Custom book printing

Order your own books in ✓softcover ✓hardcover
printed ✓offset ✓digitally from 1 copy.

How much does it cost to print your own book?

Book production is a complex multi-stage process. To obtain a quotation, a number of basic parameters must be specified. The most important of these are: print run, binding, format, number of pages, paper, printing, finishing.

Each of these parameters affects the price of the book. The basic rule is that increasing the print run reduces the unit price of the book. Nothing reduces the price of a single book as significantly as increasing the print run. Another important parameter is the format, the area of which is more or less proportional to the cost of book production. This is mainly related to increased demand for raw materials and a larger print area. An important aspect is the method of book binding. The choice of book binding is very important, as it affects the appearance, durability and ease of use of the book. For example: a perfect-bound book will be more difficult to open than a sewn-perfect-bound book, which opens better (the pages flex outwards more easily), but is more expensive to produce. Consider whether the book should be convenient to use or simply inexpensive. When choosing paper, apart from the aesthetic issue of selecting the colour or type of paper, it is important whether the paper should be standard or bulky. If a book has a small number of pages, choosing standard paper may make the book look like a thin notebook and thus unimpressive. In this case, it is worth considering bulky paper, which will significantly increase its volume and make the spine much wider. Bulky paper is characterised by greater thickness at the same weight, meaning that a thicker book will not be heavier. After considering and specifying all these parameters the book can be priced in our service using the book calculator available after selecting the format at the top of this page.

What paper should be used for book printing?

Paper is an important consideration when printing a book. Above all, the weight and thickness of the book should be taken into account. If a book has few pages, using bulky paper of considerable thickness can produce a favourable visual effect. In the case of books with a considerable number of pages, their significant weight and volume must be considered. In such a case, it is worth using papers with low bulk and weight. The spine size has its limit in different binding types, therefore its thickness is important. The paper inside should not be too stiff, as this will make the book difficult to use and will also negatively affect its durability. The pages should be soft to allow the book to open freely. It should be noted that a perfect-bound, sewn or sewn-perfect-bound book does not have hinges in the spine, therefore its ability to open depends on the flexibility of the spine and the paper used to print its internal pages.

Comparison of papers used in book printing

Paper name	Grammage (g/m²)	Opacity (%)	Whiteness (CIE)	Thickness (µm)
Uncoated Amber Graphic	80	92	143	99
Uncoated Amber Graphic	90	94	143	110
Uncoated Amber Preprint	100	96	167	130
Gloss coated Novatech	115	94,5	125	85
Gloss coated Novatech	135	95	125	100
Matt coated Novatech	115	95	100	97
Matt coated Novatech	135	96,5	100	117
Coated, wood-containing One Bulk 1.14	65	95	87	74
Coated, wood-containing Sol Plus 1.2	80	96	94	96
Coated, wood-containing Sol Plus 1.2	90	97	94	108
Uncoated Ecco Book 1.4	60	94	80	84
Uncoated Ecco Book 1.6	70	97	80	112
Uncoated Ecco Book Cream 2.0	60	92	73.5	120
Uncoated Ecco Book Cream 2.0	70	93	73.5	140
Uncoated Ecco Book Cream 2.0	80	94	73.5	160
Uncoated Ecco Book Cream 2.0	90	94	73.5	180

Description of popular materials:

 

Amber Graphic

Uncoated paper, commonly called offset paper, very similar to that commonly used in office printers. It is rough to the touch and absorbent. It can be written on well even with a fountain pen. It is suitable for printing in both black and colour, but in offset technology it does not provide colours as intense as coated papers. In the case of perfect binding, it allows a very strong bond to be achieved, guaranteeing the highest durability of the printed book.

Amber Preprint (uncoated)

Premium uncoated paper, with similar properties to Amber Graphic. Increased whiteness and additional surface smoothing guarantee better intensity of colour prints in offset and digital technology than Amber Graphic, but it is inferior to coated papers. Commonly used for the production of company stationery and books in the premium sector. With perfect binding, it allows a very strong bond to be achieved, guaranteeing the highest durability of the printed book.

 

Ecco Book (uncoated)

Uncoated, wood-containing bulky paper. Available in cream and white versions. Thanks to technological bulking, it is characterised by considerable thickness in relation to its grammage and high opacity. Its parameters make it possible to produce a lightweight book without reducing its volume. This paper, especially in the cream version, is not suitable for colour book printing. Its cream variety makes it possible to print books resembling those known from decades ago in appearance.

 

Sol Plus (coated, wood-containing)

Wood-containing, coated, bulky paper in a natural white colour. It is characterised by very good opacity and bulk parameters in relation to its low grammage. Thanks to its high parameters, it can be used as a substitute for wood-free coated papers with much higher grammages. Sol Plus paper guarantees excellent-quality double-sided colour printing. Its low grammage significantly affects book printing costs.

G-silk, Vantage, Magno (coated, wood-free)

High whiteness and smoothness, no bulking or slight bulking (G-silk). The most popular material for printing leaflets, brochures, catalogues and other advertising materials. It ensures excellent print quality and intense colours in every popular printing technology.

 

Types of book binding

 

Softcover binding

Softcover books have a cover made of paper/cardboard with grammages of 250-350g - (stiffness similar to a business card).

Softcover binding characteristics: the cover pages in soft perfect binding are flush with the interior pages. The finished book has flat edges and a rectangular spine.

Preparing a softcover binding cover for printing: when printing a background to the edge, it requires a bleed* of 2 mm, the same as for the interior. The cover can be printed on the inside in the same way as on the outside.

Hardcover binding

Hardcover books have a cover made of solid board approximately 2 mm thick. (high stiffness, does not allow it to be bent freely)

Hardcover binding characteristics: the cover pages have a larger format than the pages of the book interior. The finished book has protruding (2-3 mm) cover edges in relation to the interior pages. The spine may be flat or rounded.

