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Board Book Binding

Board books are made via a special binding process that produces a book with very thick paperboard pages, suitable for children’s books for young children, or for projects like art books and creative books that seek to emulate this feel.

How Board Books are Made

Unlike other books, board books are not ‘bound’ in the traditional sense.  Instead, during the board book binding process,  2-page spreads are printed on parent sheets, then cut, assembled, and glued together by hand, one set of pages at a time.

PrintNinja’s board books use the highest quality construction, with an extra sheet of board between the printed sheets for added thickness, durability, and climate tolerance to prevent the books from warping (a very common problem with board books).

Design Considerations

Unlike most other binding methods, board book page counts do not have to go in increments of 4.  Because they are assembled by hand instead of via a folding process, they can be in increments of 2 (both sides of a sheet of paper).

Board books typically have a lamination finish (which is usually reserved for covers) throughout their inside pages. This lamination can be gloss or matte, and it serves to increase the durability of the overall book.

Keep in mind that production of board books includes a score running down the binding edge of the back cover—about the same distance away from the spine as the spine width itself. This is to allow the book to open properly and lay flat.

Cover Design
Covers for board book projects need to include a spine and should be designed using our board book cover template.

Production Time

After being sent to press, board book projects take three weeks to manufacture, after which they are shipped out to you via your chosen shipping method.  Be sure to check our turnaround time page to see how much time your project will take based on your proofing and shipping options.

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