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The rabbit hole runs deep and there's a long tradition of craftsmanship that I really hope is being passed along and not lost.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av_rU-yOPd4 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtJK_fcrLlY
I learnt because I wanted to rebind "The Road to Reality" by Roger Penrose because the original paperback that I has was just too thick. I ended up with a three volume set.
The Penrose book came with signatures glued into the "paper" cover, so I didn't have to make them. But many paperbacks come "perfect bound" where each page is a single sheet and glued individually to the cover, which makes rebinding more challenging.
Much easier, to start out with, if you want to create a multi signature binding (i.e. multiple groups of paper sewn together) is what's called a case binding. There you make the book block and the cover separately. Which makes it much easier to get a good final effect (at the cost of some longevity - it will outlast you, but perhaps not your grandchildren). Here is a very simple example that doesn't assume many tools[0][1].
She does the simplest thing possible to sew the signatures together. It won't look as good or be as secure as it should be, but will work. Here's a video showing how it 'should' be done[2]
I've been bookbinding for about 10 years, as a hobby. I started with a weekend residential course. It's good to start with practical input, I think. I had an old Dover manual of bookbinding for a few years before that, and didn't get very far.
(Also, craft bookbinding on HN! Things I never expected I'd see...)
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGQ5P8QVHSg
Now this is an ideal crowd and topic to ask a question that is niggling me for a long time. What paper could you use with regular laser printers to get professionally looking printed book? The regular A4 is just too thick, and books printed this way look clumsy.
Now this is an ideal crowd and topic to ask a question that is niggling me for a long time. What paper could you use with regular laser printers to get professionally looking printed book? The regular A4 is just too thick, and books printed this way look clumsy.
Now this is an ideal crowd and topic to ask a question that is niggling me for a long time. What paper could you use with regular laser printers to get professionally looking printed book? The regular A4 is just too thick, and books printed this way look clumsy.
What i am trying to say - paper weight does not matter. 80gsm is used because it is the thinnest paper that will reliably not get stuck in the laser printer.
Try more creamy less bleached (ultrawhite) paper. Since they are not used too much in offices they look immediately less cheap. It can be challenge to find some adjusted to laser printer formats because professional always need big sheets not small ones.
Laser printer will often look not so professional because the color is baked layer on top of the paper and it does not bleed into the paper at all. Offset printing bleeds into the paper tiny bit and it becomes part of the paper. It also has much higher resolution so it is more detailed. The difference is even bigger when you print pictures/photos. You will not get good looking pictures out of laser printer.