So, what is a Casebound Book?
Casebound, often referred to as Hard Cover, is a common binding method for high quality book and archives.
You can identify a casebound book is by its cover, which will be hard and sturdy, as opposed to a paperback (or softcover) book, which has a soft and flexible cover.
Some casebound books also come with dust jackets, which are a thin protective sheet of paper, often featuring the same cover design as its paperback version. In instances like this, the casebound cover would have a more simplified design or be left almost blank and only have detail on the spine (ie. Title and Author).
In traditional publishing, books are often first released in a casebound version before they transition over to high volume paperback copies.
How are they made?
Firstly, the book blocks are created. This begins with printing, guillotining, and then binding the text. The binding style can differ but is usually either section sewn or glued. Once bound, cloth spines are added and the book blocks are complete. Next, the case covers are made. This process depends on the style of case wrapping (paper or material-covered), as they require different steps and machines to complete.
For paper-covered casebound books, the covers are first printed and cut to shape, then glued to and folded around the three pieces of board (front, spine, and back), before the endpapers and book blocks are glued in place. Material-covered casebound books, require a specialised machine to attach and wrap the fabric/imitation fabric (such as linen or leather-look) around the three pieces of board (front, spine, and back) before they are glued to the endpapers and book blocks.
Casebound books (either material or paper-covered) can include the following extras:
Ribbon
Head and tailbands
Dust jacket
Why choose Casebinding over other methods?
Casebound books have many appealing benefits:
Strength and durability: Casebound books are longer lasting and more sturdy than their paperback counterparts. This makes them ideal for archives, and for collectors who want their books to last.
Professional: Having your book casebound brings an element of sophistication, gravitas, and importance. It makes your book appear higher quality than other binding types, especially when print finishes like foiling, embossing and debossing, or spot uv varnish are added.
Shelf Appeal: Casebound books have an eye-drawing presence on bookshelves that draw a reader’s attention, especially when embellishments are added to the cover and spine.
Higher Retail Price: As casebound books are seen as being a higher quality book than other formats, they generally retail for a higher price.
Designing for a Casebound Book? Here are some tips!
Remember to allow for the hinge area on either side of the spine (where the front and back covers fold).
Allow additional bleed for the "Fold over" which wraps the cover onto the hard board. In general, at least 20mm is recommended.
Please check with us how wide your spine artwork area should be. Depending on the page count and type of stock used this can vary more than you might think.
Most importantly, once you've set up your cover file (as a single page PDF), with the correct hinge widths, spine width and front & back covers, be careful to place your artwork so that important items such as the Title and Author don't run too close to the fold over edge, spine or hinges.
Lastly, don't forget to use high resolution images, we recommend 300dpi minimum for a high quality print result.
For more assistance with spine widths, hinge sizes or recommended paper stock weights please get in touch with our friendly team. We'd love to help you at the design stage, so that everything is perfect when it's ready to print. Our team have decades of experience and can provide advice so that you achieve the best outcome possible for every print project.
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