Silent Sun Press

Paper

Standard Paper Sizes

Paper comes in about every size you can think of, if you know where to get it; but for the consumer market, it has been standardized into only a few sizes. In the United States and Canada, the primary size for paper is 'Letter' size, which measures 8 ½ by 11 inches. US Letter is the default size for copy paper, and all non-photo-specific home printers should be able to print this size. Another size paper available at most office stores is 'Legal' paper, at 8 ½ by 14 inches. US Legal is compatible with the majority of home printers. A somewhat more specialty size is 'Tabloid' (sometimes 'Ledger'), measuring 11 by 17 inches. This paper is available at some office stores, but most home printers cannot print in this size. Some libraries, schools, businesses, and print shops have printers and copiers that work with US Tabloid sized paper. Another size is 'Statement' paper, 5 ½ by 8 ½ inches. It is difficult to find in office stores, but can be purchased online, sometimes listed as 'Memo' or 'Stationery' paper. Many more sizes are available in photo paper or card weight paper, but these are less desirable for printing text for books, aside from being more expensive. Other than office paper, craft stores may have paper sizes such as 12 by 12 inches for scrapbooking, often patterned or otherwise decorative.

For non-printed books, like sketchbooks or journals, other types of papers could be used. You wouldn't paint with watercolors on copy paper, although there might be reasons you would choose to print books on drawing paper. These other paper styles are likely to have their own sizes.

Grain Direction

When paper is made industrially, it is machined through large rollers, which align all the fibers that make up the paper in the direction they pass throught the roller. This directrionality in the finished paper is refered to as 'grain'. When those rolls of paper are cut down to size for the consumer market, the grain can lie either parallel to the long edge of the paper, or parallel to the short edge. We call those papers 'long-grain' and 'short grain', respectively. Some materials will have a very pronounced grain, and others may have little detectable grain at all. Handmade pulp paper, for instance, has no appreciable grain. Grain may be present not only in paper, but also bookboard, bookcloth, and other supplies. In general, office paper is long of grain.

The grain direction of a material gives it attributes that matter more for some home-bookbinding jobs than for others. When dampened, as with adhesive or even ambient humidity, paper has a tendency to grow opposite the grain. When tearing paper, a tear against the grain is likely to meander, but a tear along grain will be cleaner and straighter. Paper folds more compactly and neatly along the grain, and may be more likely to crack if folded against the grain. For almost every bookmaking application, it is better to have the grain running the same direction as the spine of the book. This is most important for bookboard, then endpages. It is least important for textblock paper, with covering material grain falling somewhere in the middle. If wrong-grain paper is used for a textblock, some rippling may occur in very humid environments, and the pages may not drape as neatly. This effect is less noticable in smaller formats. A book printed on wrong-grain text paper is perfectly useable; and in fact many books, especially paperbacks, may be printed wrong of grain, even from well-known publishers. Because long-grain letter paper is much more easilly obtained than short-grain, a home bookbinder may choose to ignore grain direction for textblock printing, or work in sizes that are ideal for long-grain paper.

You can determine the grain of the paper in a few ways. The first is just to handle it. Paper should roll and curve more naturally along grain, and there will be more stiffness or resistance trying to bend against grain. This is the best way to check if the grain is very pronounced and you will have to use the page you're testing. Another method will require you to sacrifice a sheet from your ream of paper. If you lightly dampen the page, such as with a paintbrush or wet rag, it will begin to buckle and curl. It will curl into a c-shape or even a tube in the same direction as the grain, and eventually relax as it dries. You may not be able to use this sheet, so you may prefer to cut off a small portion, mark it and its 'donor' page for direction, and then test on only part of the page.

Formatting, Cutting, and Folding for Books

Paper size and finished book size are related. It is important to format your typeset with your printing paper in mind so everything is to scale and readable. Terminology for book size can vary, so please be aware that the terms used here are only correct in this specific context, and may be used other ways when discussing, for instance, historical books or commercial printing. To the best of our ability, we have specified how we are using each word in this particular framework.

Home bookbinders describe books using the size of paper and the cutting and folding combination used to create the final book size. For folded and sewn bindings, one sheet of paper can contain four or more book pages. A single sheet folded in half creates two leaves with two pages each, front and back, or four pages total. A single sheet folded in half then rotated and folded again (and cut on the first fold) creates four leaves and a total of eight pages. Each of these folds has a name. A sheet folded once is 'folio', twice is 'quarto', thrice is 'octavo', and four times makes 'sextodecimo' (abbr. 16mo). A quarto book made from US Letter paper will be 1/4th the size of the original sheet, or 4 ¼ by 5 ½ inches. Traditionally, books would be printed, folded, then cut (or sold uncut!) but modern home bookbinders generally fold last. Whether you cut or print first will depend on your paper size and printer capability. At Silent Sun, we cut first when using 11x17 paper, and print first for all smaller sizes.

