3 Common Binding Ways For Manga Printing You Need To Know

Binding takes an important role in manga printing. Here, listed 3 common manga binding ways to help you create your own manga.

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What kind of binding way does manga use?

Apart from the design, the most troublesome thing about manga book printing is the way of binding. There are different bindingmethods, manga books present different effects to readers. The common manga binding ways we see in the bookstore are saddle stitch, glue binding, hardcover, etc., but which binding method is the most suitable for your manga?

What are the three most common types of binding methods for manga?

1. Saddle stitched binding manga

The book printing method of saddle stitching is the simplest one, and it can be produced without large-scale equipment. This binding way is very common in printing manga. Saddle stitched are called saddle nails because they are shaped like saddles. The staple binding method is to arrange several sheets of paper in order and then fold them in half, and hit the saddle nails on the fold line to fix the whole book.

The Pros of saddle stitched binding

Price Affordable-saddle stitched is the cheapest and fast way for custom manga. 

Open flat-the manga with saddle stitched binding can be open flat and brings better reading experience for readers.

The Cons of saddle stitched binding

Page limit-Since a sheet of paper can form four pages, the number of pages in each printing must be a multiple of four. Manga with more than 48 pages will tend to pop up slightly and cannot be opened flat. Different paper thickness, the effect will be different, now estimated by 128g. The number of pages of a saddle stitch manga can only be 96 pages at most, and the paper must be 128g or less, otherwise it will be too thick to be stapled.

2. Perfect binding manga

Paperback manga is no strangers to everyone. Most of the manga books in the bookstore are bound with perfect binding. Perfect binding, also called perfect bound, paperback, is the most popular way for printing manga.

A paperback manga is to glue the inner paper together with glue, and then glue them to the cover to be a book. Perfect binding, based on the fact that it is glued together one by one, so as long as it is a multiple of 2. Moreover, perfect bound includes glue perfect binding and sew perfect binding. If you want to print a manga be durable, we recommend using sew perfect binding.

A sew perfect binding manga uses threads to hold the pages together, while a perfect bound book uses glue to hold the pages together. Thus, the glue binding manga book will need 10mm space at the end of the paper for staple binding, but the sewing thread will not be used. However, the cost of perfect binding manga will be relatively low, and the printing time will be relatively short than sew perfect binding.

The Pros of perfect binding

Professional outlook-the manga with perfect binding can bring the professional outlook for the readers.

Not too much pages limit-Since the paperback manga is assembled with glue edges, the number of pages that can be assembled will be more than that of the saddle-stitched manga. The number of pages that can be printed in a perfect bound manga depends on the thickness of the paper. If you use 80g paper, the number of pages in the manga can be close to 500 pages at most.

The Cons of perfect binding

Can't open flat-perfect bound manga tend to stay closed from time to time and don't lie flat on a table or shelf. So a paperback manga book will be a little less presentable. To show well, you need to use a little trick.

Cost is relate high-If your manga pages are less, saddle stitched binding will be cheaper. But if printing manga with a large number of pages, perfect binding is the most cost effective way.

Paperback manga, which paper and binding are simple, visually not high-end, and not suitable for collection.

3. Hardcover binding manga

Hardcover, also known as case bound, hardback, etc, is the most durable and expensive binding way for custom manga. A hardcover book is a book with a protective hard back cover. The most common way is to mount glossy paper on cardboard. While other methods of printing hardcover manga, such as leather, thick cardboard, cloth, special paper, etc. Hardcover manga looks high quality and feels good. The reading experience is the best, suitable for collection. Beautiful and classy.

The Pros of hardcover binding

Gorgeous appearance-The finished hardcover manga is generally thicker and has a richer feel. Because the cover is harder, it will not bend as easily as a paperback manga. Meanwhile, hardcover binding creates a stronger protection for manga. If you want to print a manga more high-end, you can use cloth or leather instead of paper to print the manga.

High collection value-Printing manga books sometimes hope that the books can be used for a long time, and can even decorate the bookcase at home. The printing method of hardcover manga exists just for collection.

No pages limit-Hardcover basically has no page limit. All types of manga you can print in hardcover if you want. Usually, the pages between 20-500 pages are very common in hardcover. But it depends on your paper options.

What is the strongest binding type for manga?

It is no doubt that hardcover binding is the strongest binding way for manga printing. Compared to other binding, hardcover with hard cardboard as the cover and binding with both glue and sew thread, make it more durable and withstand baptism of time. If you plan to print a manga for collecting, hardcover is the strongest binding type.

Sometimes, to better protect the manga, some types of hardcover manga will custom dust jacket, slipcase, etc. to achieve this purpose.

Why custom slipcase for manga?

Picture by Graphic Policy Team

Protect manga

Due to long-distance transport or repeat reading, sometimes it is hard to avoid corner damage or curling. Custom slipcase can take a huge protection effect for your manga, not only avoid book corner damage, also dust-proof.

Better display manga

When the assortment of books are in the bookstore, how to better display your manga for readers? Custom slipcase is a good choice. Not only easier to make your manga more standout in the bookstore, also easier to attract readers’ attention, to help you achieve a better display in the bookstore.

Decoration and storage

Sometimes, when you are hard to find a suitable size of storage container to storage your manga book. Custom slipcase is a best choice. Especially for some special manga, like a series of comics, a specially edited version, etc. custom book slipcase, not only can better storage the manga, also can achieve a good decoration effect at your bookstore or home.

Promote collecting value

Custom slipcase can bring your manga level to another higher grade, to help you achieve high-end and elegant looks for readers. For the manga collectors, slipcase manga is more worth for them to collect.

Slipcase manga printing case

Find the best manga printer to custom manga

If you are seeking for best manga printer to print your own manga. BookPrintingChina is here to provide the best guide on your self publishing trip: manga printing. Our experts are most professional and passionate in the printing industry. They are standing by to give you assistance at 7*24 hours. Bring your manga printing at high quality and favor price, get a free quote today.