Editing Book (section)

=== Manufacturing ===
[[File:Urval av de bocker som har vunnit Nordiska radets litteraturpris under de 50 ar som priset funnits (2).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Several book spines displayed on a shelf]]The methods used for the printing and binding of books continued fundamentally unchanged from the 15th century into the early 20th century. While there was more [[mechanization]], a [[book printer]] in 1900 still used movable metal type assembled into words, lines, and pages to create copies. Modern paper books are printed on [[Printing and writing paper|paper designed specifically for printing]]. Traditionally, book papers are off-white or low-white papers (easier to read), are opaque to minimize the show-through of text from one side of the page to the other and are (usually) made to tighter [[caliper]] or thickness specifications, particularly for case-bound books. Different paper qualities are used depending on the type of book: [[Machine finished coated paper]]s, [[woodfree uncoated paper]]s, [[coated fine paper]]s and [[special fine paper]]s are common paper grades.

Today, the majority of books are printed by [[offset lithography]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNCODAAAQBAJ&q=Today,+the+majority+of+books+are+printed+by+offset+lithography&pg=PA213|title=The Complete Canadian Book Editor|last=Vermeer|first=Leslie|date=2016|publisher=Brush Education|isbn=978-1-55059-677-9|language=en|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=December 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218164852/https://books.google.com/books?id=BNCODAAAQBAJ&q=Today,+the+majority+of+books+are+printed+by+offset+lithography&pg=PA213|url-status=live}}</ref> When a book is printed, the pages are laid out on the plate so that after the printed sheet is folded the pages will be in the correct sequence. Books tend to be manufactured nowadays in a few standard sizes. The [[Book size|sizes of books]] are usually specified as "trim size": the size of the page after the sheet has been folded and trimmed. The standard sizes result from sheet sizes (therefore machine sizes) which became popular 200 or 300 years ago, and have come to dominate the industry. British conventions in this regard prevail throughout the English-speaking world, except for the US. The European book manufacturing industry works to a completely different set of standards.

[[Hardcover]] books have a stiff binding, while [[paperback]] books have cheaper, flexible covers which tend to be less durable. Publishers may produce low-cost pre-publication copies known as [[galley proof|galleys]] or "bound proofs" for promotional purposes, such as generating reviews in advance of publication. Galleys are usually made as cheaply as possible, since they are not intended for sale.

====Printing====
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2024}}

Some books, particularly those with shorter runs (i.e. with fewer copies) will be printed on sheet-fed offset presses, but most books are now printed on [[web press]]es, which are fed by a continuous roll of paper, and can consequently print more copies in a shorter time. As the production line circulates, a complete "book" is collected together in one stack of pages, and another machine carries out the folding, pleating, and stitching of the pages into bundles of [[Section (bookbinding)|signatures]] (sections of pages) ready to go into the gathering line. The pages of a book are printed two at a time, not as one complete book. Excess numbers are printed to make up for any spoilage due to make-readies or test pages to assure final print quality.

A ''make-ready'' is the preparatory work carried out by the pressmen to get the printing press up to the required quality of [[Impression (publishing)|impression]]. Included in make-ready is the time taken to mount the plate onto the machine, clean up any mess from the previous job, and get the press up to speed. As soon as the pressman decides that the printing is correct, all the make-ready sheets will be discarded, and the press will start making books. Similar make readies take place in the folding and binding areas, each involving spoilage of paper.

Recent developments in book manufacturing include the development of digital printing. Book pages are printed, in much the same way as an office copier works, using [[toner (printing)|toner]] rather than ink. Each book is printed in one pass, not as separate signatures. Digital printing has permitted the manufacture of much smaller quantities than offset, in part because of the absence of make readies and of spoilage. Digital printing has opened up the possibility of print-on-demand, where no books are printed until after an order is received from a customer.

[[File:Printing3 Walk of Ideas Berlin.JPG|thumb|{{convert|40|ft|m|order=flip|adj=mid|-high}} sculpture of a stack of books at the Berlin [[Walk of Ideas]], commemorating the invention of modern book printing]]

====Binding====
{{main|Bookbinding}}
After the signatures are folded and gathered, they move into the [[bindery]]. In the middle of last century there were still many trade binders—stand-alone binding companies which did no printing, specializing in binding alone. At that time, because of the dominance of letterpress printing, typesetting and printing took place in one location, and binding in a different factory. When type was all metal, a typical book's worth of type would be bulky, fragile and heavy. The less it was moved in this condition the better: so printing would be carried out in the same location as the typesetting. Printed sheets on the other hand could easily be moved. Now, because of increasing [[Automation|computerization]] of preparing a book for the printer, the typesetting part of the job has flowed upstream, where it is done either by separately contracting companies working for the publisher, by the publishers themselves, or even by the authors. Mergers in the book manufacturing industry mean that it is now unusual to find a bindery which is not also involved in book printing (and vice versa).

If the book is a hardback its path through the bindery will involve more points of activity than if it is a paperback. Unsewn binding is now increasingly common. The signatures of a book can also be held together by "[[Smyth sewing]]" using needles, {{anchor|McCain sewing}}"McCain sewing", using drilled holes often used in schoolbook binding, or {{anchor|Notch binding}}"notch binding", where gashes about an inch long are made at intervals through the fold in the spine of each signature. The rest of the binding process is similar in all instances. Sewn and notch bound books can be bound as either hardbacks or paperbacks.

==== Finishing ====
"Making cases" happens off-line and prior to the book's arrival at the binding line. In the most basic case-making, two pieces of cardboard are placed onto a glued piece of cloth with a space between them into which is glued a thinner board cut to the width of the spine of the book. The overlapping edges of the cloth (about 5/8" all round) are folded over the boards, and pressed down to adhere. After case-making the stack of cases will go to the [[foil stamping]] area for adding decorations and type.