Preparing a hardcover binding cover for printing: when printing a background to the edge, it requires a bleed* of 20 mm, unlike the interior (2 mm). This is due to the fact that printing takes place on the cover material, which is then wrapped around the board to create a hardcover. A hardcover cannot be printed on the inside. To obtain printing on the inner side of the hardcover, the endpaper is printed (see the hardcover book construction diagram), which has double the size of an interior page and is folded in the middle.The endpaper is glued with one half to the inner side of the cover, while the other forms a technical page that connects the cover to the interior block.

*) Bleed is the printed area of a page that is trimmed during book finishing to the final format.

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Method of joining pages inside the book block

 

Wire-stitched / saddle-stitched binding

The pages are joined in two places using wire / staples. This binding is suitable for books with a volume of 8 to several dozen pages (depending on the thickness of the paper used). The number of pages in the book block must be divisible by 4. The spine in this binding is rounded. Books made with this binding are easy to open. Wire-stitched binding is the least expensive of those available in the printing house offer.

 

Perfect binding

The most popular method of binding printed books. Pages arranged parallel to each other are glued along the edge. The book spine is rectangular, and its width ranges from 3-50 mm. Depending on the thickness of the paper used, perfect binding is used for books with a page count > 40. Books not reaching a spine width of 3 mm require, for technological reasons, sewn binding. Books made with perfect binding, due to the parallel gluing of pages, open less well than sewn books. In terms of ease of opening, the volume of the book (spine thickness) is also important. Perfect-bound books with a large number of pages (several hundred), where the spine width reaches several cm, are characterised by significantly better opening. In this respect, it can be assumed that the thicker the spine, the better the book performs.

In perfect binding, depending on requirements, two gluing technologies are used: Hot-melt and PUR.

Hot-melt (hot glue) is the most popular method commonly found in books for decades. There are many types of adhesive in this technology, which is continuously improved. The latest polymer-based hot-melt adhesives achieve flexibility and durability parameters similar to polyurethane adhesive (PUR), which significantly increases their application.
Modern Hot-melt is characterised by high durability of the adhesive joint, favourable price and production efficiency. It is most suitable for books printed on uncoated paper. Its important advantage is the bonding speed, which occurs immediately after the adhesive cools (approximately 3 minutes), allowing further bookbinding processing and fast delivery of the finished product to the customer.

PUR (polyurethane adhesive) - cured during a chemical reaction lasting many hours, it has high flexibility and adhesion to all printing substrates after 48 hours. It provides measurable benefits when binding books and catalogues using coated (art) paper inside. The long drying time and stringent requirements slow down and complicate production.

 

Sewn-perfect binding

This is a type of hybrid binding in which pages are sewn into 16-32-page sections and then glued together to form a book with a volume reaching a thousand pages. Sewn-perfect binding combines the best features of both above-mentioned binding types: sewn and perfect-bound. Easy book opening - as in sewn binding + a large number of pages and a spine width of up to 50 mm - as in perfect binding.

 

Spiral binding

A binding commonly used for various documentation, menus and catalogues that will be used intensively. Thanks to the perforation of pages and the use of a metal spiral, pages of any stiffness can be turned freely many times without the risk of falling out, as happens with other bindings during intensive daily use. The absence of a spine makes it possible to fold the book in any way. This binding is very convenient to use and very durable. The possibility of selecting spirals in different colours can provide an additional decoration for the book. The durability of a spiral-bound book can be further increased by using rounded corners, which will prevent their deformation and delamination during intensive use.

Comparison of available bindings:

Binding type	Wire-stitched	Perfect-bound	Sewn-perfect-bound	Spiral
Production cost	•••	••	•	•
Opening ability	••	•	••	•••
Paper grammage	60 - 350g	60 - 130g	60 - 130g	90 - 350
Page count *	8 - 60	40 <	40 <	8 <
Binding durability	•	••	••	•••
Lead time	•••	••	•	•

•  the more, the better

*)  depending on paper thickness

 

Where can you print your own book?

You can order book printing from the Printhub online printing house. Print a book from a PDF file in softcover, hardcover, sewn-perfect-bound or spiral binding from 1 copy. We print books using digital and offset technology in black, CMYK colour and Pantone on uncoated, coated, coloured and bulky papers, with delivery throughout Europe. Price your book using the convenient online calculator containing descriptions and illustrations to facilitate key decisions — simply choose the format, paper, binding and print run and you're done!

How long does it take to print a book?

Printing a softcover book takes on average up to 7 days. A hardcover book takes up to 2 weeks. Printhub printing house also offers express printing, outside the standard queue.

How do you print books from pdf?

Depending on the type of book binding used, prepare 1 PDF file containing all pages or two separate files (interior + cover). 

• Wire-stitched (like a notebook) and spiral binding - 1 file containing all book pages in sequence, including the cover.
• Perfect binding and sewn-perfect binding (softcover or hardcover) - 2 separate files. The interior file - containing all interior pages, and the second cover file  including the spine in the middle (assembled). If you are unable to assemble the cover, provide us with the cover pages together with the interior as for wire-stitched binding and select the cover assembly service in the book configurator. In this case, the covers will be joined at the spine (see: cover background colour)

The book configurator provides vector templates for the cover and interior, which are dynamically created based on the selected book parameters.

Personalised books

If you need your books to be unique, e.g. each one to contain a dedication with specific content, be marked with a unique QR or barcode, or have variable numbering, contact our printing house. Thanks to specialised technologies, we will mark each copy on the cover or inside according to your idea.

Book accessories

The printing house offer also includes bookmarks