| With more and more organizations creating their own | | | | style and design, however they have a small window |
| bound documents, making your own presentations | | | | cut out of the front cover that allows for a portion of |
| stand apart from the rest is more important than ever. | | | | the text or artwork from your title page to be visible. |
| In this post, we'll take a closer look at thermal soft | | | | Transparent front covers have a paper back and a |
| covers to see how they work and to learn about how | | | | clear plastic front, which enables the entire title page to |
| they can be used to add a professional touch to any | | | | show through without requiring the reader to open the |
| document. | | | | book. |
| The Basics | | | | One of the best features of this style of cover is that |
| Thermal soft covers are used for perfect binding, a | | | | it can be customized in a number of ways, which |
| popular binding style that uses heat-activated | | | | makes it great for promotional documents, catalogs, |
| adhesives to create an attractive, uncluttered bind. | | | | pricelists, tax reports, or even yearbooks and photo |
| Perfect binding is commonly used on both soft cover | | | | books. They can be screenprinted, foil stamped, |
| and hardcover books, as well as magazines, because | | | | embossed, and offset printed, which gives you (or |
| it allows for easy stacking and storage (unlike other | | | | your organization) complete control over the look and |
| binding styles which tend to have a bulkier finish). Since | | | | feel of the finished book. When you combine the |
| the documents are secured with glue, no punching is | | | | available customizations with the wide selection of |
| required to achieve a secure bind. | | | | cover stocks and styles, the possibilities are practically |
| Thermal Soft Covers | | | | limitless! |
| Like traditional binding covers, thermal soft covers are | | | | In Review |
| made from paper or clear plastic (or a combination | | | | Perfect binding is a great way to achieve a book-like |
| thereof) and are available in a variety of finishes. | | | | finish on almost any document. It creates a slim spine |
| Instead of having separate front and back covers, | | | | that is stackable and easy to store (unlike other |
| thermal soft covers come as a pre-scored, solid piece | | | | conventional binding methods). Thermal soft covers |
| (similar to a file folder) that has a strip of | | | | are used in conjunction with a perfect binding machine, |
| thermally-activated adhesive down the center. To | | | | and come with thermally-activated glue pre-applied. |
| create a bind, simply place your document within the | | | | Since they already have the adhesive in place, you |
| cover and insert the cover into your thermal binding | | | | simply have to insert your document into the cover |
| machine (following the manufacturer's instructions). | | | | and place it within the thermal binding machine to |
| Because the covers are made as single pieces, they | | | | create your bind. Thermal soft covers are available in |
| are available in different spine sizes that are | | | | many attractive colors and textures, and can even be |
| specifically designed to accommodate the thickness of | | | | customized with screenprinting, foil, embossing, or |
| your report. They are offered with spines as small as 1 | | | | offset printing to create your ideal book. |
| 16" (capable of holding 1-10 pages of standard 20 lb. | | | | If you are looking for a way to make your |
| paper) and 1-3/4" (capable of holding 280-350 pages | | | | presentations, reports, and even photo books look |
| of standard 20 lb. paper). | | | | stand out, then you'll definitely want to consider binding |
| Customization | | | | with thermal soft covers. Not only are they among the |
| There are three standard styles of soft thermal | | | | most professional-looking binding covers, but they also |
| covers - solid, window-cut, and transparent front. Solid | | | | require very little effort to use. With almost endless |
| covers are made from a single sheet of paper, and | | | | options for customization, you can design custom |
| are available in a wide variety of textures and colors. | | | | thermal soft covers to fit all of your binding needs. |
| Window-cut covers are identical to solid covers in | | | | |