Book binding

[CupOfCoffee]

Hello, friends. Sometime in the near future (before June) I will have somewhere in the area of 45-50 8.5x11" pages of glossy printer paper that I will want to make a book out of. Can anyone with experience in this field give me some pointers, or at least some things to steer clear of? At first I was assuming I'd just go to Walgreens and buy one of those slim presentation folders with a see-through cover and a clamp inside to squeeze/hold pages inside, but I realized that 50 pages is probably too many for it to grip effectively (especially when considering that it's glossy, and therefor has less friction). Then I thought about punching three holes through the book and using either metal rings or thread or something to hold it together, but that would likely suck for longevity--I don't want the pages to fall out or get damaged.

Is there a relatively low-cost, low risk way of binding this book?

[ladyjaderiver]

We made and bound our own sketchbooks in my Advanced Drawing class in High School... I don't remember exactly how you go about it, but we made them into actual hard-cover books - not a binder or anything. I don't think how we did it would work with single sheets of paper, though - I do remember that the pages had to be folded in half.

[CupOfCoffee]

Ah, yeah... signatures and what not. Hmm... I hope this won't be too troublesome. I really want this to come out nice, but... eek. Oh well. I'll think of something.

[Sharkyland]

It's been too long to remember how I bookbinded more than 50 pages but that was for hardcover designs. I think the cheapest alternative would be going for the soft cover (aka paperback) version.

This is just a suggestion, but why don't you try those places that makes scrapbooks, photobooks, and the like.

[Outrider]

Have you tried just doing a Google search for a How-To page or something? Can't say I'd know how to bind a book on my own, but it can't hurt to just look around a bit and see if there's any advice floating around on the net.

[kittytreats]

Myself am binding a book for a little project, I uploaded some pictures on my photo album that you can look at. Those are just temp since I'm going to put a section on my web site when I get the chance. Other alternatives is coil binding, You can get it pretty cheap, usually about $3-5 per book which includes coil, front and back cover at OfficeMax (I work there *LOL* so I know all the tricks) or any other places that does printing services.

[shinobu_seta]

Most print shops also have binding services to them. Depending on what you find, you could get someone to make it into an actual "could be on the shelves at a store" book for you. (like my terminology there? hehe) You should do some shopping around with those kind of places. I know OfficeMax now offers some kind of customizable binding service with their copy service centers now.