Present Teacher Guide To Publishing and Book Making

How is a book made into the current form that it takes when it is sold at a bookstore? The process itself is actually quite simple when the right materials and tools are available.

First of all, the book content or manuscript is printed onto large sheets of paper. The process itself is fast and cost-efficient. How a book is made into the proper sized sheets for binding is based on the cutting process after the printing has been completed. The cutting of the sheets is double that of the size of a regular book page, so that each half is the visible portion of every printed page in the book.


Once the cut pages are divided, they are arranged and then sewn together at the midsection in order to make sure that they are securely in place. These sections are then placed on what will be the actual cover of the book, whether this is paperback or hardcover in nature. Covers of books can vary in design, and some manufacturers even use expensive printing tools to make sure that they can print out high quality book covers for their books.

So, how is a book made durable? The printed and sewn pages are glued to the spine of the cover with high quality glue. In many cases of hardcover books, extra pages have been sewn on the front and back of the printed pages, and these are then glued to the front and back of the cover to ensure that they will stay bound, as well as taped around the edges to add strength and protection from tearing around the edges.

How is a book made in the Arab world where bookbinding found its birth? Well, after learning the Chinese art of papermaking, Arabs made miniature scripts and sewed these together with silk, attaching them to leather paste boards, with an extra flap to cover the "book". The Arabs also came up with the concept of multiple copies of books to pass around to those who needed to read the Islamic scriptures.

Bookbinding has remained unchanged over the years, and the same method is used in all book manufacturing processes. The only difference that could distinguish bookbinding today from that of the early fifteenth century is the fact that the process is relatively faster with the emergence of newer printing technology and gadgets that allow for mass production in spite of the same printing and binding techniques.



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