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Perfect Bound Books

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4.75/5
  • Prices starting from €45.38.
  • Perfect bound book printing is a great option for brochures, reports or any document from 28 up to 700* printed pages. No wonder they're so popular!
  • If your cover is a solid colour or has a high ink coverage, please opt to laminate your cover during the quote process - we recommend 300gsm silk with matt lamination on one side.
  • Use our recommended specifications for great results.
  • Custom Sizes Available - choose your own size in the quote process.
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Order within   for Wednesday Despatch*

Perfect Bound Books

reviews 0 Review
4.75/5
Print Perfect Bound Books
Printed Perfect Bound Book
PUR Perfect Bound Brochures
Printed A4 A5 Perfect Bound Books
Print and Bind Document
Print Perfect Bound Books
Printed Perfect Bound Book
PUR Perfect Bound Brochures
Printed A4 A5 Perfect Bound Books
Print and Bind Document

Product Overview

If your document is too thick to be saddle-stitched or stapled, then perfect bound book printing is your perfect option.

Perfect bound printing is commonly used for magazines, brochures and thicker reports, this method binds your document together with adhesive along the spine to provide a smooth and stylish finish. When designing your perfect bound book you need to allow 12mm safe area at the spine edge of the first and last inside text page and inside front and back cover page. We crease the cover 9mm from the spine to create a hinge that protects the glued edge. It’s professional in appearance, cost effective - even for low quantities - and a great option for documents from 40 up to 700* printed pages. No wonder it’s so popular!  

We only use PUR glue to perfect bind our books as it is much stronger than old-fashioned hot melt glue. PUR binding is more tolerant to higher and lower temperatures as is very flexible and non-brittle.

Whether you’re publishing a bestseller, producing a glossy manual or distributing your annual report, we can help.

We have a great range of paper and finishes to choose from, with the option of matt or gloss lamination. Choose from silk, gloss or uncoated for your cover (250gsm to 350gsm), with gloss, matt or no lamination.  We recommend you always matt laminate your cover for a quality finish. Our perfect bound books are available in A4 portrait, 1/3 A4 portrait, A5 portrait or landscape or 210 x 210mm square. You can also select a custom size perfect bound book, this can be found during the quote process. Your inner (text) pages can be uncoated, silk or gloss, in weights ranging from 100gsm to 200gsm.

We can deliver our best-in-class perfect bound book products throughout all of Ireland. Just out of a meeting in Dublin and you need a set of perfect bound booklets for your next meeting in Cork? That’s where we can help, we’ve got you covered. Plus, when your order value exceeds €110 you will qualify for free economy delivery! Top of the range perfect bound books delivered anywhere in Ireland for free?! That’s what you get when you choose Digital Printing Ireland. 

*This does not apply to A4 Landscape books where the maximum spine thickness is 26mm (approx 450 printed pages on 130gsm silk).

Paper Options

Silk
Silk coated paper has a smooth feel with a discreet surface sheen. It offers excellent ink to paper contrast, and printed colours appear distinct and clear. A recycled option is available. (Cover 250gsm – 350gsm; inner text 130gsm – 150gsm)

Gloss
Gloss coated paper has a shiny surface and very smooth finish. Colour is sharp and stands out well. Ink dries quickly and the need for lamination is reduced. (Cover 250gsm - 350gsm; inner text 130gsm – 200gsm)

Premium uncoated
Our premium uncoated paper is absorbent. Printed inks appear flatter due to this absorbency, and the paper has a soft finish. A recycled option is available. (Cover 250gsm – 300gsm; inner text 100gsm – 120gsm)

Finishes

Matt lamination gives a soft, contemporary effect. Gloss lamination gives a higher quality shine finish than gloss card. Lamination is most useful with solid colours or images to enhance their vibrancy or where you want to protect your printed documents. The most popular option is to matt laminate your cover.

Have a look at our range of options for PUR binding and remember, we also offer a full selection of delivery options from free delivery to next day express so order your PUR perfect bound book online today.

Hints & Tips

  • PUR Bound Books
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FAQs

Q. What are perfect bound books?
A. Perfect bound books are created by glueing the pages to the spine of the book. Perfect bound books get their name from the process that they undergo: the pages and the cover of the book are all cut to be the exact same size and therefore they line up together perfectly.

Q. Where would you use perfect bound books?
A. Perfect bound printing is commonly used for magazines, portfolios, graphic novels, workbooks, catalogues, brochures and reports. This method binds your document together with adhesive along the spine to provide a smooth and stylish finish.

Q. What are the benefits of perfect binding?
A. Perfect bound books are professional in appearance, cost-effective even for low quantities and a great option for documents from 40 up to 700 printed pages. The binding glue is flexible and non-brittle, meaning that the books open flatter without cracking the spine or pages falling out.