Every turn and fold will change the grain direction relative to the spine. Below is a table of paper sizes, folds, book sizes, and grain direction.

Paper	Fold	Book Size	Desired Grain of Original Paper
US Letter, 8.5 x 11	Folio	5.5 x 8.5	Short
US Legal, 8.5 x 14	Folio	7 x 8.5	Short
US Letter, 8.5 x 11	Quarto	4.25 x 5.5	Long (standard)
US Legal, 8.5 x 14	Quarto	4.25 x 7	Long (standard)
US Letter, 8.5 x 11	Octavo	2.75 x 4.25	Short
US Legal, 8.5 x 14	Octavo	3.5 x 4.25	Short
US Letter, 8.5 x 11	16mo	2.125 x 2.75	Long (standard)
US Legal, 8.5 x 14	16mo	2.125 x 3.5	Long (standard)
US Tabloid, 11 x 17	Folio	8.5 x 11	Short
US Tabloid, 11 x 17	Quarto	5.5 x 8.5	Long (standard)
US Tabloid, 11 x 17	Octavo	4.25 x 5.5	Short
US Tabloid, 11 x 17	16mo	2.75 x 4.25	Long (standard)
US Tabloid, 11 x 17	32mo	2.125 x 2.75	Short

When you typeset a project, you should set the page size to the size of the finished book, allowing extra margin if you plan to trim. Once you have your finished document, all the pages need to be arranged so when they are printed and folded, they will be in the correct order. We call this process 'imposing'. During imposition, you will tell the program what the size paper you are printing on, and how many sheets will be in each signature. Some imposers, such as Microsoft Word's native bookfold option, are only able to impose for folio, and may not have a wide range of costumization for signature size. Many programs will add blank leaves at the end of your document to ensure the full number of pages, or you could manually calculate this while setting the type and place them where you wish. Typically, a home bookbinder will have between three and ten sheets per signature, the most common being about five. Signature size is an important element of managing swell. Once the imposed book is printed, it will need to be collated, and cut and folded. It is advisable to print only one signature first to check that the pages are sequential once folded, because every printer has its own process for flipping pages for double-sided printing. A Silent Sun, we choose a middle signature with no blank or unnumbered pages like there may be in the front or back matter of a book.

Color and Brightness

Most paper available in office stores will be bright white. Intense white paper can be straining to read for long periods, particularly in bright natural light. Additionally, bright white may not fit the tone of a narrative set in historical or fanstasy settings. A cream or off-white paper may be much more comfortable to read, and ivory toned paper can be used to evoke an antique feeling in a book. Full-color images print truer in tone on white paper. Colored paper can create a book that is unique or playful. None of these will matter for the function of the book, except that printers only darken and cannot lighten* so it is important that the ink or toner shows up readably on the page. For this reason, black, navy, and other dark papers are not recommended.

*White toner for laser printers is a product available to consumers. It is very expensive and only compatible with some printers. It can make a dramatic and beautiful book, but white printing on dark paper is the exception, not the rule.

Weight and Thickness

Paper comes in weights, correlated with thickness, described in lb or gsm. US paper weight is determined by weighing a ream of 500 sheets in pounds before it is cut to size. This makes determining thickness a variable process, as papers are weighed at different sizes. Internationally, the weight of paper is measured in grams per meter of paper. This scale is much more uniform. Converting between these is not 1:1 because if the different weights of paper described with the same notation in US sizes. 24 lb bond paper and 50 lb text paper, for example, are both 75 gsm. Cover paper is generally thicker, like cardstock, and text or bond is thinner like notebook or copy paper. In general, copy paper is 20 to 24 lb.

Weight is not a signifier of quality. You might choose a weight of paper becaue you like how it feels, or to interact with your sewing to achieve a certain type of construction. Choosing paper weight is a component of managing swell.

Printers

Initial Cost and Cost of Operation

You are almost certain to spend more to operate your printer than to purchase it initially. When selecting a printer, it is very important to consider the cost-to-run. How expensive is the toner or ink cartridge for this model of printer? Will this printer accept only proprietary branded cartidges, or will cheaper off-brand cartidges work? Are the supplies I need for this printer available in places I shop, or will I have to pay to have them shipped to me? Does this printer come with a warranty? If I need repairs, who can service this printer? It is often worth it to spend a little more on the initial printer purchase if it will save money in the long run on supplies and maintenance.

