How Are Books Manufactured?

Printing Methods

There are three methods used in modern book manufacture: digital, gravure and offset. Of the three, offset printing accounts for the vast majority of the books made today.

Offset Printing

The offset process works by transferring images, typically from original materials, to printing plates and then to rubber plates, which are used for printing. Typically these originals are now digital in origin. For larger production run, large rolls of paper are fed into the press.

Cutting and Binding

The rolls from the press are typically cut and folded into bundles, typically of 16 pages. Nearly all paperbacks are perfect bound, with the bundles glued together with a cover made of stiffer paper. Hardbounds are usually stitched together at the spine, with "library bound" being especially robust.