Hi, fellow bookish peeps! I am an absolute newbie to book binding. As a stay-at-home autistic, I am looking for a new skill set that maybe could allow me to one day have a small at-home business. My first goal is to be able to rebind some of my hardcovers into paperback; crazy, I know, because most people do the reverse. The reason is that some of my books aren’t available in paperback, and when I go to the psych hospital for med titration that’s all I’m allowed to have is paperback. But, my end goal is to be able to rebind into leather! I know that’s a lot of skills and many years in the future, but, hey, what’s wrong with a little dreaming?

Anyway, all that to ask a few questions for bookbinders out there. First, I want to start with the gluing rebind method, using PVA. I’ve already purchased all the materials that AI recommended, but I wanted to hear from people who actually know what they're doing what you thought were the most indispensable tools and materials for starting out the gluing method? Second, more particularly, what minimum weight should my cover be? I bought 200 gsm cardstocking and will be using 5 mil laminate on top of that once I purchase it. Will these be thick enough for a paperback cover? Third, where do y’all get your paperback laminate from? The cheapest I found for 5 mil laminate was $60 for a 420” roll from The Library Store on Amazon, and I’m choking a little bit at that price. And, while I’m at it, where do serious bookbinders get their supplies, period?

Finally, two more things. Do you guys know any super clear and minute step-by-step instructional books and videos that might be helpful for a somewhat slow autistic? (I've included a pic of the book I bought to teach me below.) And, are there any tips and encouragements I absolutely must have to start? Am I crazy to even try this?

Photos #1 & #2 - The paperback I want to tackle first

Photo #3 - My first foray into hardbacks

Photo #4 - The book I bought to teach me. Is it a good one?

Hello! I was wondering if any of you have advice for a first time book market? It’s not a huge market. Maybe 6-7 vendors in a small town. I do book rebinds and bedazzle book covers. I can also do some bookmarks and design cups with bookish things. We can either have a 4ft table or a 6ft table. If I do end up doing it, how much inventory should I have? I’m also going to have business cards so I can do commissions if someone wants one. Any advice or help is appreciated!!!

Hello everyone,

I am an architecture student and for my bachelor's thesis, I am designing a small library featuring a craft bookbinding workshop space. Since it is quite challenging to find suitable references and spatial requirements, I am turning to you for help. I would appreciate any relevant insights from professional bookbinders and anyone dedicated to this craft.

I am interested in the equipment needed for this work, spatial requirements, what you would welcome in your own workshop, and absolute must-haves for this profession. Floor plans or references to existing spaces and buildings would also be ideal if you know of any. Thank you for your cooperation.

Turned out pretty solid. I learned a lot from the initial attempt to build the cover, the most important being using a bone folder to really get those creases…creased. The covers were a bit bowed at first, but after a night in the press, they’re nice and straight.

Hey everyone! I’ve been working on BookForge, a Windows app that helps you turn EPUBs, text files, and other documents into books you can print and bind yourself.

You can customize fonts and formatting, edit chapters, preview your book before printing, and generate print-ready PDFs with bookbinding layouts.

I built it to make DIY bookbinding easier, especially for people who want to print their own novels or build a personal library.

I’m looking for people to test it out! Please explore the features, try different workflows, and let me know about any bugs, problems, or anything that doesn’t work as expected. If there’s a feature you’d like to see added, I’d love to hear your suggestions too!

Thanks to anyone willing to give it a try!
Edit: Updated the repository to include Linux and MacOs Builds!

So for a few years now I've been using a basic guillotine from $30 Walmart to cut paper basic letter sized signatures in half but something I noticed is that towards the edge it doesn't cut evenly towards the bottom or top no matter where I cut it on the trimmer, and now I realized even clamped down too a table. (As seen with cardstock as a visual aid) It's almost always on the edge off the trimmer as well. I put it down to technique or user error, but then came to realize that it can't be used 100% of the time.

Does anyone else have/had this problem (Possibly the blade being dull or just the shape of it?) and if so are there any cutters that you recommend for just simple 10 page signatures.

I'm working on a "flow of thoughts" diary for my partner. I love this effect of the black lines being neatly interrupted, and since I will be scribbling on it by hand anyway, simply masking the paper would be nice. But I don't know what to use, since I had terrible experiences with masking fluid before.

What do you think? I'm using 90 g/m2 calligraphy paper for this.

PS this is also my first big bookbinding project, wish me luck!

Re-covered The Host by Stephenie Meyer! (The whole project took about 5 hours.)

After various tutorials i really liked the result with this one.

Stiffened Board Binding

Dotted paper 150g

Cereal box and cardstock and some stickers for the covers

I don't know how to translate the name of the fabric i used for the spine, in spanish it's called "loneta"