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20 Comments

  1. Jennifer Henley
    April 14, 2018 @ 7:14 am

    Ali, excellent video. So nice to have a tutorial where the presenter is articulate and speaks clearly without hesitation.

    One request: please can you also give the paperweight in gsm? Realise that with US paper sizes it is not easy to give the centimetre equivalent but metric paperweight would be very helpful.

    I used to spend a couple of months each year in Florida and found it so frustrating that the US has not gone metric. Making books is so much easier in centimetres – fractions of an inch is difficult (for me at least).

    Reply

  2. Mandy Avery
    April 14, 2018 @ 7:59 am

    awesome job. concise, precise and delightfully full of tips and hints.

    Reply

  3. Claire
    April 14, 2018 @ 3:58 pm

    Enjoyed the video! How do you determine the “grain” of the paper?

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  4. Jean Goza
    April 14, 2018 @ 4:24 pm

    Another great video. Really learned a lot. Again, thanks for sharing.

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  5. Margi
    April 14, 2018 @ 11:24 pm

    Your paper is gorgeous and the videos are very informative….

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  6. 28pwilson
    April 15, 2018 @ 9:00 am

    Thank you for this video. There are so many great tips. I’m new at book binding, and you have just saved me from several mistakes I have been making! I was folding the signatures one sheet at a time, then stacking them together.

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  7. le artiste bootsBettye W.Harwell
    April 15, 2018 @ 6:15 pm

    Ali,I am confused about folding signatures. One video you are folding all together and the other, handmade paper, the pages were folded one by one.

    Reply

    • Ali Manning
      April 15, 2018 @ 6:28 pm

      Bettye, I think the handmade paper pages you’re referring to are in a Japanese Stab binding ie a single signature book, where I folded the edge of the page to create a spacer.

      Reply

  8. Rose
    April 18, 2018 @ 9:55 am

    muito obrigada, video claro e objetivo

    Reply

  9. glacken2016
    December 20, 2018 @ 9:42 pm

    Ali, Thank you for these tutorials. I am curious to know why you should fold the signatures as one unit rather than separately?

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  10. Merilyn
    January 8, 2019 @ 7:14 pm

    Hi Ali, I only found your site last weekend . Thank you I am throughly enjoying your tutorials and am going to start at the beginning . I have made concertina books but looking forward to branching.I’m off to buy some matt board.

    Reply

  11. leapintothewild
    January 21, 2019 @ 9:53 pm

    Wow, great video! Couple of questions from a sew-er’s perspective: Is there a reason why you can’t just line up the signatures with the mat’s grid and trim, rather than marking the three measurements? And do you have an opinion on using a sharp rotary cutter for trimming? Thanks so much.

    Reply

    • Ali Manning
      February 12, 2019 @ 8:09 am

      Hi, great questions! Firstly, if you’re comfortable using the grid on the mat, then go for it. It’s just a question of making sure the paper is square and there are a few ways to do it. Use the one that gives you the most reliable results. And regarding the rotary cutter, I think it would dull the blade quickly and rotary blades are pretty expensive.

      Reply

  12. pjeanfulton
    June 21, 2020 @ 12:31 am

    Thanks for a really informative beginning a no. I learned a couple of pointers I had not learned. The three point marks for trimming and how to cut down the book size starts at top then side and finally the bottom. 😊

    Reply

    • Ali Manning
      June 22, 2020 @ 9:29 am

      I’m so happy to hear that 🙂

      Reply

  13. judy mauer
    December 24, 2020 @ 12:48 pm

    That was super helpful – very clear and understandable -thanks

    Reply

  14. KFarwig
    May 15, 2021 @ 3:19 pm

    Above, it says “If you want help deciding what papers to use in your handmade books, check out my 10 Favorite Papers pdf below.” I do not see the pdf!

    Reply

  15. Darla Rae Duffy
    July 6, 2021 @ 8:34 am

    THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD QUESTIONS. I AM OFF TO BUY A ROTARY CUTTER I THINK I STILL HAVE FUSED PAPER STICKING TO ME AND MY IRONING BOARD COVER.

    Reply

  16. Karen Woolsey
    December 2, 2021 @ 3:44 pm

    This was a very helpful video. But I do have a question. I’ve taken bookmaking classes from a professional bookbinder who makes and repairs books. Her instruction on folding pages is to do one page at a time, then stack your sections. I see that you take all your pages and fold the sections at once, and by doing that, you have to trim the pages. Would it be better to make your pages a little bigger to accommodate the fact that you’re trimming the pages? Say I want a book 6 x 4 as a final size. If I have to trim the pages, it’ll make it less than that size. Is trimming really necessary or can you just leave them untrimmed? I still get confused over paper grain, so it was neat to see your video on it.

    Reply

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