PRINTING BOOKS

Drafting and editing a book takes a lot of work...
You are now about to hold the book you've always dreamt about. Before this, you must make a few decisions on how to print and bind your book. This will affect the quality and the end cost.

1. Paper. Pure white or off-white, from 100 to 200 gram, glossy or rustic...
2. Cover: soft cover, hard cover, paperboard, fabric, etc.
3. Binding: Stapled, spiral, milled rustic, or sewn.
4. Number of copies: How many books do you want to print?
5. Type of printing: Digital vs. Offset.

All the effort that goes into preparing a book, must be reflected in high quality printing. The first decision to be made is the type of printing, digital or offset.

Digital printing for books is reserved for short runs, or for printing customised books. It involves no cost for platers, and allows for fast delivery.

Printing books in offset is much more economical, provided you print a minimum quantity (as of 200-300 books). Offset printing allows to print on all types of supports and paper weights, accepts working with pantones and special inks and, in general, is of a better quality.

Another option would be e-books or electronic publications, which allow to publish in digital format (to be read from a computer, smartphone or tablet), at a very low price.

When it comes to printing book, the binding is essential, as this is the first impression the reader will have. The touch, the weight, the feelings a book transmits derive from their binding. But obviously, the more sophisticated, the most expensive...

The binding for a book must be chosen in accordance with its use or destination. If it is a dissertation or report, you would normally choose spiral binding. If it is a catalogue, stapling is fine. If it is a book of photos, you can go for milled rustic binding. If it is a special gift, you may want to choose sewn binding with a hard cover. In any case, let us advise you and choose the most appropriate binding.

1. Milled rustic: American-style gluing (just like the Yellow Pages)
2. Saddle stitching: like the magazines (max. 60 pages)
3. Double spiral or wire-o: allows for fully turning the pages
4. Hard cover (sewn): More luxury and durable finish

The cost for printing books depends on many different factors: size, number of pages, quality of the paper, inks (black and white or colour). type of binding, etc.

At Barcino we will help you reduce the printing cost to a minimum, but without loosing out on quality. A good tip can actually improve the quality of your printing, as well as reduce the cost: dies, inks, finishes...

Come and see us, we're in the centre of Barcelona (Eixample district).
We have offices and digital printing in Barcelona, and we do our offset printing outside the city, to always guarantee the best possible prices.

Do you need to print books in digital, offset or rotary? We provide free advice and very competitive prices! And we also provide free pre-printing tests.