Ink and Toner

The primary cost of printing at home is ink and toner. Laser printers use a static-charged drum to deposit powdered plastic ink called toner onto your paper, then heats it to permanently fuse it to the paper. Inkjet printers propel liquid ink directly onto the paper, which then air-dries naturally. Inkjet printers are supplied ink either from disposable cartridges (most inkjets) or refillable tanks (eco-tank printers). In general, color printing will be costlier than black-and-white printing. Black toner is more expensive than black ink, but has a signifiacntly higher page output per purchase. Ink in cartridges is always more expensive than eco-tank reseviour ink. Color toner is more expensive than color ink by a wide margin. If you expect to print mainly black text, laser will likely be cheaper in the long-term. Books that are image-heavy or use colored text or other elements are best printed with ink printers.

Aside from cost, ink and laser printers differ in a few ways. Laser printers print more quickly than inkjet printers. Because of the heated drums in a laser printer, paper rolled through it can become wavy; this effect is exagerated in humid conditions and on short-grain paper. Ink printed pages, especially ones with large sections of color such as images, need time to dry before they can be handled, or else they will smudge. Ink is typically water-soluble and will run if exposed to moisture. Toner can be re-melted when heat is applied and used with materials like toner-reactive metallic foil.

Single-side and Duplex Printing

Books are generally printed on both sides of the sheet. Many printers can flip the pages automatically for two-sided printing, called 'duplex' printing. An auto-duplex printer may have multiple setting for flipping the page on the long end or the short end. You will have to print a test signature to verify you have selected the correct options, as printers vary. Other printers are only capable of printing on one side of the sheet. These printers can still be used to print a book, with just a little more attention. Either impose you pages for single-side printer, print side 'A' for the signature, arrange the pages and place them in the printer tray again, facing the proper direction for your specific printer, and print side 'B'. If your imposer does not support single side printing, in the print dialog you can set in the print range 'only odd pages', flip and reinsert your signature, and print 'only even pages'.

Flipping and rearranging the pages the right way is something you will have to experiment to perfect. Once you have done so, write it down for repeatablily and fewer wasted test prints! A helpful way to work this out is to print a document of only numbered pages. before printing, mark on one or more sheets the direction you are putting them into the printer. Print and flip, marking the page again, or auto-duplex. If your pages are double printed with a blank back, you have inserted the second print facing the wrong way. If you have numbers on both sides, try folding them into a little signature and verify that the pages all face the right way and are in order. If they are not all upright when folded, you may have to 'rotate side two' or change the edge flip setting between long and short edge in your print dailog. If they are facing upright but in the wrong order, make sure that the pages are in the right order for the 'B' side print. This may mean shufflig the top of the stack to the bottom, without turning the stack over. Here are a few fully imposed signatures that can be used to work out the correct way to print and fold.

Other Print Considerations

Printers have a few more features and bugs that may be important to a home bookbinder. Most printers have a limited 'printable area' smaller than the sheet of paper. Images or text that go to the edge of the document may print with an unintended white margin. Some printers are capable of edge-to-edge or 'full bleed' printing. It may need to be in photo mode or have a specific type of paper selected to do this. Most people find success using copy paper while the full bleed photo setting is on. Knowing whether your printer can achieve edge-to-edge printing will help you make design decisions while typesetting your book.

Another limitations of home printers is found in how the printer moves paper through the rollers. A printer may not keep perfect alignment between front and back of each page. This will cause the margins of the pages to be somewhat offset from each other. We call this 'skew' and it can be reduced by checking that you paper is squared up to the guides in the tray, and flush against the feeder or blower. If skew is the same every time, you can compensate by nudging the margins of your imposed PDF. If skew is dramatic, it is possilbe to have your printer allignment checked by a service professional. Be aware that tinkering with your printer yourself may void your warranty. Don't adjust or remove anything you are not certain you can put back to its original state. Printer skew is often reduced by duplexing manually, even on printers capable of automatic two-sided printing.

It is possible to print on materials other than text-weight paper. Most printers are able to process cardstock and other heavier papers. Light, delicate papers like tissue, onion skin paper, or bible paper are likely to tear and jam in a home printer. Some specialty materials market variations specifically for home printers, like inkjet or laser compatable vellum papers, transparencies, and heat transfer papers. Very light or flexible material such as bookcloth may be printable if first backed with paper. Never ever run fabric through your printer if there are threads unraveling at the cut edges.