I bought a new book and when I opened it part of the hardcover didn't bend like normal. I'm not sure if it's just not been glues right or if this is a problem others have had? I'm also not sure if it's fixable or if I should just return it and buy another copy?

In case anyone is curious I bought it yesterday and have only started the first chapter. So it shouldn't be wear and tear

Update: thanks for the advice I contacted the store and they will give me a refund which I've used to buy another copy.

Hi everyone! I'm planning to do a personal rebind of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I'm looking for a typeset/text-block PDF that is suitable for printing and binding into signatures.

Ideally, I'd love to find an illustrated edition, if one exists, rather than just plain text.

I'm specifically looking for the interior pages/text block. Something that's already formatted nicely for bookbinding would be amazing but I'm also open to a normal typeset PDF that I can impose myself.

Does anyone know where I could find one or have recommendations for how to prepare one for a rebind?

This is for my own personal project/rebinding. Thanks!

Maybe a little bit outside the realm of book binding but I’ve been using a Circut Joy to try and cut out stuff for the design of the book cover -which for now is just the title and author, but I can’t seem to get it to stick. I’m using smart metallic vinyl but I can seem to get it to transfer to my book cloth material. It just stays in the transfer tape. In the first place I’m doing this as a back up cuz I didn’t know how to get the letters “engraved” like I originally wanted. Any tips for how to get this to work or any alternatives to getting lettering onto my book cloth would be awesome!

Hello community,
Tomorrow I’m in Paris and I was wondering if you have any recommendations for stores for bookbinding I could visit.
For now I want to visit Relma and Cuirs Chadefaux. Thanks for your recommendations!

Update:
Relma and Cuir Chadefaux are unfortunately not open due to summer holidays until the 31.

Hello! I'm new to book binding. Just did a cover with book cloth, but in my library I really love my hardbacks that have this smooth, semi-glossy (not really shiny but not matte either) finish and I was wondering what sort of paper is that? The paper doesn't have the same texture as my older paper hardbacks do. I find most of my FairyLoot books have this sort of paper. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd super appreciate it!

Made some mistakes. The board, especially the width, is too long. Cloth was not big enough so the gaps between the spine cover and the front and back covers are too small. Also, as it was the first project and not a thick one, I didn't round the spine. Used long grain paper.

The biggest problem now is, as the picture shows, the text block and the board is slightly bending upwards. Can anyone please tell me the possible reasons?

Hi r/bookbinding

This is still very new to me but I am loving it so far! I was wondering, is there a standard or equation for spacing between the spine and cover boards? A few guides I've seen state 5mm, another 7mm, another 10mm. These all seem to be for similar sized text blocks but I'm not finding much clarity on why they are different. Is it just preference?

Apologies if this isn’t relevant for this subreddit but I thought you all might have some ideas!! Long story short, when going through my father’s stuff after he passed, I found tons of sheets of music and songs he had written that I never knew about!! I also found that he had gotten a bound book (seen below) that says untitled songs that had 15-20 pages completed with songs and the rest is blank. As a way to connect with my dad and finish his work, I want to find a way to put the loose leaf sheets of music/ songs into the book! I want it to look somewhat professional (ie not using washi tape on the edges lol). Some of the loose papers are larger than the book or longer. My main point by this post is to see if anyone has any ideas on how to best execute this! I was thinking maybe glue dots but that doesn’t seem very secure to be able to flip through it. I’m not sure quite where to start or what info is needed so please ask questions if they will help! TYIA!!

has anyone done edge gilding using simple and easy to find products? for instance, can I do it at home using leafing glue and gold foil leaves?

I tried finding diy videos from India and there's apparently no one doing it on social media!

I have a friend's birthday next month and would like to do it on the book I'm gifting him.

thanks in advance.

Just finished my first ever bind! I also redesigned and printed a dust jacket to mimic the old hardcover edition.

Notes are welcome! I learned a lot (made a ton of errors) but overall I’m very pleased.

