Paper Labels // Adventures in Bookbinding

[@funwithmadness]

"I've taken something simple and made it complex".... Now you're talking my language! :)

[@ceejones551]

As a rank amateur, who did a bookbinding course 40 years and and has only returned to it as a hobby in the past couple of years, I have been using paper labels on the books I have restored or some of the family history books I have been printing and binding for family members. I find them adequate, but I guess only time will tell how the glue and the paper hold up over the years. I probably won't be around if it turns out badly ;)

[@g-r-a-e-m-e-]

I know what you mean. But in the conservation or archive business, it's all about how it will fare when we are long gone.

[@marilynbook4211]

I have done paper labels in a label well for a few years but never thought to do it on the spine as well. Thanks for the video

[@Loxalair]

Oooooh. I've been trying to figure out how to label some of my books. Mostly I was just going to use different colours and patterns of fabric and make people guess, but I really like this too

[@BadWaterMotors]

This is the video I've been waiting for! Thank you

[@diangansen8482]

I also have Books, Boxes and Portfolios. What a great book! I love to make the Platonic solids.

[@edwardgurney1694]

Same! Zeier is definitely my favourite book on bookbinding. It's not the first I would recommend to a newbie but it's just such a beautiful object in its own right.

[@laurentcruveillier1371]

Thank you for the reference of the Klucel G. I knew I was doing right, but now, It's back up by a published article! I use it also when I print titles directly on cloth. It saturates the color a little bit and prevents smudging and abrasion.

[@martinnyberg9295]

4:22 When you print a long label for a spine, you make sure the paper grain goes vertical, I presume? 😊 8:22 Coincidentally I saw a french bookcase on the web last night and the spines were labelled in the German way there too. Perhaps I need to waste that hour on google to learn more about why Sweden, with a heavy German influence, labels spines the English way. 😄

[@DASBookbinding]

The grain direction isn't as important with the label. But head to tail might have some advantages, so why not.

[@berolinastrassmann]

Sorry ch a great topic. Great tip about the different shapes according to the structure of the title, and the "Label Well" I appreciate you sharing all these useful tid bits, resulting from your meticulous research. Thank you so much! Paper labels are the choice for me, as I don't have any foiling or professional tools. I saw a tool by a scrapbook crafting company "WeR Memory Keepers" which sells a Foil Quill with a hot tip which can be used for hot foiling. It is marketed for card making. Does anyone have any experience using this on book cloth? I haven't seen anything or anyone doing this. Any tips will be read with interest. Regarding fixating labels, it might be interesting to consider fixative spray used for pastels or graphite, which is also archival, acid free and some even affords UV protection. Thanks, Darren for another useful video!

[@DASBookbinding]

I've seen lots of people on the internet using those pens. I the more established bookbinding circles there are tools such as the Ascona finishing tools and a number of variations made by others, such as Dominic Riley's. Though, these are for patterns not lettering. I guess it depends on how good your hand writing is. Plus foil is very sensitive to temperature, dwell and pressure. Must be difficult to get right.

[@nwgibbons3037]

I use 2 coats of Renaissance Wax buffed with a soft cloth on my paper labels. It provides moisture protection, and also gives the label a nice “glow”. Be sure to test the wax first on ink jet printed labels as it will smear some IJ inks. No worries on laser prints or letterpress. This wax also can amplify the beauty of decorative end papers. NWG

[@JRCSalter]

I've always thought lettering should go top to bottom on the spine so that when the book is lying down face up, the writing isn't upside down.

[@kanintutu]

When I was in the university and took bookbinding classes, we were thought that THIS is THE UNBREAKABLE RULE for lettering to go top to bottom for this exact reason. Now I get an unpleasant feeling of disappointment, when I see bottom to top on a book 😂😅

[@Admiral86Untidy]

Always look forward to the videos. Everything you do is for the betterment of the binder and I suppose the books too 💚

[@simpleton_dc2149]

I've had a ton of success with HTV. Once I made a mistake while adhering to cotton book cloth and was not able to remove without damaging the cloth. Inkjet inks are usually water based and can bleed if you aren't using an inkjet specific paper with a microporous coating. Manufactures such as Hahnamuhle make sealants for inkjet prints that claim to be archival but I don't bother. Some home based inkjet printer use dye based ink which isn't light fast. I suggest looking for a printer that uses pigment inks such as Epson Ultrachrome. Laser printers use a dry toner that is transferred to the paper using heat and sits on the surface. Mohawk super smooth with an eggshell finish is the Best! Love that paper. I normally use it for letterpress printing labels using Von Sons rubber based or oil based inks

[@oakinger]

"as usual I've taken some simple and made it complex" - love the attitude. The mindset of a real craftsman ;)

[@DukeusMostchillius]

Hello Sir.. Im curious if its possible to combine two Paperbacks into a single hardcover volume. Im not finding any videos about the process or things to watch out for. Im currently reading The Witcher and i think it would be great fun to turn my Paperback readers into HC. the first two books in the reading order are collections short stories and i love to see the extra thick books on the shelf but i dont want to ruin my copies trying to do something that simple doesnt work

[@DASBookbinding]

I would recommend enjoying them as paperbacks. Putting them in boards doesn't improve them in any way. It can be done, but they have to modified in some way and there will always be some strangeness about opening around the transition area.

