Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to
bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print & bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way
to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of
the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun could
work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

On 3/31/2012 10:32 AM, Martin C. wrote:
Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to
bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print& bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print& bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way
to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of
the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue& glue gun could
work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools& materials?

Hide glue, string, gauze, coupla flat boards, coupla clamps, file. Jog
the paper so edges are even. Clamp w/boards up thisclose to back edge.
File across back of book several slots, 'bout an inch apart. Lay some
strong string across the cuts so they embed, glued. Paint spine with
glue and lay down some gauze or fine cotton with some to spare to hold
on the binding. That's all I can remember....google it and you'll find
plenty of info. Really not technically difficult. If you aren't going
to use the book much, you might get by with painting the spine with
rubber cement.

The book store known as Grandin Press used to do this kind of thing. Back
about 1920, E. B. Grandin (who as, and is not Mormon) was hired to print the
first copies of the Book of Mormon. This is now a church historic site,
owned by the Mormons. They have much of the old equipment, and know a bit
about the early techniques. You may be able to find some of this information
on the net. Hope this is of some help.

http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/eng...andin-building
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_o...blication_Site

I've visited the historic site, and taken the tour. Happy to answer any
questions you have. If I don't know, I'll go ask the Mormons at the site.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Martin C." wrote in message
...
Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to
bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print & bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way
to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of
the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun could
work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

Book binding dosen't use home repair tools or materials much. I use PVA
glue bought at Walmart in the craft section and called tacky glue. Wood
glue dries too hard and brittle. I rough up the back of the pages and add
glue. I rub the glue in using some sort of scraper trying to penetrate
between the pages a little. I add a strip of fabric netting also bought at
Walmart. I believe a hot glue gun might work for this as well but I have
never tried it. Sometimes I make the cover out of thin plywood that gets
cut to size on my table saw. Mostly I use cardboard for this though. I
glue the fabric on the cover using a paste made from flour. A book press is
probably essential. I did make my own press in my shop. Binding a book
takes some time and practice. Binding your own is slow but material costs
are low. I will say I spent the $100 for a machine and I buy the ready made
covers and stick them in the machine to heat and glue the pages in. Quick
and easy and fast however every book on the shelf looks the same. I only
bind my own when it is special. My bookbinding is to assist my girlfriend
who likes to take pictures. I also make her frames. I do put my shop
machine manuals in book covers.


"Martin C." wrote in message
...
Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to
bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print & bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way
to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of
the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun could
work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

"Pat" wrote in
ompany:

Book binding dosen't use home repair tools or materials much. I use
PVA glue bought at Walmart in the craft section and called tacky glue.
Wood glue dries too hard and brittle. I rough up the back of the
pages and add glue. I rub the glue in using some sort of scraper
trying to penetrate between the pages a little. I add a strip of
fabric netting also bought at Walmart.


You can also use cheesecloth, commonly available in cooking-supply stores.

The key is to use glue that remains flexible when cured.

Way, way back, we used to make notepads by the hundreds by hand. What we'd
do is stack the pages and backing cards against an L-shaped "hod", spine
outwards. Then, using an ordinary paintbrush, we'd paint the glue onto the
spines fairly thickly, just like painting a wall.

We'd let them dry, then break/slice the notepads apart.

If the pads were to have more of a permanent binding, we'd press
cheesecloth into the glue, then apply another layer of glue on top of that.

I wish I could remember what the glue was. It was water-based, is all I
remember.





I believe a hot glue gun might
work for this as well but I have never tried it.



Probably won't work too well. Hot-melt tends to be difficult to distribute
neatly.




--
Tegger

On Mar 31, 7:32*am, "Martin C."
wrote:
Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to
bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
*http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print & bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way
to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of
the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun could
work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

I watched an Engineer take his 200+ page printout of 8.5 x 11 manual,
grab it, stack it, bang it flat along the spine. He then took a little
dremel drill and drilled odd number of holes down through stack very
close to the spine edge. He then took cotton string and threaded it
through the holes, going first down then up twice so that the string
went through each hole twice and made a uniform line of string along
the spine. Then he squirted glue down through the holes. He took a
green hanging folder, cut it to size, and wrapped it around the spine
to cover the stack, gluing the green cover to the spine stack. He
then printed out two labels [one for cover and one for edge of spine],
completely describing the contents, stuck it on the outside and placed
the finished titled bound book on his bookshelf, where it sat next to
some 30+ others he had previously done. All bound and complete about
as fast as you reading this paragraph!

