Books
Custom book printing online is easy. Specialising in large volume offset runs — we have you covered. Literally.
Product Description
All Australian book printers are different, so below we’ve done our best to categorise and explain the vast world of book printing online — This includes softcover booklet printing, hardcover book printing, photo books, all our book binding services, and everything else you’ll need to know when it comes to printing your custom books.
Book Style
Softcover Books / Paperback Books
Softcover books (also called soft cover, paperback, or softback) are often the go-to choice for small book printing runs or digital book printing (often categorised as booklets). We have a tonne of information here on our Booklets page, but as large book printing runs share a decent cross-over of the same basics, here’s some info to summarise… Softcover books are often the same thickness paper all the way through, or can have a thicker cover (often with added protective lamination and the option of raised gloss or metallic inks/foils). Book (or booklet) examples that you may be familiar with in this category are magazines (Frankie, Better Homes & Gardens etc.), school/university yearbooks, fashion catalogues, photography/art portfolios, and much more. These books have an array of finishing/binding options, and are usually perfect bound, saddle stapled, or wire bound.
Hardcover Books / Case Bound Books
Hardcover books (also called hardcover, casebound, case-bound, hardback, or hardbound) are upgraded versions of their softer cousins above. Books in this category consist of a hard board that is uniquely shaped to bind around your custom printed book. You see these on coffee tables around the world and don’t even get us started on libraries… These hard covers can be covered with full vibrant CMYK colour and laminated, or perhaps you want your cover to have the appearance and texture of swede, leather, felt, or a massive array of other coloured textures. You may even want to splash out and get your title/logo stamped in gold foil or embossed, and why not add a ribbon bookmark for good measure? Whether you are a new startup business, author, artist, photographer, designer, architect, or any wide variety of companies and professions, the possibilities are endless when it comes to custom printed hardcover books from Mint Printing.
Book Binding
Perfect Bound Books / PUR Bound Books
Perfect bound books are by far our top pick when it comes to binding, they are also by far our top-seller! These books are bound with a thin, yet durable/flexible coating of glue, creating a strong bond between your internal pages and your custom cover. Your pages are wrapped with your desired cover stock and professionally machine-guillotined to leave a beautiful, square cut finish. Perfect bound books are often called PUR bound books, and even though these phrases mean nearly the same thing, PUR bound books actually refer to the type of glue used when binding. Polyurethane Reactive adhesive is our glue of choice, making the spine of your book more resistant to changing temperatures and creating a tough bond for some extra shelf life. Only a small amount of glue is needed, meaning we can achieve a striking square spine on even the thinnest of books. PUR binding is over twice the strength of regular perfect binding so we use it as a standard, though it is not always necessary or a first priority.
Perfect bound books almost exclusively have a cover that is thicker than the internal pages. This can be simply a slightly thicker paper stock to give the internal pages a bit of rigidity, or more commonly, a card stock is used with extra protective lamination. A step up from here would be to get a hardcover/case bound book, with rich full colour CMYK, or perhaps even a textured/foiled finish. An added bonus of perfect bound books is that you can print on the spine as well, making your finished items fully branded when stacked or on a shelf. You’ll see this style of book everywhere you go. From colleges and universities to bookshops and libraries, these things are popular for a reason. Most of our customers are budding entrepreneurs, experienced business owners/marketing teams, or solo artists and photographers — but with that said, there’s a want for these books across every industry. They are popular for a reason.
Saddle Stapled Books / Saddle Stitched Books
Saddle stapled books (also called saddle stitched) are usually reserved for thinner magazines or booklets, as all pieces of paper need to be stapled simultaneously at the spine. Conveniently, we have thin paper stocks readily available if your page count is on the higher end. Saddle stapled books are more common with short digital runs, but we complete orders in the tens of thousands without a hitch. You see examples of saddle stapled books everywhere — Magazines at the milk bar or news agency, informative documents at your local hospital, or gift shops around the globe. This category of book is most commonly used as marketing material for businesses or companies with a lot of products and/or services. These books stack easily in regular boxes, but depending on your chosen thickness, these can also quite easily be rolled up and fit into mailer tubes for safe freight.
Wire Bound Books / Wiro Bound Books
Wire-bound books (also called wirebound, wire bound, or spiral bound) are still as popular as ever! They consist of a metal/plastic coil being threaded or clamped through the spine of the book. Your paper pages are bound together as loose individual sheets, allowing your book to open fully on whatever surface it is on. This makes wire binding an excellent choice for notepads, photo books, recipe books, large architecture profiles, or as captivating colour portfolios for artists or photographers. Wire-bound books can be softcover, thick softback, or hardcover case bound, and they come in a variety of sizes or your own custom size!
Summary
There are many different types of book printing and binding techniques available for both long and short book printing runs. The one you land on depends on the quantity of your job, the amount of printed pages per book, the paper/card thickness, and any special cover finishing requirements you may have. We get asked all the time “How much does book printing cost?” — Mint Printing will always guide you towards the method best suited to your particular book project and give you multiple quotes back for different style or quantities. Each job is unique and every customer is different, so rest assured that we are giving you the best custom price for your particular book order.
Get in touch with us if you have a job ready to go or if you just need somebody to talk to about the infancy stages of your project. We can help you with a design from scratch or give you all the necessary instructions to pass on to your designer. If you are after something in particular and you can’t see it on this page, contact us and we can sort you out.
* Please keep in mind that not all styles and options can be combined. It’s always best to have a quick chat with us if you have any queries.
Book Printing Finishes
Some common covers finishes…
- 170-450gsm uncoated or coated
- Matte/gloss/matte-velvet lamination
- Spot UV / Raised gloss (Scodix)
- Raised metallic ink
- Embossing/debossing
- Textured hard cover case
- Foiling / edge foiling
- Ribbon bookmark
Not all styles and options can be combined.
Book Binding
A few different types of binding to get you thinking…
- Saddle stapling (saddle stitching)
- Wire/wiro binding (metal) or spiral binding (plastic)
- Perfect binding, burst binding, PUR binding
- Hardcover / case bound
Turnaround Time
Our books have varying turnaround times depending on style and quantity. Smaller/simpler orders can usually be dispatched within 7 business days. Larger orders or jobs that require a lot of extra finishing can take up to 14 working days. It’s always best to contact us first if you have a specific deadline.
FAQ
A few questions we get asked a lot when it comes to our books and booklets.