Comb binding - It's cheaper for short-runs

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The production of manuals is no longer just for the high-volume print house, nor do you need to spend a fortune on getting them printed by High Street companies with their expensive setup costs and minimum quantities. If you just want to print ten high quality manuals to give away at a presentation or seminar then you want a quick way of doing it that won't break the bank but also won't have you thought of as a cheap outfit.
 

Fortunately there's a way you can be professional and yet keep costs low. Moreover, left over manuals can be re-used instead of finding their way to the skip or the storage cupboard never to be found again.

 
For really short runs then the ideal solution is a comb-binder. These are machines that punch holes into your paper (usually a number of sheets at a time) and then allow you to easily thread a 'comb' (essentially a plastic spine) through the holes to hold the paper together.
 
Although an extremely manual method, for short runs this is an ideal solution and one that can be utilised for manuals from twenty to over a hundred pages. The physical size of the manual depends in full on the size of comb available but the most common is A4 (or letter in the US). These comb-bound manuals are absolutely ideal to give away at seminars and if more are needed you simply print off more sheets and bind them.
 
For the green-minded amongst you though, there is also the benefit of being able to unbind the documents if needs be. For example, if you wanted to add more pages or just re-bind an entirely new manual you simply slot the manual onto the binding machine and release the comb.

Posted: 17 September 2009

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