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Lincoln
Bookbindery |
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We are
located in central Illinois in a small building surrounded by native prairie grasses,
across from a forest preserve. We are a two-person business which has existed
in one form or another for at least 50 years, and has been under current
ownership since 1978. We have books and customers on almost every continent.
Our location in a university community has served us well. |
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Chris
started working for this business in 1972 while finishing a degree in graphic
design at the University of Illinois in 1973. He stayed with the bindery and
bought the business in 1978 with the intent of keeping it as a small shop
serving primarily private individuals. He has kept the same old machinery
running and makes books in essentially the same way they were made with this
machinery many years ago. This formula has worked successfully for over 25
years. |
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Tedra
first learned to make books at Indiana University and worked for the library there
while finishing a degree in photography in 1993. After moving to this
community, she began showing up at the bindery to get materials and
assistance to complete her unique and interesting book projects. She was
hired to work full-time early in 1997. Like Chris, she enjoys the clientele
as well as the work. You can see more of Tedra's work on her own website at www.fineblankbooks.com. |
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We do
primarily sewn hardcover binding. We specialize in binding new, previously
unbound material, and one-of-a-kind custom books. We do a lot of thesis
binding, as well as micro-editions (1-100 books) of family histories,
memoirs, and cookbooks. We've bound single copies of handwritten and
illustrated children's books, poetry books, custom blank books, journals, and
even volumes of e-mail. Don't be shy, we've seen it all. |
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Thesis and dissertation binding is one of our most
requested services. |
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We stock over 50 colors of cloth cover materials. |
We bind memoirs and family histories in custom sizes. |
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We have a
large variety of cover materials and can work with cloth and leather as well
as marbled or decorative papers. All bindings are custom-made and assembled largely
by hand, using cotton thread and acid-free end papers. |
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If a printer is
handling your order, please have them contact us about the following points. PAPER Size Since we assemble all
of your books from scratch, and cut all of the parts to fit your book, we really
don't care what size your pages are. You live in a world of standard paper
sizes and will probably print your text on standard 8.5" x 11"
paper. However, if you want to make a book that is, for example, 6" x
9", you may format it at that page size and print it out on 8.5" x
11" paper. DO NOT try to trim it to the finished size yourself. As long
as you have formatted all the pages identically, we can trim it down to
6" x 9" as part of the binding process. It is much easier for us to
trim it for you and it will not add to the cost, as long as the text is
printed in the SAME LOCATION on each page throughout the entire text. That
way, all of your pages can be trimmed down at once in one large stack. Weight Heavier paper does NOT
make a better book! It just makes a book that is VERY stiff and difficult to
open. When the paper that is used is too heavy, you have to hold the book
open with two hands because it wants to snap closed on itself. Having to hold
a book open in this way puts unnecessary stress on the binding. As a rule, if
you are buying paper by the ream, make sure it is NO HEAVIER than 24lb. 20lb.
is even better. One local copy shop here keeps telling people they need to
use 32lb. paper. DON'T FALL FOR THIS ADVICE!!!! We sometimes refuse to accept
orders printed on inappropriate paper. Type of Paper As a result of digital
printing techniques, the composition of paper has changed in recent years.
Hard, ultra-white, ultra-smooth laser papers which are very commonly used now
were developed to improve the print quality of ink jet and laser printers.
These papers are NOT well suited to our binding process. They tend to be too
heavy and stiff and their life expectancy is unknown. Such paper may be ph
neutral, but that does not mean it is also archival (long-lasting). What does
work well for binding is paper with rag content. 25% cotton paper is strong,
ph neutral, archival, and easy to find at office supply stores and many copy
shops. Some universities require theses and dissertations to be submitted on
cotton paper. There are other non-rag papers which work well and we can
discuss that with you by phone or e-mail. Paper Grain Unless it's handmade,
paper has a grain as a result of being manufactured in a paper mill. Having a
grain means that the paper is more flexible in one direction than the other.
You can often find the grain direction if you hold a stack of paper by the
edges and bend each edge towards the middle (hold the top and bottom of a
sheet and bend each edge toward the middle, then repeat the process holding
onto each side of the page). You will feel the paper bend easier in one
direction than the other. The grain should run parallel to the binding edge.