[@rodericfindlay4147]

That is an extremely useful video, full of sound advice. Thank you.

[@MouseOfJesus]

Thank you very much. I write and self-bind. I had been attempting to apply labels using transparency stock. It looks kinda okay, but reveals my novicity as a binder as I have only been doing this a few months using only what I can find locally or hve on hand. Your videos have been so incredibly helpful. Thank you for your bravery to produce these videos and for being my virtual, yet human instructor on these things. Thank you again.

[@vilhelm-]

In regard to printing directly onto bookcloth, does the cloth need to be coated somehow afterwards? I imagine moisture from sweaty hands could cause the ink to spread, but perhaps I'm overthinking it.

[@JMCatron]

I'm really struggling with the label well. I tend to use a thicker cardstock (usually around the same GSM as the laminate) for my front covering material, and I think that's why. I have a hard time finding the edge of the label well while gluing, and then run past it with my bone folder which leaves a tool mark in the cover. Maybe I should do a double-thickness laminate to make it easier?

[@martinnyberg9295]

4:33 I did an experiment last night to see what waxing does to inkjet printed labels. I used ti like to use the colour laser printer at work to make labels for my elderflower lemonade and apple sauce, but I don’t have access to a colour laser printer anymore, so how do I make the home inkjet printer work for that? It turns out that your practice of using a soft cloth to put wax on paper works. I waxed one label and left one plain. Then I just put them both under the sink faucet. The waxed one stayed crisp even when the paper was soaked. The untreated one had the inks running all over the place.

[@subjectline]

So many good solutions to making them look good! I look forward to using them.

[@audi1651]

For me, who mainly creates comics, this is the most difficult step, the thickness of my books is often 10 or 12 mm. And my only option on Buckram (for now) is heat laid vinyl. A label made on the printer would be a great relief, but children are not very careful. Integrating the label into a hollow like you do in the video is magnificent, I'll try.

[@edwardgurney1694]

I like paper labels. Theyre often discussed as a poor man's or amateurs alternative to foil blocking but i think they look good in their own right. They provide a nice contrast to the cover material, especially if the covering material is patterned and the label is plain. I especially like old hand written labels but unfortunately my handwriting is appalling and attempts to replicate have not gone well.

[@ianweetman7819]

Great video as always many thanks! I have consistently had problems with EVA keeping paper labels stuck to Buckram cloths. I have a range of makes (mainly end of lines etc and sadly I don't know the manufacturers) and had this problem with at least a couple of different ones. Have you experienced this at all and any advice?

[@DASBookbinding]

I haven’t but this comes up regularly and the answer seems to be to take the surface coating off with a solvent such as ethanol or iso. alcohol.

[@aleksandrrakitin9747]

For me even HTV is a bit expensive because it requires a cutting machine, so label well'd be an amazing solution. Thanks, I'll give it a go

[@matiascura3727]

Hi, recently I used this label well technique for a binding of The Stranger by Camus. I must admit it truly looks quite good. I'm going to continue to use it so thank you for all your work and dedication on these videos. My question is what is the binding structure you use at the end? It doesn't look like a sewn board binding but it also has no foredge.

[@DASBookbinding]

You're welcome. Stiff boards binding kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnjGeGWsabmLrZI

[@thehessiansack6860]

We are letterpress printers (Mabel & Co) and have had great success with printing on to the case before casing in. We use vegetable based ultra-black ink, onto our in-house made linen buckram. The results are really pleasing and generally we feel that the level of detail achieved is greater than that of hot foiling - but we don't do hot foiling so might be biased! Appreciate that not everyone has access to a fullsize printing press to be able to do this, but small table top ones are readily available and can be used to produce nice labels.

[@DASBookbinding]

Nice to hear from you. It's a bit of work setting up a press for one label. Better for a run. I guess you can hand ink for a single. I know Arthur Green has an Adana for making authentic looking paper labels. I have a little Poco proof press and I have thought about doing labels with it.

[@theBoonarmies]

Love your work. It's a fantastic resource, and a fascinating learning experience.

[@margaretwillmer9518]

I have used a thinned down paper varnish on paper both for labels and printed sides of quarter bindings. Laser printed on off white paper looks a bit like vellum as it goes a bit translucent. You can't over brush as the print runs but quite a nice effect.