Q. What is the difference between perfect bound and saddle-stitched?
A. Perfect bound and saddle-stitched are the two most common methods of booklet binding. Saddle-stitching involves binding multiple pages together along a fold (also known as the spine) with two staples. On the other hand, perfect bound books have a flat spine. The sheets of paper are gathered together and glue is applied to the binding edge, then the cover of the book is placed on the glue.

Q. What is the process for binding perfect bound books?
A. With perfect binding, all the printed pages are stacked in a block and squared off. Then the pages are glued together along the spine with extremely strong PUR adhesive. The printed cover is then wrapped around and glued on to the spine as well. The remaining three edges are then trimmed so that the edges of the block are perfectly neat.

Q. Can a perfect-bound book have printing on its spine?
A. In most cases, yes…but the book’s spine has to be wide enough to properly display the printing. We recommend that you don’t add text to your spine if it is thinner than 3mm. When you place your order you will be shown your spine thickness based on your selection.

Q. What glue do you use for your perfect bound books?
A. We only use PUR glue to perfect bind our books as it is much stronger than hot melt glue. PUR binding is more tolerant to higher and lower temperatures as is very flexible and non-brittle.

Q. What paper options do you offer with perfect bound books?
A. Choose from silk, gloss or uncoated for your cover from 215gsm to 350gsm. Your inner (text) pages can be uncoated, silk or gloss, in weights ranging from 100gsm to 200gsm.

Q. Can any book be perfect bound?
A. No. The thickness of your inner paper type determines how many pages you can select. This is because the minimum spine thickness is 2mm. If you choose 100gsm uncoated then 28 pages will be the minimum page count. If you choose 170gsm uncoated then 20 pages will be the minimum page count. If your book contains less pages than the minimum page count then saddle-stitched or wiro-binding would be a more suitable option.

Q. What sizes are available for my perfect bound books?
A. Our perfect bound books are available in A4 portrait, 1/3 A4 portrait, A5 portrait or landscape or 210 x 210mm square.

Q. What finishes do you offer for perfect bound books?
A. Our perfect bound books are available in a number of finishes from single or double-sided lamination in gloss or matt finish or opt for no lamination. Matt lamination gives a soft, contemporary effect. Adding a gloss lamination gives a higher quality shine finish than printing on gloss paper alone. Lamination is most useful with solid colours or images to enhance their vibrancy or where you want to protect your printed documents. The most popular option is to matt laminate your cover.

Q. Do you have any templates that I could download?
A. We have a fantastic selection of design templates for perfect-bound book printing available in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and PDF formats. View our Design Templates which are located on the product page.

Q. How do I supply my artwork?
A. Please supply perfect bound books as two multi-page PDFs consisting of a cover file and inners file. The cover PDF should be supplied as a spread including the spine. The inner PDF should contain only the inner pages in correct running order.

Q. Do I need bleed and crop marks on my artwork?
A. Yes, this is very important when providing artwork for perfect-bound books. When an image or colour on the page extends past the crop marks, it is regarded as bleed. As there is a degree of movement when printing on any press, you should always create at least 3mm bleed on all edges.

Q. Do I need to supply fonts?
A. If you supply us with a Print Ready PDF then fonts are embedded or converted to outlines. However, we may request the fonts if files are supplied in other formats.

Q. Do I need to adhere to certain margins when designing my perfect bound book?
A. The cover is fixed to the spine 7mm on the side of the perfect-bound book. With this in mind, we recommend that you use a margin of 12mm minimum from the bound edge of each page.

Design Templates

We provide templates in Adobe Illustrator, InDesigns and PDF formats.

  • Adobe Illustrator icon Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe InDesign icon Adobe InDesign
  • PDF icon PDF

View Downloads

  • 120 x 120mm Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • A6 Landscape Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • A6 Portrait Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • 140 x 140mm Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • 148 x 148 Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • 3rd A4 Landscape Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • 3rd A4 Portrait Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • A5 Landscape Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • A5 Portrait Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • 210 x 210mm Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • US Comic Size Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • US Letter Size Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • A4 Portrait Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon
  • A4 Landscape Perfect Bound Book
    PDF icon Adobe InDesign icon Adobe Illustrator icon

Product Reviews

4.75/5
  • Aine C.

    Excellent quality, great price, fast & reliable service and a pleasure to deal with. If I could give 6 stars, I would!

  • Andrew E.

    Arrived quickly as promised. Good quality well packaged.

  • Jo P.

    Got another book printed recently with Digital Printing and, yet again, excellent service.

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DP Guarantee

DP Guarantee

We're only truly happy when you are. If you’re not completely satisfied with your order, we guarantee to reprint it straight away and organise next-day delivery to anywhere in Ireland. In the unlikely event we can't fix our printing error, we'll give you a full refund*. The most important thing is that you’re happy.

Secure Payment

Secure Payment

We accept all kinds of payment methods and can reassure you that your details will be dealt with in the most secure way possible.

Perfect packaging

Perfect packaging

All orders are carefully packed in our bespoke, branded packaging. We also shrink-wrap jobs where required. You also have the option to select plain, unbranded packaging at checkout if you have chosen a different delivery address.

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