How Would You Do This Job?

[kdw75]

Our largest client has decided to change their monthly catalog from a basic saddle stitched booklet to something more complicated. We currently print these digitally, 2-up pre-collated then trim and hand feed into our Plockmatic booklet maker. Now they are switching to saddle stitched books with multiple tabs dividing the sections. Meaning we can't use our Plock and will have to revert to offline folding, then hand collating and stitching. I am curious if any of the booklet makers allow for books with multiple tabs in them.

 

[keith1]

I faced a similar issue with a customer who had been using tabs since before I took over the printing. He wanted to cut costs so I suggested rather than the tabs, print a border down the face edge of each page front & back. The colour of the border is different for each section and it's easy to see the differing colour for each section. Or you could even do the same but with just a 1 or 2 inch long border/block. These smaller blocks can be staggered for each section almost like tabs. Come to think of it, my car manual uses this method. Title of each section can be printed vertically down the border.
These books were cerlox (comb) bound but the same will work with saddle stitch.
Your customer will save a ton of money by not requiring tabs and you will save a ton of grief.
Just an idea. If your customer has bags of money to spend then you're stuck with the tabs.

 

[kdw75]

I faced a similar issue with a customer who had been using tabs since before I took over the printing. He wanted to cut costs so I suggested rather than the tabs, print a border down the face edge of each page front & back. The colour of the border is different for each section and it's easy to see the differing colour for each section. Or you could even do the same but with just a 1 or 2 inch long border/block. These smaller blocks can be staggered for each section almost like tabs. Come to think of it, my car manual uses this method. Title of each section can be printed vertically down the border.
These books were cerlox (comb) bound but the same will work with saddle stitch.
Your customer will save a ton of money by not requiring tabs and you will save a ton of grief.
Just an idea. If your customer has bags of money to spend then you're stuck with the tabs.

I secretly hoped the bid being quite a bit higher would help, but they have the money. I will suggest the colored edge blocks. I have seen those, but hadn't thought of suggesting it. Originally they were going to plasticoil bind them, which would make life easier for us, but then switched to saddle stitched.

Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[pdan]

You might have a sheet tabbed at both edges. You would want to crease for a hand fold while die cutting the tabs if so. I can't imagine machine folding a tabbed front edge.
What kind of qty?

 

[Ynot_UK]

Plasticoil offers the advantage in that the tabbed section dividers can be on a heavier stock, possibly laminated. I'd be inclined to make up some samples and try to steer it in this direction, away from saddle stitching (where I can't see how you could use a heavier stock for the dividers as the opposite side of the fold would be in the wrong place for heavy stock, unless all sections were the same number of pages, which is highly unlikely).

 

[kdw75]

You might have a sheet tabbed at both edges. You would want to crease for a hand fold while die cutting the tabs if so. I can't imagine machine folding a tabbed front edge.
What kind of qty?

4,200 qty.

 

[pippip]

Would that not be cheaper litho?

Perfect bind an option?

 

[kdw75]

Would that not be cheaper litho?

Perfect bind an option?

We don't have the equipment to perfect bind and farming it out costs quite a bit more. The press isn't any cheaper with all the plates and having to collate.

 

[Magnus59]

These jobs are a PITA. We have the sheets die cut leaving the fore edge in place, then hand collate and feed the collated books into the stitcher, folder on the Horizon collator to stitch, fold & do the final fore edge trim.

 

[keith1]

I can't see how you could use a heavier stock for the dividers as the opposite side of the fold would be in the wrong place for heavy stock, unless all sections were the same number of pages, which is highly unlikely)

Ynot_UK brings up a valid point here. You'd have to be the luckiest guy in the world to have both sides of the saddle stitched sheet(s) work as tabs. Therefore the option is a flat form of binding. Saddle bind is off the table.
Congratulations on having a customer that has loads of money and doesn't mind spending it though. Maybe you'd be kind enough to tell the rest of us what that's like!

 

[pdan]

Did the customer ever see a booklet like this or did another design professional just try to out-do their peers again?

 

[pippip]

We don't have the equipment to perfect bind and farming it out costs quite a bit more. The press isn't any cheaper with all the plates and having to collate.

Do you mind me asking how many pages the booklet is? Just can't believe this isn't cheaper from a proper litho trade house.

Assuming A5ish as you get them two up and 48pgs including cover. I can get it done from my trade printer for 40% less than my click charge would be, let alone adding stock, machine time and labour. And my click charge isn't too bad.

 

[kdw75]

Do you mind me asking how many pages the booklet is? Just can't believe this isn't cheaper from a proper litho trade house.

Assuming A5ish as you get them two up and 48pgs including cover. I can get it done from my trade printer for 40% less than my click charge would be, let alone adding stock, machine time and labour. And my click charge isn't too bad.

They changed the quantity down to 3,000. Some signatures have tabs on the left and right. It is 24-pages and the tabs are an extension of the pages, they aren't stand alone tabs.

They have delayed until now and are expecting us to produce them in a day or two, like we did with their old design. We are doing a partial in-house and seeing about having a nearby post press company do all the hard stuff.

 

[jankorous]

This machine can do that:

 

[bcr]

I recently tried using our Powis Parker fastback 20 to bind some books with tabs and thick or transparent plastic covers. Works well and perhaps another alternative when working with tabs as well.