Perfect-bound book¶

Perfect binding glues the pages at a square spine — the format for thicker books, manuals and catalogues. Pages are printed in signatures (folded sections) that are gathered, then glued into the cover.

What you'll make¶

Imposed signatures in the right order, with a gutter that accounts for the binding, ready to print, fold, gather and glue.

Before you start¶

Signatures: pages are grouped into signatures, usually 8, 16 or 32 pages. Choose a signature size that fits your sheet and folder.
Page count: pad with blank pages so the total fills whole signatures.
Spine & gutter: perfect binding loses some inner margin to the glue, so allow a little extra gutter at the binding edge.
Grain direction: for a book that opens well, run the paper grain parallel to the spine.

Step by step¶

Open the book PDF. Pages load into the Pages panel.
Open the Imposition tab.
Choose a signature / perfect-bound layout and set the signature size (e.g. 16 pp).
Set the sheet size, bleed and the binding gutter.
Enable crop marks, fold marks and registration marks.
Review each signature on the canvas.
Export — PDF for the press, or image export for a RIP.

Options explained¶

Signatures¶

A signature is one printed sheet folded into a section of pages. The book is built by stacking signatures in order. Match the signature size to your press and folding equipment.

Binding gutter¶

Unlike saddle-stitch, perfect binding eats into the spine margin. Add gutter so text and images don't disappear into the glued edge.

Fold marks¶

Fold marks guide the folder so each signature folds in the right places.

Tips¶

Confirm signature size with your bindery before imposing a long run.
Keep page numbers and running heads clear of the trim and the spine.

Troubleshooting¶

Content lost in the spine? Increase the binding gutter.
Signatures gather out of order? Re-check the signature size and page padding.

Questions about a specific book job? Ask the Imposio Community.