Times are tough and schools are constantly
being hit by budget cuts. If your school is looking to cut costs, one of
the first things to go might be the yearbook. Having a third party
print and bind your yearbooks can be very expensive. Just follow these steps:
Times are tough and schools are constantly
being hit by budget cuts. If your school is looking to cut costs, one of
the first things to go might be the yearbook. Having a third party
print and bind your yearbooks can be very expensive. However, you can
still have your yearbooks and save money if you and your students bind
them yourselves with a thermal binding machine. Just follow these steps:
Prepare
your yearbook the way you normally would. Have the yearbook committee
lay out the pages, write captions, take photographs, and so on. After
the book has been edited, print out as many copies as you need.
Since
you're going to be using a thermal binding machine, you'll need a good
supply of thermal binding covers. There are both paperback and hardcover
cases available, although the hardcover ones are more expensive. Choose
cases that you can afford. If you want, you can have the cases
customized with foil stamping, embossing, and/or offset printing. Be
sure to allow for additional lead time if you order customized covers.
Once
your yearbooks have been printed out and you have your covers at hand,
you can start binding. Although each thermal binding machine has its own
quirks, the general process goes like this:
Turn on the binding machine. Some devices need a couple of minutes to warm up while others are ready for use immediately.
Place
your yearbook's content in a thermal binding case. Jog the pages a
little bit so you can be sure that all of them are in contact with the
adhesive in the spine.
Slide the
document into the binding machine with the spine going in first. The
machine will activate the adhesive which results in your document being
bound. The binding cycle will last for a minute or so. When the document
is ready, the machine might beep or turn a light on so you know the
binding cycle is over.
Take the
yearbook out of the machine and set in on the cooling rack. Let it fully
cool off before flipping through it. Repeat the above process to finish
binding all of your yearbooks.
It's
often possible to bind more than one yearbook at a time. This depends
on the thickness of your books and the size of your machine. There are
some devices that feature multiple heating elements so you can bid a
large number of books at once.
Finally,
make sure you and your students congratulate yourselves on a job well
done. Not only will your yearbooks look great, you will have saved
money, and will have a terrific memento that can be treasured for years
to come.
Although many schools are
having to deal with drastic budget cuts, the yearbook doesn't need to be
a casualty. Just consider thermal binding and you'll be able to create a
yearbook that looks terrific and doesn't cost a fortune to produce.
Good luck and happy binding!
Jeff McRitchie is the Vice-President of Marketing for MyBinding.com.
He regularly writes articles, reviews, and blog posts on topics related
to bookbinding, laminating, paper shredding, and office equipment. More
than 2,500 of his reviews have been published in thousands of locations
on the Internet. If you're looking for information about binding machines, his articles are a great place to start.
