The art and craft of bookmaking long predates photography as an expressive medium. Like any discipline, book design/publishing comes with its own nomenclature. Below are some common terms that you may encounter when you begin making and publishing photo books.
Accordion (Concertina) Fold: Parallel folds that open up like an accordion.
Addendum: Information added to the end of a book after publication.
Appendix: Supplemental information added to the end of a book (tables, glossary, bibliography, etc.).
Awl: A tool used for piercing paper to produce pathways for thread when sewing a text block. For best results, an awl should be just slightly larger than the needle used for sewing.
Back Matter: Refers to the appendix, index, and colophon at the end of a book.
Bench Sewing: Sewing through a fold to combine signatures into a text block.
Bleed: Edge of the page that is trimmed. If you want images to extend all the way to the edge of your page, you should allow them to extend a bit into the bleed, so you don’t get a thin white line at the edge of the page.
Bone Folder: A tool used for folding creases to produce crisp folded edges.
Book Board: Rigid board used for making a case.
Book Cloth: Protective cloth used to cover case bound books.
Case Binding: Two book boards and a spine combined with a text block to form a hardcover book.
Casing: Process of applying adhesive to the outermost endpapers of a text block and fitting it into a case.
Clamshell Box: A protective box used for storage. When closed, it provides two walls of protection from the enclosed book’s environment.
CMYK (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Key/Black): A four-color, subtractive printing process used by most offset printers.
Colophon: Publishing and printing information, usually located at the end of a book; also, a publisher’s emblem, usually located on the spine and/or title page.
Crop Mark: A line used to designate where to trim a page.
Deboss: A sunken design.
Deckle: A rough, uneven page edge, typically used for decorative effect.
Double Truck: An image that extends across the gutter of a page.
Dummy (Maquette): A mockup of a book used for planning and adjusting layout and design.
Dust Jacket: A removable cover used to protect a book.
Edition: Refers to all copies of a print run.
Emboss: A raised design.
Endpaper: Sheet used to secure a text block to the inside cover of a book; see also: Flyleaf.
Flat Back (Square Back): Case bound book with a flat spine.
Flush Alignment: When all text lines up on the right or left side of a page.
Flyleaf: The first and last pages of a book used to attach the text block to the inside cover; see also: Endpaper.
Folio: One folded sheet of paper (two leaves/four pages). May also refer to page numbering (Drop Folio: numbers on the bottom of the page; Blind Folio: no page numbers).
Fore Edge: Edge of a leaf opposite to its spine.
Front Matter: Title, copyright, and table of contents pages, located at the beginning of a book (copyright may also appear at the end).
Gate Fold: A leaf that is folded inward so that it can be opened and extended.
Gilt: Gold edging on a text block (e.g., on religious books).
Grain: The fibers of a sheet of paper, aligned in one direction. To determine the direction of the grain, carefully bend a sheet of paper horizontally and vertically. Grain will run parallel to the direction of least resistance.
Grain Long: When grain is running the longer side of a sheet.
Grain Short: When grain is running the shorter side of a sheet.
GSM (Grams per Square Meter): A standardized unit of measurement used to compare the density of different paper stocks.
Halftone: A printing technique that transforms images into dots of various sizes, allowing an image to be made using one color ink.
Head: The top of a book.
Headband: Ornamental fabric that may be sewn into a text block for additional support.
Inlay: A piece of leather added to a leather-bound book to replace a cutout area to achieve a decorative effect.
ISBN (International Standard Book Number): A unique number used to identify a commercially produced book.
Justified Alignment: When text is spaced in such a way to maintain even lines on both the right and left sides of a page.
Kettle Stitch: Stitching used to secure the heads and tails of signatures in order to create a text block.
Lay Flat Binding: A binding method that allows pages to “lay flat” without distorting images near the gutter.
Leaf: One unit in a text block (front and back pages).
Margin: The area around the text of a page.
Methyl Cellulose: Added to polyvinyl acetate (PVA) in order to increase drying time.
Offset Lithography: A commercial method of printing books that “offsets” ink from plates to rollers that transfer to paper.
Onlay: Similar to an inlay except that the decorative place is secured on top of the cover with adhesive.
Perfect (Adhesive) Binding: Single sheets glued together. This is one of the cheapest but least-durable binding methods.
Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA): A quick-drying, archival, and flexible adhesive used for book binding.
Post Binding: A method usually used for albums wherein flat-headed screws are used to hold a book together.
Print on Demand (POD): A production method where copies are created by an order rather than in editions.
Proof: A preliminary copy of a book used to check print quality.
Recto: The front side of a page.
RGB (Red-Green-Blue): A three-color, additive color process commonly used by electronic screens.
Round Back: A text block with a spine that has been hammered into a rounded shape.
Saddle Stitch: Securing leaves of a folio with thread or staples along its folded edge.
Side Stitch Binding: A method in which staples or stitching run along the side of a book.
Signature: Two or more sheets of paper stacked and folded as a group.
Slipcase: A storage box with one open end fitted to a specific book.
Spine: The back of a book where signatures are combined and reinforced.
Spiral Binding: A method wherein a coil is used to bind pages with holes punched into them.
Spread: Left and right pages viewed together.
Super: A gauzy fabric used to reinforce the spine of a text block.
Tail (Foot): The bottom of a book.
Tape Binding: When the spine of a book is covered with a tape or cloth lining to secure it.
Text/Book Block: A collection of signatures sewn together.
Tipped-In: A page or image that has been added into a book separate from the text block.
Verso: The back side of a page.
Zine: Derived from “magazine,” this is an ephemeral book typically featuring a saddle-stitch binding.
0 Comments