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    MyBinding Blog > Binding Styles

    Binding Your Business Manuals Inexpensively

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    If you are looking for an inexpensive method for binding your in-house materials such as manuals and safety books, here are some binding styles worth considering.

    What Type?

    For more informal business documents such as employee manuals and other similar in-house documents, you are probably looking for a binding style that values cost savings and durability over looks and charm. If that is the case, there are three tried and true binding methods that bear investigation on your part:

    1.Plastic Comb binding. This is one of those binding styles that you have probably seen a thousand times and not ever known what it was called. As the name suggests, this method uses what look like plastic combs to keep your books together. The combs in question actually consist of long plastic spines with “teeth” that form circles and wrap around each other in order to hold the pages in place. This type of binding has many advantages. Binding machines that both punch the holes in your sheets and insert the combs into your documents are inexpensive, and the finished product is very rugged, holding the pages together through some fairly rough handling. The books also lie flat for easy hands-free reading making it a great choice for instruction manuals and the like.

    2.Spiral Coil binding. Another method of binding you have seen without probably ever having known what it was called. When you think of spiral coil binding think if your wire notebooks from school, only with plastic wire instead of metal. This is an other method that is durable, relatively easy to complete, and inexpensive to get into, as far as purchasing a machine. One advantage that spiral coil has over plastic comb is that you can open these documents a full 180 degrees – in other words you can wrap the pages completely around, which is a very useful function.

    3.Twin Loop Wire binding. Another method you’ve certainly see before, this style uses metal wire that is looped in twos up and down the spine of the document. This bind may be a little stronger than plastic comb, and is probably also a step up in the looks department. It is also every bit as functional as the previously mentioned methods.

    How Is It Done?

    When you have decided on the type of machine that you want to purchase, you will need to learn how to use it. Before that, however, you will want to make sure that you have taken care of come of the other items such as purchasing a heavier paper stock as needed so you won’t be stuck without something to use for a cover. You will also want to make plans to print your pages in the numbers that you will need. If you don’t have a printer that is up to the task, talk to your local copy shop to see that they can do for you.

    When you have your pages numbered, collated, and everything is in order, place the pages in your binding punch in the numbers recommended for your machine, and punch the pages. Once the pages are punched, insert the spines, and your books are ready to go. You can even get two people in on the act -one punches while the other binds – to increase productivity.

    Putting Together a Class Directory

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    Making a class directory for your child’s school can be a fun project, and the finished productmartin-yale-bm101-sm12-ma is something that other parents will greatly appreciate. Here are a few tips on how to put together a great class directory.

    1. Get Permission. If you are a parent who has decided to put together a class directory for your child’s school or class, it is important that you get the permission of school authorities before you begin compiling your information. Chances are, if no one at the school has taken on that task yet, they will likely be very grateful that someone is doing it, and will help you in any way they can. This will not only make the job much easier, it will make it a lot more fun as well.

    2. Decide on The Scope. Are you going to create a directory for the whole school? The whole grade? Just the classes your child or children are in? You will have to decide on this, of course, as well as whatever other information you would like to include. It might be fun to have teachers and staff provide short bios, or to have other interesting information like trivia tidbits about the school’s history or a list of famous people who attended the school in years past.

    3. Gather Your Info. One easy way to do this is to give teachers sheets of paper to hand out, and for the students to take home, asking for names, numbers, birthdays, and whatever other information you would like to have included. It is important to realize from the outset that you are not going to get 100% participation from parents in this regard, and that you must respect the wishes of those who do not want their contact information listed. In these cases, find out if it is all right to simply list the student’s name.

    4. Put it All Together. Once you have the papers in hand of all who are going to participate, you can start entering sorting the information into your word processing software. It is probably best and easiest to list each class room separately, put the teacher’s names and information first and in bold, and to list the rest of the students alphabetically by first or last name after that. If you are including administrators and other staff’s information, you can put that in the front of the directory. Once you put all this together, you can decide on a cover. If the school has a logo, see if you can get hold of a digital version of it. It might also be fun to include little bits of clip art throughout the booklet.

    5. Bind It. For larger projects and schools, you can take a look at binding styles such as plastic comb binding or spiral coil. The schools might even have these types of machines on hand for you to use. For smaller directories, you can use booklets makers that place two staples in the center of the documents. Again, there may be a chance that your school has these and will allow you to use them. A lot of these types of machines are relatively inexpensive to own, and can be used at home for future projects as well.

    How to Design a Fundraising Cookbook

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    Cookbooks are tried and true fundraisers for organizations of all types. Here are a few tips for designing and putting together a great one.

    The Cover:

    There are many ways to go about choosing and designing a cover for your fundraising cookbook. If you are working with a small or online publishing company, they may have a stable of cover templates that you can use. However, you will probably want to use something that conveys the feel of your organization a little better, such as a logo or an original photo or artwork. If you are lucky enough to be working with a designer within your organization, you can discuss with him or her what your options might be. If you are still stuck, you can always revert to a little bit of imitation. Take a look around at some of the cookbook covers that seem to really work for you, and do what you can to implement some of the aspects of the cover (without outright stealing ideas, of course). The professionals call this “design study” and it is very much a legitimate part of the design world, so dig in and see what you find.

    The Dividers:

    A lot of cookbooks (depending on how they are bound) rely on a system of dividers to enhance usability my making the sections easy to find without having to refer to a table of contents or the like. Types of binding styles that can easily accommodate dividers are: plastic comb, spiral coil, and double loop binding. You don’t often see divider systems being used in hardcover (also known as thermal) style binding, as the index tabs would likely stick out beyond the cover of the book.

    The divider pages are also a great place to put some artwork, such as a nice photograph of one of the finished dishes and the title of the section. Again, there may be templates for these at your publishers, but if you are publishing the book yourself, or want to do something a little more original, consult with your designer or do some research yourself.

    Page Layout:

    For the typical recipe page, you will want to keep graphics to a minimum in favor of readability and functionality. Leave the fancy graphics to the chapter headers and cover. Again, if you need a little bit of help when it comes to layout, take a look around at other cookbooks that you feel are easy to use as well as attractive on the page.

    You will also want to have some introductory pages and perhaps short bios of the main officers of your organization. A table of contents would be a nice addition as well, along with a title page and perhaps a short history about your organization and the work that it does.

    Binding Style:

    As stated above, three great binding styles commonly seen in cookbooks are” plastic comb, spiral coil, and double loop wire binding. All of these styles allow the book to open flat for easy functionality in the kitchen, and are fairly rugged systems that keep the pages together well. If your organization has one of these binding machines on hand, you can even bind the books yourself. If not, you can go to your local printer, or buy an inexpensive binding machine.