Uh, the glue was NOT one that dries brittle, but stays rubbery, like
that glue used in shoe repair.

Tegger wrote in
:



You can also use cheesecloth, commonly available in cooking-supply
stores.



And grocery stores.



I wish I could remember what the glue was. It was water-based, is all
I remember.



I remember that it looked like ordinary white-glue, like Elmer's school
glue, except that it did't get hard.




--
Tegger

I remember that it looked like ordinary white-glue, like Elmer's school
glue, except that it did't get hard.




Google padding cement. The glue for making pads is different then the glue
used for books.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:50:13 -0400, Norminn wrote:
If you aren't going to use the book much,
you might get by with painting the spine with rubber cement.

That approach seems totally reasonable:
a) 250 sheets of 8.5x11 paper (500 printed pages) is about 1 inch thick.
b) I could clamp a board on top and bottom to keep the paper tight
c) And then, if it works, just brush on the hide glue!

Jog the paper so edges are even.

But ... I don't understand what 'jog' means in this context.
Won't the paper be even by virtue of the fact they're all the same size?

File across back of book several slots
Lay string across the cuts so they embed, glued.

Excellent technique! Cheap. Easy. Effective!

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:08:10 -0700, Pat wrote:

I use PVA glue bought at Walmart in the craft section

Looks like polyvinyl acetates are the rubbery ingredient of normal white
glue, of which I have plenty.

I rough up the back of the pages and add glue.

Good idea to sandpaper the edge after clamping.

rub the glue in using some sort of scraper
trying to penetrate between the pages a little.

Another good technique suggestion!

I add a strip of fabric netting also bought at Walmart.

Ah. Spare fabric seems even better than string for strength.

A book press is probably essential.

I had never heard of a 'book press'; so googling, I find it's this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookbinding

It looks like a two-step operation in that article:
1. Glue the "text block" (i.e., glue the printed pages)
2. Glue the cover onto that spine

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:21:48 +0000, Tegger wrote:
You can also use cheesecloth

This is a great idea, because it's both thin and very cheap,
yet still forms a net matrix for holding the glued text block together!

The key is to use glue that remains flexible when cured.
I wish I could remember what the glue was.
It was water-based, is all I remember.

I'll go to Home Depot or Lowes to see what glue they have that I can
apply to the cheesecloth.

How about a 3 hole punch and a 3 ring binder.

"Martin C." wrote in message
...
Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to
bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print & bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way
to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of
the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun could
work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:00:22 -0400, Cliff Hartle wrote:
How about a 3 hole punch and a 3 ring binder.

Actually, that's a good idea for 8.5x11 paper; but, for some reason, I'm
leaning now toward something around a half-sheet in width. Of course,
that adds the problem of printing (fineprint?) and slicing.

And, of course, the book press:
1. Tutorial: How to build a book press
theragbox.com/2010/tutorial-how-to-build-a-book-press

2. How to make a book press at home:
instructables.com/id/Book-Press

3. Plans to to build a book press:
tjbookarts.com/documents/simplebookpress.pdf

etc.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:48:44 +0000, Martin C. wrote:
And, of course, the book press:
1. Tutorial: How to build a book press
theragbox.com/2010/tutorial-how-to-build-a-book-press

2. How to make a book press at home:
instructables.com/id/Book-Press

3. Plans to to build a book press:
tjbookarts.com/documents/simplebookpress.pdf

This seems the simplest book press of all:
media.knet.ca/node/6657

Martin C. wrote:
Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly
to bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50
http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/529/

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on
the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print &
bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page)
are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap
way to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm
of the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun
could work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

Presumably you're looking to "perfect bind" a book, much like the way
paperbacks are put together.

But be careful. I recall a vignette from the novel "Cyberbook" by Ben Bova.

--- begin paraphrased quote
The new efficiency expert hired by Web Press found that the company could
save fifty cents per hundredweight on the glue used in perfect bindings by
switching to a glue normally used to attach horseshoes.

Regrettably, the new glue disintegrated at temperatures above one hundred
and ten (such as found in the back of a UPS truck). But this was not the bad
part.

The fumes from the disintegrated glue cause those in the bookstore's
receiving department, upon opening the box, to rip off their clothes and run
about the store crying "French people are burning me with cigarettes!"
--- end quote

Believe me, you don't want hippies from the receiving department running
about naked.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:05:45 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

Presumably you're looking to "perfect bind" a book, much like the way
paperbacks are put together.

