Niche Book Printing

Books matter

Books have been the reference point of history for centuries. We are well aware of people who can’t even find digital files a fortnight after they created them let alone 2 years after. Face it, people cherish books, have you ever heard of a PDF file being cherished? The wonders of books that they live on, either passed on, resold in second user shops or discover a new purpose in the beholders.

We have witnessed over our time working with publishers and self-publishers, the unexpected when an edition smashes through the sale target and ends up in an immediate reprint. When this happens it’s primarily due to the content, being of relevance to that moment in time, or sparking the interest of the community.

We love it when people, touch, feel, engage other senses, which new books and equally old books provide. Richly tactile covers, the sensory nature of a book wove paper for the text pages all spark a meaningful interaction with the book and its content.

The act of publishing

Publishing a book, whether through a publisher or self-publishing is the point of defining yourself as a credible source of knowledge on a subject matter. Whether it is a technical specialism, from cyber security or niche customer service, through to preservation of researched history it is about being credible in a world where too much can be questioned. The process of committing to print, acquiring an ISBN for your work and getting referenced as a credible source, builds kudos, respectability and levitates you to a different level when peers, colleagues, customers and other people see you and what you do or know.

Yes, the digital age has made self-publishing easier, the points of entry are significantly lower than they used to be. As an artisan digital print house, we can produce books in the 10’s through to the 1000’s, so proving content, or providing limited edition copies is very much an accessible option.

Our production

Local books, produced locally, reduce the impact, by going local. In our Halifax print studio, we offer a full service for short-run digital printed books. We offer a sustainable offering with recycled papers, FSC accredited papers, and much of our paper usage being carbon captured alongside. Our toner is 94+% compostable, and we take a responsible viewpoint to the use of plastics in production and within our working environment.

We have a suite of Canon digital presses, which provide flexibility to meet the needs of modern short-run book production. A modern print finishing, bindery onsite, provides us with the means to deliver a range of finishes and binding styles.

We have produced;

• - Saddle-stitched, or staples in the spine, the entry point for small scale bookbinding, great for publications from 8 to 36 pages. Cost-effective, functional. We always assess jobs for the size and specification of wires/staples.


• - Perfect Bound, or pages sitting in a ridged glued strip that bonds them together. This works better 32 plus pages, all the way up to spines of about 32mm thick. It adds to the perception of the product by having a spine. We use PlanaMelt glue which provides strength comparable to PUR, with better handing for use in a digital print environment.


• - Wiro-bound, the pages are bound using a wire which runs back and forth through punch holes. This is great when you need a publication to sit flat, or even totally fold back on itself. There are several ways in which the cover can work, either separate front and back covers or a wraparound cover, where the binding wires fix into a double punched part of the back cover. This is known as a “Half-Canadian binding”. We offer both 3:1 and 2:1 binding pitches, which is the spacing of the holes and works with different specifications of wire.

We have bound other projects in a multitude of ways including binding bolts, plastic combs and tape spines to name a few.

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Experience

The heart of our production is driven by the experience of the senior staff in the business, with a vast range of both commercial and high pagination printing environments. From 32-page text page section printed litho, through to flexible sections printed digitally, our understanding of book production is well seasoned with three-plus decades in the trade. We’ve seen the award-winning work past through our senior staff, with award-winning Citizens Advice Bureau annual reports, BPIF’s Young Managers in the Print runner up for an impact report. With 2 decades of magazine and journal design, production and distribution, we have a varied skill set to support you in publishing your title.

We also recognise that getting the “repro” right can make a huge difference to the result. An underrated skill set, within our team we have experience in high-end repro from back in the day where scanning colour transparencies for exceptional detail was an art form. Today our knowledge from this is transferred across to the digital environment, where we can maximise the impact of the reproduction within the limitations of the print process. Our skills in retouching, enhancing, colour correction, are firm foundations for maximising the impact of your visual matter.

Why us

We are an artisan digital print house. We tackle projects, on a personal level, giving them the attention, you expect. Hence you won’t find web portals and the bot’s answering your questions. We know your project is important to you, and thus we handle it that way. Personally.

We look at the elements of your book project and ensure the specification is right for it to achieve what you want it to achieve.

Above all, we’re passionate about proper print, that creates the right impression.