[@ja9121]

I’ve had success with HTV and printing onto bookcloth, but I haven’t thought to use paper labels. I’ll have to give this a try. Thanks for always being such an amazing resource!

[@blindlarry8606]

can you demonstrate printing on buckram material

[@DASBookbinding]

I just cut it out to a standard size. I normally do A3. And feed it into a InkJet printer. I'm not sure what to demonstrate. There is some fiddling about to get it to print in the right spot. I practice on paper first.

[@DanielCoffey67]

For many home printers, the 118gsm Mohawk will be too thick to go through the duplex paper path but should still be perfect for manual feed. If your printer has a flat card or envelope paper path accessible by dropping a rear panel, that would help avoid curling and can handle thicker papers like this one.

[@DASBookbinding]

118gsm Mohawk isn't thick and it is very flexible, which makes it a great text paper. It is a certified digital paper. I have never had a problem with it in my low end consumer printers, all with duplexers. I occasionally get paper jams with the Clairbook, but it isn't the weight, it is the texture, and the cheap feed mechanisms have trouble occasionally pulling 2 sheets from the tray.

[@DanielCoffey67]

@@DASBookbindingThe home laser printers do seem to have rather restrictive specifications. My 10 year old Brother HL-2270DW lists 60-105gsm for both the main tray and the duplexer but 60-165gsm for the flat manual path. Additionally it adds Long Grain to the spec list too. It didn't occur to me it might be the paper pickup that could be limiting the paper weights - it is just two flimsy rollers after all. I could understand the duplexer having limited specs as it does have to roll the paper around at one end to turn it over. Oddly the brand new Brothers for home or small office still have the same weight restrictions. You have to go up to the big multifunction office printers before Brother will "allow" papers to 120gsm from a tray and 200gsm for flat path. Of course there is the old "if it works"... I have some 100gsm A4 Short grain from Papermill Direct in the UK for fanfic bookbinding and some heavier quality paper I bought 12 years ago from Piccolo Press in Scotland that I could use for labels if I flat path it throuhh the printer. It is a brilliant white but very opaque. I will need to find a way of labelling the rounded spines of books covered in Buckram book cloth however. I should only have three to identify but they are between 400 and 600 pages (100-150 sheets) long. I don't have any of the foil tools and this is at home.

[@awatercolourist]

Hi! Youy mentioned that you wax some types of paper. May you briefly mention what wax you use and how you apply the wax? Does the wax yellow with time? Thanks! Oh, and thanks for the video 😃

[@DASBookbinding]

It is a very thin layer put on indirectly with a soft cloth. People think it's some sort of wet process. It is the thinnest of layers, just enough to provide moisture protection. I demonstrate in this video. I use bees wax. Paraffin wax would be fine too. studio.kzbin.infoQwmjegnnScs/edit

[@awatercolourist]

@@DASBookbinding Thanks so much! 🙂

[@e4224]

I had never thought about it, but indeed, looking at my bookshelves it looks like most english books go top to bottom, and of the german books an overwhelming majority goes bottom to top (with 5-10% falling out of line going top to bottom). Love the look of the wrap-around label, and will have to try out the recessed one too!

[@mcozy3466]

Doing a lot of research on this for a large project for my grad school notebooks, the biggest point I found was this: English books/American style have the labels going top to bottom so that the when the book sits face up on a table, like a coffee book, you can also read the spine label. German/ European style spines have the labels going bottom to top because most people find it more natural to til their head to the left to read the spine. Personally, I find that last point to be true, so I'm conflicted because on the one hand it's much easier to find my notes but at the same time I'd like the spine to not be upside down laying flat. Ah the frustration! :) @DASBookbinking Great video! I learned a lot. Thank you!

[@larisazambonekocic5529]

Love the Milton Poetical Works book on the shelf and the "label well" term too 😊

[@ginnybair2533]

This was really helpful, thanks! I use a lot of HTV but it has so many issues. I also love using cover materials with a lot of pattern, which makes anything without some sort of solid background like a label really hard to see. I'm hoping to test this out today!

[@AngelavengerL]

Very interesting. I really loved the look of the hollow label. I wonder if instead of mod podge for those that want to seal their labels an artists matte varnish would probably be more reliable, since it's made for paintings and not a glue.

[@Dedicatedfollower467]

I thought I was going to have to hand-letter the labels on the spine of my current projects, which I was very nervous about, but maybe a paper label would work just as well, or even better!

[@nicb9094]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, I love your videos.

[@g-r-a-e-m-e-]

I have always had a thing about labels, and have explored every angle including the ideas shared in the video (and others). Thanks very much.

[@vdc7153]

Thank you so much for this topic: I always spend hours for the design of the label’s but find your solution crisp and clean.

[@lpanades]

Fantastic.

[@dtpostel]

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