Yes.

I'm finding more and more that many people have home-made book-binding
presses described on the net.

For example, here's another really simple one:
persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding-
your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast

Now that the printing & binding are close to being solved, that opens the
question of being able to print half-sized books (i.e., half of an 8.5x11
sheet of paper).

What's the best (cheapest straightest) way to cut 250 sheets of printed
paper in my garage so that the resulting book is around 8.5 inches tall
by about 5.5 inches wide?

I have a 'normal' paper cutter (but I can never get more than about 10
pages cut without skewing the deck).

How do you cut paper in the garage without skewing the deck?

"Pat" wrote in
:




I remember that it looked like ordinary white-glue, like Elmer's
school glue, except that it did't get hard.




Google padding cement.



I just did. That's the stuff!



The glue for making pads is different then the
glue used for books.



The "padding cement" search also brought up hits for book-binding adhesive.
It may be that we used book-binding adhesive when we used the cheesecloth,
but it's been about 25-years since then, and I don't remember anymore.



--
Tegger

Interestingly, while googling for "fedex kinkos", a targeted ad clued me
into a local www.aimmailcenters.com/PrintingServices company that I
hadn't known about prior.

a) They are less than half the price of FedEx Kinkos for printing.
b) Plus they're free for cutting (while Kinkos is $1.50 per cut per half
inch of paper).
c) Unfortunately, just like Kinkos, AIM doesn't offer the "perfect
binding" method either; so binding will still be on my own at home.

By those new numbers, a 200-page 8.5" tall by 5.5" wide paperback book
cost about $2.00 to create at home; about $5.50 at AIM; and about $13.00
at Kinkos.

Home:
- 200 book pages / 4 book pages per sheet = 50 sheets of paper
- Paper = 1¢ per sheet
- Toner = 1¢ per side = 2¢ per sheet
- Cutting = free
- Binding = almost free (about 50¢ in Gorilla Glue, cheesecloth, & NRE)
- Total = 50 sheets * 3¢/sheet + 50¢ binding = $2.00

AIM Mail Centers:
- 200 book pages / 2 printings per sheet = 100 printed sides
- Printing = 5¢ per printed side * 100 sides = $5.00
- Cutting = free
- Binding = almost free (about 50¢ in Gorilla Glue, cheesecloth, & NRE)
- Total = $5.00 for printing + $0 for cutting + $.50 for binding = $5.50

FedEx Kinkos:
- 200 book pages / 2 printings per sheet = 100 printed sides
- Printing = 11¢ per printed side * 100 sides = $11.00
- Cutting = $1.50 per cut per half inch of paper (about 125 sheets)
- Binding = almost free (about 50¢ in Gorilla Glue, cheesecloth, & NRE)
- Total = $11.00 for printing + $1.50 for cutting + $0.50 for binding = $
$13.00

At these prices, it might be worth the extra few bucks to have all the
books done at AIM (forget Kinkos).

Do you know of other relatively unknown printing centers?

Now that the printing & binding are close to being solved, that opens the
question of being able to print half-sized books (i.e., half of an 8.5x11
sheet of paper).

What's the best (cheapest straightest) way to cut 250 sheets of printed
paper in my garage so that the resulting book is around 8.5 inches tall
by about 5.5 inches wide?

I have a 'normal' paper cutter (but I can never get more than about 10
pages cut without skewing the deck).

How do you cut paper in the garage without skewing the deck?


You really should print it half sheet on normal 8.5 by 11 and print in
booklet mode 4 sheets at a time. You can then fold and stitch the book
together.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:27:07 -0400, Cliff Hartle wrote:

You really should print it half sheet on normal 8.5 by 11 and print in
booklet mode 4 sheets at a time. You can then fold and stitch the book
together.

Now that we have printing costs and home-built binding machines figured
out ... I'm working on the problem of figuring out what printer driver to
use for the printing imposition task!

I think you're describing BOOKLET IMPOSITION where we print the book, two
pages to a side of standard US "letter" paper, double sided (for a total
of four pages to a sheet of paper) - and - then we fold the paper in half
lengthwise and then staple lengthwise in the middle - to form a booklet.
(i.e., no cutting is involved).

