Finishing, Binding, and Packaging
Finishing, Binding, and Packaging turns printed sheets into usable products.
What the exam tests
Questions cover cutting and folding, surface decoration, binding methods and packaging construction.
Core rules
- Guillotine cutting uses a back gauge and clamp; a trim is referenced from a straight edge. Folding must run parallel to paper grain; folding across grain cracks coating and causes poor creases.
- Creasing weakens board before folding; scoring does the same on light stock. Die-cutting uses a steel rule die; the cutting rule severs and the creasing rule indents.
- Surface finishes: varnish (overall or spot), lamination, UV coating, foil stamping and embossing. Foil transfers under heat and pressure; embossing raises the surface with a male/female die.
- Binding: saddle stitch inserts wire through the fold - page count must be a multiple of four. Perfect binding glues a trimmed spine and suits thick books. Case binding sews or glues text blocks into a hard cover. Spiral and comb bindings open flat.
- Saddle-stitch creep (shingling) makes inner pages shift outward; trim allowance must account for it.
- Packaging uses a dieline; corrugated board is graded by flute (A, B, C, E, F); E-flute is fine and good for retail boxes.
Worked example
A 64-page saddle-stitched booklet is planned. Each 16-page signature is four sheets, so 64 pages = four signatures. For saddle stitch all sections are nested on the saddle; the spine fold carries two wires. If the job were perfect bound instead, the same 64 pages would be gathered in order, the spine milled and glued, and a cover wrapped. Reasoning: binding choice changes imposition, spine allowance and trim, so it must be decided before prepress.
Traps
Folding against grain; forgetting creep; using saddle stitch for a 200-page book; assuming a dieline is optional artwork; applying foil without accounting for the die and makeready.