Book Printing Lingo: What is Coil Binding?

The book's cover and pages are held together by a spring-like coil that is spiraled through small holes punched along the spinal edge of the book.

Coil Binding, also known as Spiral Binding, is a very popular and relatively simple bookbinding method. The coil binding process secures the pages and cover of a book using a durable plastic or metal coil that resembles a long spring.

The coil is inserted and twisted through small holes punched along the spinal edge of the book's cover and pages. After being fed through all the holes in the cover and pages, the coil is crimped at both ends to keep it in place.

Unlike most other binding styles, coil bound pages have no spinal tension in them. Hence, the pages of a coil bound book rotate around the coil with very little resistance. This allows the pages of a coil bound document to stay put without having to be continually held open to view the contents.

Coil binding is a popular bookbinding style that allows a book to fold all the way back upon itself and still remain flat. This feature makes coil binding an excellent choice for reports, sales presentations, proposals, directories, cookbooks, instructional books, and maintenance manuals. Atlases and travel guides are also commonly coil bound because they are easier to manage when traveling.

In addition to being easy to reference, coil bound books also open fully, so important information never gets buried near the spine. This makes coil binding a versatile and practical choice for a wide variety of documents.

Formax Printing has been printing and binding books for over 30 years. If you have any additional questions about the coil binding method, or have an upcoming book project, simply give us a call at (866) 367-6221. Or, if you already know your specs, click here to send us a quote request. We look forward to assisting with your printing and binding needs!

Take care! Rick