For example, using the Windows Fineprint printer driver, I've printed
many 100-page PDFs into handy 25-sheet booklets where the printer driver
does imposition such that both sides of the first page of the folded
booklet are printed along with both sides of the last page on the same
sheet of folded paper. When all pages are folded & stapled, you end up
with a nice thin 25-sheet booklet of your 100 pages.

But, I'm starting with much larger PDF documents so booklet imposition
won't work. I need book imposition (where the paper is cut in half &
bound in two stacks).

I think book imposition is where the first and middle pages are printed
on one side of the first sheet of paper, and on the other side of that
sheet of paper is printed the second and middle+1 pages.

That way, when the stack of paper is cut in half, we just over lay the
first stack of paper on top of the second stack to create the book.

I "think" the Windows FinePrint printer driver does both booklet
imposition and book imposition; but I'm on Ubuntu and the fp & fprint
utilities don't seem to do the same printing imposition (AFAICT).

Q: Anyone know how to do book imposition printing of a PDF on Linux?

"Martin C." wrote in message
...
On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:27:07 -0400, Cliff Hartle wrote:

You really should print it half sheet on normal 8.5 by 11 and print in
booklet mode 4 sheets at a time. You can then fold and stitch the book
together.

Now that we have printing costs and home-built binding machines figured
out ... I'm working on the problem of figuring out what printer driver to
use for the printing imposition task!

I think you're describing BOOKLET IMPOSITION where we print the book, two
pages to a side of standard US "letter" paper, double sided (for a total
of four pages to a sheet of paper) -

Yes but you print only 4 sheets at a time and then stack up the books like
the b side of this.

http://ljplus.ru/img/_/t/_transparencies/4-02.jpg

I'll try to find a better demostration

Martin C. wrote:
On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:05:45 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

Presumably you're looking to "perfect bind" a book, much like the way
paperbacks are put together.

Yes.

I'm finding more and more that many people have home-made book-binding
presses described on the net.

For example, here's another really simple one:
persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding-
your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast

Now that the printing & binding are close to being solved, that opens
the question of being able to print half-sized books (i.e., half of
an 8.5x11 sheet of paper).

What's the best (cheapest straightest) way to cut 250 sheets of
printed paper in my garage so that the resulting book is around 8.5
inches tall by about 5.5 inches wide?

I have a 'normal' paper cutter (but I can never get more than about 10
pages cut without skewing the deck).

How do you cut paper in the garage without skewing the deck?

1. Buy a paper cutter. I have a table-top unit that can cut about 250 sheets
at once. They can be had in the $200 range. Here's one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-I...em3f0ecf c82e

2. Take your stacked sheets to a print shop and ask them to cut the paper.
They should charge you a nuisance charge of, maybe, $3.00.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:08:33 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

2. Take your stacked sheets to a print shop and ask them to cut the
paper. They should charge you a nuisance charge of, maybe, $3.00.

I agree. Cutting isn't the hard part.

FedEx Kinkos charges $1.50 per cut per stack (where they define a stack
of about 1/2 inch, which is about 125 sheets of paper which is about 500
pages printed four to a sheet of paper double sided).

I think you're describing BOOKLET IMPOSITION where we print the book, two
pages to a side of standard US "letter" paper, double sided (for a total
of four pages to a sheet of paper) - and - then we fold the paper in half
lengthwise and then staple lengthwise in the middle - to form a booklet.
(i.e., no cutting is involved).

For example, using the Windows Fineprint printer driver, I've printed
many 100-page PDFs into handy 25-sheet booklets where the printer driver
does imposition such that both sides of the first page of the folded
booklet are printed along with both sides of the last page on the same
sheet of folded paper. When all pages are folded & stapled, you end up
with a nice thin 25-sheet booklet of your 100 pages.

But, I'm starting with much larger PDF documents so booklet imposition
won't work. I need book imposition (where the paper is cut in half &
bound in two stacks).

I think book imposition is where the first and middle pages are printed
on one side of the first sheet of paper, and on the other side of that
sheet of paper is printed the second and middle+1 pages.

That way, when the stack of paper is cut in half, we just over lay the
first stack of paper on top of the second stack to create the book.

I "think" the Windows FinePrint printer driver does both booklet
imposition and book imposition; but I'm on Ubuntu and the fp & fprint
utilities don't seem to do the same printing imposition (AFAICT).

Q: Anyone know how to do book imposition printing of a PDF on Linux?

