Custom Book Printing

Custom Book Printing with Low Minimums

We specialize in custom book printing with low minimums starting at $250. All of our equipment is designed to help keep creatives and businesses agile by bringing boutique-level print to lower quantities.

An Unlimited Mix at Your Fingertips

Binding

We have eight different bind types to keep your brand feeling fresh and dialed in. Choose from perfect binding, hardcover binding, thread saddle sewing, thread smyth sewing, wire-o binding, screw-post binding and more.

Paper

We have over 100 different paper stocks to dial in your project. We’ve vetted each one to make sure the quality stays high. Not every paper works with different types of art so we’ll guide you on the best mix.

Ink

We have two different ink options – matte and glossy ink. Matte ink is great for a warmer, more classic and vintage feel. Glossy ink is great for strong colors and for a book that pops a bit more.

Look further down this guide to see the difference.

Embellishments

Clients that add an embellishment to the covers of their book are able to enhance the value of their book. We provide nearly all available embellishments that our industry provides:

Raised Spot Gloss
Raised Digital Foil
Traditional Foil
Emboss/Deboss
Die Cutting

We offer a plethora of binding types in house to finish your project. We offer other higher quality bindings as well with our partners. The bindings below can be produced within a quick turnaround time for your rush projects as well.

Binding Options

Perfect Binding (Softcover Binding)

Great for a coffee table finish. Not ideal for books with full spreads due to gutter.

Hardcover Binding

Great for a premium finish. We print with a full image on the cover.

Screw-post Binding

Great for a unique bind and for very large books.

Tape Binding

Great for a unique finish. We perfect bind first, then add tape at the end for a strong bind.

Wire-O Binding

Great for projects requiring a lay flat finish. Not idea for full spreads due to the gutter.

Plastic Coil Binding

Great for projects requiring heavy use and lay flat properties. Not ideal for full spreads due to gutter.

Staple Saddle Stitch Binding

Great for lower page count projects with lots of full spreads. Not ideal for heavy use or for page counts (dependent on paper thickness).

Padding Binding

Great for unique short term projects that require a lay flat finish. This is the weakest bind as we use pad glue to hold pages together.

Perfect Binding

Also known as softcover binding, this is our favorite binding method. Our PUR glue helps books lay flatter and last longer. We can do from 1-2000 books in house with confidence and we have vetted partners for larger projects.

Hardcover Binding

Our hardcover binding is great for presentations. We use a soft touch laminate for our covers for a premium feel. For larger projects we have vetted partners that can do library quality bindings and lay-flat bindings.

Screw Post Binding

Screw post binding is fantastic for projects that need a unique look. We’re able to bind books as large as 24w x 12h for books that need to make an impact.

Tape Binding

This is also a unique bind. We use the tape more for aesthetic purposes to give your project a throwback feel. We first perfect bind the books and then tape it at the end.

Wire-O Binding

Wire-O binding has a great presentation feel while keeping your book completely flat. This is also a great product for those tight deadlines as these books do not need any glue curing time.

Plastic Coil

This is very similar to Wire-O binding but we recommend this for heavy use. The plastic coil tends to be a bit more gentle and it also allows for a lay flat book.

Staple Saddle Stitch

Staple saddle stitch books are great for lower page count projects with tons of full spread images. It provides the best transitions for full spreads since there are no gutters. We have different staple colors as well like red, white, blue, black, gold, and copper.

Padding Binding

This is only for unique projects for very low use. It has a beautiful lay flat look due to the flexibility of the glue, but these books will come apart since the glue is weak. This is popular if you want to incorporate postcards and turn it into a tear off book.

Paper

Paper selection for custom book printing is a crucial step to aligning your art with your vision. The photos below is just a small sample of papers we have. Paper breaks down into two main components – the feel and the thickness.

Gloss Paper Example

Gloss paper is the most common print type for strong color and it's also the easiest to print on since it has smooth coating.

Silk Paper

Silk paper is coated but has a more matte look. It's also great for strong color since it has a nice smooth surface.

Textured Paper

Textured paper gives an irresistible tactile feel. We recommend using our matte ink on textured paper.

Pearlescent Paper

This has a "pearl" like look that provides a unique look. It's commonly used for event printing.

Kraft Paper

Kraft paper has a beautiful recycled look. We typically need to print white ink on top of this paper for the best results.

Natural White Paper

This paper is great for novels or for pieces that need a warmer, more vintage look.

The Feel of Paper

The feel and look of paper breaks down into four general categories:

Gloss – A reflective sheen. This is the most common paper type for commercial use.

Silk – A modern coated paper. It’s silky smooth and is coated, but has a low sheen.

Uncoated – There’s no visible coating on the sheet to help enhance the character of the fibers of paper. Many printers struggle printing on this type of paper but we love it on our HP Indigo press.

Specialty – A very large category that includes textured, colored, metallic, and other less common types of paper. We also love printing on specialty papers on our HP Indigo press.

The Thickness

For book interiors we typically stick to “text” weight papers. 60# text is the closest to “copy” paper we have. 100# text will give you the least amount of show through when flipping through the pages. As you increase the thickness of your book, it’ll make the book feel more “stiff”.

Ink

This adds an additional dimension to your print. We have two types to help dial in your custom book.

Matte Ink

We print matte ink with our HP Indigo. This separates us from the crowd because of its ability to print really flat ink to keep 100% focus on the art. Its also really great at diving into the texture of the paper since it’s using liquid instead of powdered toner.

Glossy Ink

This ink has a wax that provides a sheen to the ink. This is great combined with satin paper as any area where there is more ink, there will be more of a gloss effect. It completely overpowers the paper underneath it. It’s great if you want an image to “pop” more.

Inspiration

We can combine premium perfect bound books with white ink, digital die cutting, holographic foil, and everything in between to make your book stand out.