sewn together to produce bindings which would not fall
apart with handling. Even if removed from their covers,
sewn bindings keep books together. Our handbound books
— soft and hardcover — perform better under
constant handling than perfectbound or casebound books, but
are bound, backed, and trimmed with all the advantages the
machine age can offer for truly professional presentation,
today, tomorrow, and beyond.