I don't think it is the driver on the printer but the software you use to
print the book. For instance I use Adobe Indesign to print my books on
Windows. For perfect binding you also need to be able to print the heavier
bigger paper used for the cover preferably in color. Lulu.com publishes
books. They will make one 100 page paper back for $7 or so.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:37:00 +0000 (UTC), "Martin C."
wrote:

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:05:45 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

Presumably you're looking to "perfect bind" a book, much like the way
paperbacks are put together.

Yes.

I'm finding more and more that many people have home-made book-binding
presses described on the net.

For example, here's another really simple one:
persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding-
your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast

Now that the printing & binding are close to being solved, that opens the
question of being able to print half-sized books (i.e., half of an 8.5x11
sheet of paper).

What's the best (cheapest straightest) way to cut 250 sheets of printed
paper in my garage so that the resulting book is around 8.5 inches tall
by about 5.5 inches wide?

I have a 'normal' paper cutter (but I can never get more than about 10
pages cut without skewing the deck).

How do you cut paper in the garage without skewing the deck?
You do not cut the pages. You print so the pages come out in order as
the sheets are folded in half. I have done it in the past tying the
spine with cotton cord then applying glue and muslin - then gluing the
cover boards to the muslin and then wrapping the cover boards and
finally gluing in the inner coversheets. This was for hardcover but
minor changes would make a softcover book just as well (like no cover
boards - generally paperbacks do not use fabric but their spines break
very easily too) Normal bookbinding uses a series of stacked
multi-folds - a number of folded sheets inserted in each other with
threads tying them together, and these multifolds stacked with the
thread from one multi-stack continuing on to tie the next stack in
the pile. I ended up truing up the edges with a belt sander after I
had the spine all glued up, just to pretty things up

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:38:31 -0700, Pat wrote:

Lulu.com publishes books.
They will make one 100 page paper back for $7 or so.

Nice site!

I like that they have TEMPLATES for printing!
http://www.lulu.com/publish/books

On Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:06:19 -0400, clare wrote:

Normal bookbinding uses a series of stacked multi-folds

Now that is interesting!

I know that Windows Fineprint can convert any PDF ebook to "booklet"
imposition, where, for example, you print four pages to each double-sided
US "letter" paper where one side contains the first and last page while
the other side contains the second and penultimate page. When you fold
the paper in half, each page is in the proper order.

I guess I could use this Fineprint feature to print 'sections' of the
book. In fact, I even have a stapler that staples deeply inside to keep
the sections intact.

Then, I guess, I could BIND the sections together as explained.

As you noted, this technique would be in lieu of printing in 'book
imposition' format and then cutting the paper in half and stacking the
two halves together.

I ended up truing up the edges with a belt sander

I LOVE that idea!

It's a true alt.home.repair solution to the problem!

You can also use cheesecloth, commonly available in cooking-supply stores.


Book binders call this fabric mull.

wrote:
On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:37:00 +0000 (UTC), "Martin C."
wrote:

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:05:45 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

Presumably you're looking to "perfect bind" a book, much like the
way paperbacks are put together.

Yes.

I'm finding more and more that many people have home-made
book-binding presses described on the net.

For example, here's another really simple one:
persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding-
your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast

Now that the printing & binding are close to being solved, that
opens the question of being able to print half-sized books (i.e.,
half of an 8.5x11 sheet of paper).

What's the best (cheapest straightest) way to cut 250 sheets of
printed paper in my garage so that the resulting book is around 8.5
inches tall by about 5.5 inches wide?

I have a 'normal' paper cutter (but I can never get more than about
10 pages cut without skewing the deck).

How do you cut paper in the garage without skewing the deck?
You do not cut the pages. You print so the pages come out in order as
the sheets are folded in half. I have done it in the past tying the
spine with cotton cord then applying glue and muslin - then gluing the
cover boards to the muslin and then wrapping the cover boards and
finally gluing in the inner coversheets. This was for hardcover but
minor changes would make a softcover book just as well (like no cover
boards - generally paperbacks do not use fabric but their spines break
very easily too) Normal bookbinding uses a series of stacked
multi-folds - a number of folded sheets inserted in each other with
threads tying them together, and these multifolds stacked with the
thread from one multi-stack continuing on to tie the next stack in
the pile. I ended up truing up the edges with a belt sander after I
had the spine all glued up, just to pretty things up

We routinely print a 32-page "Getting Started" guide for our software, 8
sheets of paper, 4 pages to a sheet front and back. The pages are "saddle
stitched", which means a single staple fastens the whole shebang together.
This results in the edges away from the staple are staggered.

