Against the grain
Folding or cutting paper at right angles to the machine direction of the paper. This should be avoided wherever possible on a perfect bound job. It is important that printed sheets are laid down correctly to avoid it.

Back
The bound edge of a book.

Back Margin
The space between the bound edge and the type.

Bolt
The folded edge of a sheet before cutting or trimming

Book-block
The pages of a book when prepared for binding before adding the cover.

Bulk
The thickness of a book or sheet of paper.

Burst Binding
A method of unsewn adhesive binding in which the sections are ‘burst’ by being punched through the spine to allow the adhesive to link the paper in each section, and the sections to each other.

Cockling
Ripples or waves in a paper due to storing under conditions of unstable relative humidity.

Collate
To gather the sections of a book together ensuring that they are all present and are in the correct order. (Also know as gathering)

Collating marks
Stepped marks printed on the spine of the section so that any miss-collated sections are immediately visible.

Crease
To mechanically press a rule into heavy paper or board to enable folding without cracking.

Drilling
Drilling of holes in folded sections, trimmed or untrimmed, or in finished books, which will permit insertion over rings or posts in a binder.

Edges
The three cut sides of a book-block

Extent
The length of a book in terms of the number of pages.

Foredge
The outer edge of a book, opposite the spine.

Foot
The bottom edge of a book.

Gathering
To place the sections of a book in their correct order to make up a complete book. Also collecting together single sheets for mechanical binding.

Gripper Edge
(See Lay edge)

Gutter
The blank area between boundaries of pages on an imposition sheet.

Head
The top cut edge of a book.

Imposition
The arrangement of pages in printing so that they will appear in the correct order when the printed sheet is folded and trimmed. Also the plan for such an arrangement.

Laminating
The application of a transparent acetate film, either gloss or matt finish to the surface of printed matter to enhance its appearance and to increase its durability.

Landscape
The shape of a book is referred to as ‘landscape’ when its width is greater than its height.

Lay
The position of the print on a sheet of paper

Lay Edge
The edge of a sheet of paper which is laid against the front or side lay edges of a printing or folding machine. The front lay edge is the ‘gripper’ edge.

Lay Mark
A mark inserted by the printer to indicate which is the lay edge of a sheet.

Leaf
A sheet of a book containing two pages, one on each side. Thus a book containing 32 leaves has 64 pages.

Leave Edge
The opposite end of a sheet of paper to the ‘gripper’ edge, sometimes called trailing edge.

Limp Cover
A flexible book cover up to 300grammes in weight distinct from a board cover.

Long grain
Paper in which the grain direction is parallel to the long edge of the sheet.

Machine Direction
The long way of paper web during the paper making process, and the direction in which the cellulose fibres tend to lie due to motion of the paper making machine. The machine direction of the paper is a vital consideration in producing a well bound book.

Microns
A measurement to indicate the thickness of paper as against grammage which is a measurement for weight only.

Notched Binding
See ‘Burst Binding’

Opening
A pair of facing pages.

Perfect Binding
A Style of unsewn binding in which the leaves of a book are held together at the binding edge by adhesive.

Portrait
The shape of a book is referred to as portrait when its height is greater than its width.

PUR

A method of adhesive binding suitable for Perfect Binding heavy or difficult papers. Binding machines require special glue pots. Usually 24 hours drying time is required after binding.

Rebind
To apply a new cover onto an existing bound text book block.

Register
In printing, the exact alignment of pages so that they back one another precisely. In binding the term is sometimes used for a marker.

Score
To partially cut with a rule into heavy paper or board to break the grain and so enable it to fold more readily.

Section
A folded sequence of pages forming part of a book. Sometimes called a “signature.”

Side Gluing
A line of adhesive on front and back of a book – block to strengthen the hinged opening. It may be a different adhesive to that used on the spine.

Side Lay
(See Lay)

Signature mark
A consecutive number or letter which is printed at the foot of the first page of a section to enable a binder to check the position and completeness of sections.

Spine
The bound edge of a book, also known as the “back”

Tail
The bottom of a book, the margin at the bottom or foot of the page.

Unsewn binding
See “Perfect binding.”