Letter size (8.5" x 11") reams of paper are almost always packaged
"grain long", meaning the grain runs parallel to the 11" or
"long" axis (a sheet this size should bend easier when you hold it
by the edges; the 8.5" direction; than it does if you bend it hold the
top and the bottom; the 11" direction). Sometimes the paper is even
labeled "grain long" or "grain short" on the package.
Occasionally we receive text on 8.5" x 11" paper that was created
by cutting a sheet of 11" x 17" paper in half. If the original
11" x 17" sheet was "grain long", then the resulting
8.5" x 11" sheets (when cut from the larger sheet) end up being
"grain short". The added stiffness of having the grain run against
the binding edge can prevent the book from laying open on its own. When a
book like this wants to snap closed on itself, we call this "mousetrapping".
Books like this must be held open with two hands and the stiffness puts
stress on the binding. "Cross grain" books (where the paper grain
does not run parallel to the binding edge) that are glued and not sewn often
fall apart due to this type of stress on the binding. We don't care what page
size you want your book to be, as long as the grain runs parallel to the
binding edge. PREPARING YOUR TEXT Margins Sewing single sheets
of paper together involves a process which punches through the edge of the
page almost 1/4 of an inch into the binding edge. You will lose that 1/4 inch
of the binding edge margin. Please allow for this when setting up your
margins. For example, if you wish to have a margin of 1 inch on the bound
edge of the finished book, you need to give us 1 and 1/4 inches to work with.
In fact, we don't care what the margin is, but if you crowd the binding edge,
your text may end up deep in gutter of the book which could make it
unreadable. Printing The majority of
material we see is printed on a photo copier, ink jet printer, or laser
printer. We have no preference which process is used, but we do know the
advantages and disadvantages of each. Please feel free to contact us if you
are unsure of what will work best for your book. If you wish to have it printed
in the Champaign-Urbana, Illinois area, we are familiar with the local
printers and copy shops and can give you recommendations and contact
information. Photos and Other
Mounted Material Photos and cards
mounted on pages may require extra attention during binding. Five or fewer
mounted items may make no difference in how we bind your book. But if enough
items are mounted on the pages, the middle of the book ends up thicker than
the edges and the book won't close properly. (Imagine a book that looks overstuffed
with paper where cover never really closes.) If your book project involves
mounted material, please contact us during the preparation stage so we can
help guide you toward the best solution. Photos Printed
Directly on the Page It is increasingly
easy to produce your own books with high-quality photos printed directly on
the pages. (Photos can be printed directly onto a page using an ink jet
printer, laser printer, or color copier.) If you will be printing photos on
the pages of your book, please e-mail us or call us so we can discuss paper
choices. Heavyweight photo paper (glossy or matte) is NOT a good choice for
binding. We do have recommendations for specific paper types to use when
printing photos. This is trickier if you are printing your photos on two
sides of a sheet of paper; but we can still advise you which paper might work
best for you. An entire book of photos printed on heavyweight paper would be
near-impossible to open and not a good candidate for binding. Books with Enclosed
Compact Discs We are beginning to
receive texts with CD's (in envelopes or pockets) included. The pockets are
not a problem for us and we can mount a pocket inside the back cover for the
CD if you let us know that you need one. However, we cannot run your pages
through the binding process with the CD itself in it (sometimes CDs are
mounted in pockets on a page of the book). Part of the process involves
pressing your book under many thousands of pounds of pressure and this would
crack a CD. Please DO NOT SEND the CD disc itself with your order. We do not
want to damage it and we do not want to have to keep track of everyone's CDs. If You Must Use
Heavyweight Paper If you have to use
heavyweight paper (for an art book that needs to have heavy, handmade paper pages,
or for a book of photographs where the pages are printed two-sided and you
are trying to avoid all bleed-through, etc.), there IS another way to make
your book. Your pages can be set up in what are called "signatures"
which are folded pages stacked inside each other in groups of 3 or 4 folded
sheets. The setup on this type of book is tricky. You really need to contact
us to discuss the way you would set up your pages in signatures. PLEASE
contact us BEFORE you print you pages out if you must use heavy paper so that
we can tell you how to print and sequence your pages to ensure that you end
up with a smooth-functioning book.  |
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We look forward to creating a book for you! Thanks for visiting us! Christopher Hohn, owner & bookbinder
Tedra Ashley-W. bookbinder
Lincoln Bindery 1601 North Coler Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
phone: (217)328-2613
e-mail: info@lincolnbindery.com updated 1/7/2007 |
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