That unsightliness is fixed by trimming the booklet to 5.25" with a suitable
paper cutter

On Sun, 01 Apr 2012 06:17:26 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

We routinely print a 32-page "Getting Started" guide for our software, 8
sheets of paper, 4 pages to a sheet front and back. The pages are
"saddle stitched", which means a single staple fastens the whole shebang
together. This results in the edges away from the staple are staggered.

That unsightliness is fixed by trimming the booklet to 5.25" with a
suitable paper cutter

What do you use to perform the booklet imposition?
a) Do you use Fineprint on Windows?
b) Do you use fprint or fp on Linux?
c) Or do you impose the pages manually as shown below?

Sheet 1 side 1 = pages 01 & 32
Sheet 1 side 2 = pages 02 & 31
Sheet 2 side 1 = pages 03 & 30
Sheet 2 side 2 = pages 04 & 29
Sheet 3 side 1 = pages 05 & 28
Sheet 3 side 2 = pages 06 & 27
Sheet 4 side 1 = pages 07 & 26
Sheet 4 side 2 = pages 08 & 25
Sheet 5 side 1 = pages 09 & 24
Sheet 5 side 2 = pages 10 & 23
Sheet 6 side 1 = pages 11 & 22
Sheet 6 side 2 = pages 12 & 21
Sheet 7 side 1 = pages 13 & 20
Sheet 7 side 2 = pages 14 & 19
Sheet 8 side 1 = pages 15 & 18
Sheet 8 side 2 = pages 16 & 17
etc.

I ended up truing up the edges with a belt sander

I LOVE that idea!

It's a true alt.home.repair solution to the problem!

A belt sander will leave the paper edges rough. A paper cutter is the right
tool to use. The pages are printed oversize and a half inch or so are
trimed off in a large paper cutter after the pages are assembled in a book.
Also do a google search on book binding plough.

On Sun, 1 Apr 2012 08:27:07 -0700, "Pat" wrote:



I ended up truing up the edges with a belt sander

I LOVE that idea!

It's a true alt.home.repair solution to the problem!

A belt sander will leave the paper edges rough. A paper cutter is the right
tool to use. The pages are printed oversize and a half inch or so are
trimed off in a large paper cutter after the pages are assembled in a book.
Also do a google search on book binding plough.

The belt sander left the edges very smooth - you sand with the edge,
not across it - and with a fine grit.

Martin C. wrote:
On Sun, 01 Apr 2012 06:17:26 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

We routinely print a 32-page "Getting Started" guide for our
software, 8 sheets of paper, 4 pages to a sheet front and back. The
pages are "saddle stitched", which means a single staple fastens the
whole shebang together. This results in the edges away from the
staple are staggered.

That unsightliness is fixed by trimming the booklet to 5.25" with a
suitable paper cutter

What do you use to perform the booklet imposition?

## Tell you the truth, I don't know. It's been so long. We have a master set
that was printed in the distant past. When we need more booklets, we take it
to Kinko's and have them run off some two-sided copies on the Xerox.

a) Do you use Fineprint on Windows?

## Er, no

b) Do you use fprint or fp on Linux?

## For sure, no. Linux is a knock-off of a fifty-year old operating system
designed by a money-losing division of your local telephone company.

In the interest of full disclosure, I own a bucket-full of Microsoft stock.
But that in no way colors my judgment.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:38:31 -0700, Pat wrote:

I don't think it is the driver on the printer but the software you use
to print the book. For instance I use Adobe Indesign to print my books
on Windows.

Apparently, these are the available book/booklet imposition printer
drivers for Windows & Linux:

a) Fineprint for Windows (the gold standard)
b) 'fp' and 'fprint' on Linux (mimic some Fineprint features for free)
c) jpdftweak on Windows & Linux (free at http://jpdftweak.sourceforge.net)

Q: Anyone know how to do book imposition printing of a PDF on Linux?

