Books (Hardcover)

Hardcover binding is commonly used for more durable and prestigious editions such as cookbooks, textbooks, art books, photo albums, encyclopedias, monographs, etc.

In this type of binding, the cover is made from hard chipboard, which offers better protection for the interior pages compared to soft covers, ensuring long-term use. The spine of the book is flexible, allowing the book to fully open without compromising the strength of the spine or causing pages to fall out.

Hard Italian binding is one of the most demanding bookbinding techniques. The process involves multiple technological operations, which consequently extends the production time and increases the cost of the product.

Essentially, a hardbound book consists of the cover and the book block, which is sewn with thread or string and then glued with gauze on the spine. The basic material for the cover is 2.5 mm thick chipboard, onto which we glue or laminate printed cover material (coated 170 g/m2 paper), which is one-sided laminated with a protective film of your choice.

Unlike softcover binding, where the book block is glued into the cover along the spine, in hard binding the book block is glued into the cover using an endpaper (at the front and back), allowing for flawless opening of the book. The endpapers can be printed on one or both sides, and by agreement, we can also use colored papers instead of white uncoated paper.

Hard binding is suitable for publications ranging from 24 to approximately 800 pages, with the spine of the book block not exceeding a thickness of 50 mm. The number of pages for printing a book must always be divisible by 4 (60, 64, 68, 72 pages...).

The spine of the book can be flat or round. A minimum book block thickness of 10 mm is required for creating a rounded spine. An option is also available for selecting a headband (minimum book block thickness of 4 mm, or approximately 80 pages), a ribbon marker, and vacuum-sealing of books.

Once the book is designed, the next step is printing. Of course, it is necessary to determine the type of paper for the book block. Here, you can choose from standard coated or uncoated papers, and for those who are committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility, 100% recycled paper is available. For those interested in printing on special creative papers, please refer to the Books-Creative section.

Unlike softcover brochures, in the case of books, the cover is made of 2.5 mm thick chipboard, which is laminated with cover material. We use coated 150 g/m2 paper for the cover material, which is protected with a lamination film available in matte, gloss, or premium soft-touch or anti-scratch finishes. The latter is especially suitable for lamination of covers printed with darker colors.

We would also like to highlight the option of enhancing the cover. You can choose to print with a transparent relief varnish (3D UV Spot) or metallic foil printing. Gold and silver foils have long been symbols of prestige, luxury, and elegance, and the shine and shimmering effect of the foil on the cover definitely adds a special charm and exclusivity to the book.

Until now, the use of these foils in printing was often limited to more expensive and traditional printing processes, but digital printing now offers the ability to print with metallic foils in a more accessible and flexible way.