FOLD · SHEET ONE OF ONE
Read the imposition.
The press has printed this sheet in a fold you have not been told. Every panel carries a page number, on both sides. Set the fold, watch it come together, and press it.
← → step ↑ ↓ fold that side over Space watch Enter press E turn the sheet
COLLATE · NEST THE GATHERINGS
Which way does the stack run?
Each folded gathering carries its mark on the fold. Put them in the order the structure demands, and turn any that face the wrong way. Watch the stack as you go.
← → move along the bench ↑ ↓ select W turn it over Enter lace
SEW AND COVER
How is it going to be held together?
THE SEWING
THE SPINE ALLOWANCE
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THE COVERING
THE READER
Open it yourself.
← → turn pages Space lay it flat Enter hand it over
VELLUM
The Binder's Fold
A book is an object you fold. Read the imposition on a press sheet, nest the gatherings, choose the sewing and the covering — then open the book and see whether a reader could live with it.
Arrow keys or WASD · Space to act · Enter to commit · M for sound · Esc to pause
COMMISSION ONE
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LAID DOWN
Paused
The bone folder is still warm. Nothing has been ruined.
THE BINDER'S GUIDE
Four decisions
- Fold. A press sheet is printed both sides in an order you are not told. Each fold turns half the packet over. Get the sequence right and the leaves come out one, two, three; get it wrong and the text is scrambled for good.
- Nest. The gatherings go into the stack in the order the structure demands, and in an alphabetical binding they alternate face to face, so the reader opens the book in the middle.
- Sew. Saddle, kettle, French link or tapes. The sewing decides the hinge, whether the book lies flat, and whether the next binder can reach the text at all.
- Cover. Boards sewn on or pasted. Leather over the spine or spine left showing. A rare text is ruined by the covering that hides it best.
Every fold you get wrong, and every minute past the end of the day, costs you.
THE READER'S VERDICT
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THE SHELF
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