Is Paper Grain Really That Important?
By: Mike Welsch, President, Muscle Bound Bindery
Published in Graphic News Magazine, April 2005

Many print projects require a balance between what works best on press and in the bindery. Layouts are often optimized to squeeze as much as possible on the press sheet, and for good reason. Paper can represent as much as 50% of the total printing cost of a project. Therefore, a layout that yields a 10% reduction in paper on a 50,000-piece run can add up to some serious cost savings.

However, those savings can be quickly eroded once that project reaches the bindery. That's because projects printed "wrong grain" - as defined by the bindery - can wreak havoc on certain post press operations. Here are two areas where paper grain can make a big difference:

Folding - Many folding quality problems can be traced to a layout that failed to consider the impact of grain direction. The rule of thumb is to layout projects to fold parallel with the paper grain direction to avoid unsightly cracking on the fold. This is especially important if your project includes heavy, dark ink coverage, or is printed on a thicker stock. Offline scoring will usually help, but it's an extra step that can often be avoided by asking your bindery for a little layout advice.

Gluing - For book projects, be sure all text pages and covers are designed to fold grain-parallel. Cross-grain layouts can lead to a host of problems. Book covers printed cross-grain will exhibit spine waviness and cracking, while cross-grain text pages will cause books to trap shut and reduced spine strength. In addition, text pages printed cross-grain can compromise adhesion as less paper fiber is exposed during spine milling than with grain-parallel layouts.

Regardless of how your project will be finished, consult your bindery to be sure your layout won't cause headaches later in the production process.

Mike Welsch is President of Minneapolis-based Muscle Bound Bindery, a full-service post press company specializing in perfect binding, Otabind binding, case binding, library binding and complementary services. Mike can be reached at (612) 522-4406, or at mwelsch@mbbindery.com.