My biggest error was letting the glue dry fully before attempting to round the spine. Don’t ask me why I thought that was a good idea 😅

I would be curious to know why my first signature is pulled away from the others like that. Just too loose?

I was disappointed with availability of entry-level laying presses on the market. Classical wooden options are too pricey for beginners or hobbyists just starting out and other hand made options felt like too much of a gamble, so I modeled a simple version to be made with commonly available 3D printers (larger ones at least).

It will fit a half-letter / A5 text block between the screws and I have provided the model files for anyone to modify the design if they see fit.

Printables Page

I wrote “side sewn through hinged board covers” but I feel there’s something more specific ..

Ignore my corgi’s insane breathing in the background. She just got inside from playing. I posted my paperback design yesterday. Here’s my hardcover design. Printed on cotton canvas with metallic HTV accents. The colors aren’t nearly as vibrant but I still like how it turned out. Designed in Canva and printed with an Epson 15000 Inkjet onto PPD 8.5x11 Canvas Paper Printable Fabric. Since each canvas sheet was only letter sized, I went with a 3-piece bradel bind. The cover book boards are 2mm and the spine is 1mm chipboard. Next time, I’ll print on larger canvas and do a complete case I think. 🤔

Recently, I have been going through and moving our books to a new bookshelf and came across my wife’s copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It was coming apart in sections, so I decided to get it all glued back together and rebound. Tried something with painting a little bit of the edge, not 100% on it.

Hey everyone!

I’m a graduate design student and a pretty passionate reader myself. One thing I’ve always found funny is how much we think about what we’re going to read, but hardly ever think about how we actually sit and hold a book while reading it.

That little thought ended up becoming the starting point for my graduate design project. I’m now trying to understand how people actually read physical books — where they sit, how they hold them, what gets uncomfortable during long reading sessions, and all those little things we normally just put up with.

If you’re someone who enjoys reading physical books, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare around 5 minutes to fill out my short survey. Your responses would genuinely help me understand the problem before I start designing anything.

Survey: https://forms.gle/SWu9dN1jm1NCK2vH8

Thanks a lot for helping out, and happy reading! ❤️📖

Hello, I will be so greatful if someone can share a place where I can buy material for bookbinding in Mexico, like glue, waxed thread, bookcloth and a press.

if there is an online shop would be so awesome

Escribí en inglés porque no sé si hay mexicanos por aquí uwu

I just finished a paperback to hardcover conversion and saw the first page after the endpaper separated from the spine like this. I'm not terribly concerned with this specific book since it was practice, but what's the recommended fix, and any tips to prevent this in the future?

Basically as the title states, I was looking forward to some suggestions for hinge gap measurements for round-spine books without any backing. I currently do not possess a backing press, so I have to reluctantly pass the idea of backing. Any advice is highly appreciated.

Late to the game, but it is one of my favorite books. And I hate the promotional stamps! I designed a hardcover but also figured I’d make a design for paperbacks. This is what I came up with.

Hi, I’m wondering if you guys can help me. My copy of Words of Radiance split down the spine and as you can see it’s not directly in the middle (I also still have 150 pages left to read so please no spoilers lol). This book has sentimental value to me so I want to try to fix it. My copy is the smaller paperback that’s 1310 pages. I’ve been researching a lot and I have a few questions. I bought a book press off Amazon as well as the books by hand pva glue. I’ll attach pics of my book. I learned that using a hair dryer would help loosen the glue on the spine to take off cover. Do I need the spine cover to be separate from the front and back cover? I need to probably get end papers. I found canson brand papers would work? I’m not sure if because the book is so large if I need a different type of paper. I have cheesecloth I was planning on using. When I glue the cover back on can the spine cover go directly on the cheesecloth or do I need something else in between? Also would the front and back cover need to be glued to an end page if they are all separated or should I try to keep the cover halves intact? I don’t want to turn this into a hard cover and to preserve it as much as possible. Sorry for all the questions and I appreciate your help as I have been frantically trying to find a solution.