For the record, apparently, these are the available book/booklet
imposition printer drivers for Windows & Linux:

a) Fineprint for Windows (the gold standard)
b) 'fp' and 'fprint' on Linux (mimic some Fineprint features for free)
c) JpdfTweak on Windows & Linux (free at http://jpdftweak.sourceforge.net)

On Saturday, March 31, 2012 3:28:52 PM UTC-4, Martin C. wrote:
But ... I don't understand what 'jog' means in this context.
Won't the paper be even by virtue of the fact they're all the same size?

You're thicker than your damn book.

Jog means to take the stack of papers in your hands, stand them up on edge/end/side, and tap them on a flat surface to get the edges perfectly even.

On Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:44:56 -0700, dennisgauge wrote:
You're thicker than your damn book.

I'm sorry I misunderstood.

Jog means to take the stack of papers in your hands,
stand them up on edge/end/side, and tap them on a flat surface
to get the edges perfectly even.

Ah, I see. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
I appreciate the help, as I know you don't have to give it.

On Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:44:56 -0700, dennisgauge wrote:
You're thicker than your damn book.

I'm sorry I misunderstood.

Jog means to take the stack of papers in your hands,
stand them up on edge/end/side, and tap them on a flat surface
to get the edges perfectly even.

Ah, I see. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
I appreciate the help, as I know you don't have to give it.

On Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:44:56 -0700, dennisgauge wrote:
You're thicker than your damn book.

I'm sorry I misunderstood.

Jog means to take the stack of papers in your hands,
stand them up on edge/end/side, and tap them on a flat surface
to get the edges perfectly even.

Ah, I see. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
I appreciate the help, as I know you don't have to give it.

On 01/04/12 14:10, Martin C. wrote:
On Sun, 01 Apr 2012 06:17:26 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

We routinely print a 32-page "Getting Started" guide for our software, 8
sheets of paper, 4 pages to a sheet front and back. The pages are
"saddle stitched", which means a single staple fastens the whole shebang
together. This results in the edges away from the staple are staggered.

That unsightliness is fixed by trimming the booklet to 5.25" with a
suitable paper cutter

What do you use to perform the booklet imposition?
a) Do you use Fineprint on Windows?
b) Do you use fprint or fp on Linux?
c) Or do you impose the pages manually as shown below?
[snip]

I do this with PDFs generated by LaTeX, in two stages:

1) I do some measurements on the paper thickness, so I can set an
adjustment so that the textarea in a 32pp signature gradually moves back
towards the spine for pp1-16 and then back towards the foredge for
pp17-32. This compensates for the offset caused by the folding.

2) Having typeset the PDF, I use a shell script something like the one
below to create the signatures. pstops is your essential friend he it
rearranges the order and orientation of pages in a Postscript file.

# get the number of pages output
PP=`grep "Output written on $DOC.pdf" $DOC.log | awk '{print $5}' | tr
-d '('`
# set the size of a signature
SIG=32
# how many integral signatures
SIGS=$[PP/SIG]
# how many pages they take
PG=$[SIGS*SIG]
# what's left in the document
LAST=$[PP-PG]
# how many blank pages needed
FILL=$[SIG-LAST]
# add blank pages if required by adding dummies to the .tex file
if [ $FILL -gt 0 -a $FILL -ne $SIG ]; then
sed -e "s+\\\end{document}+\\\fillup{$FILL}\\\end{documen t}+"
$DOC.tex $DOC.tmp
mv -f $DOC.tmp $DOC.tex
fi
# reprocess it to generate the dummy pages
pdflatex \\nonstopmode\\input $DOC.tex
# do a DVI version as well, so we can use Postscript
latex \\nonstopmode\\input $DOC.tex
# now we have a full number of whole signatures
SIGS=$[SIGS+1]
COUNT=0
while [ $COUNT -lt $SIGS ]; do
START=$[COUNT*SIG+1]
# generate a SIG's-worth as Postscript
dvips -p =$START -n $SIG -o $DOC.ps $DOC.dvi
# calculate the offsetting
IMP=`echo|awk -v s=$SIG -f impose.awk v=27 hl=-3 hr=12 thk=.1`
SEQ=`echo $COUNT | awk 'BEGIN {ORS=""} {c=$1+1;if(c10)print
"0";print c}'`
# use pstops to rearrange things
pstops -pa4 -b "$IMP" $DOC.ps | ps2pdf - $DOC-sig$SEQ.pdf
COUNT=$[COUNT+1]
done

The syntax of the awk script is left as an exercise to the reader :-)

I then pass the signatures to my local craft bookbinder, who sews them
and cases them in.

///Peter