Tips and Tricks for Binding Documents with Zipbind

For years, plastic comb binding was one of the only methods of binding available. Nearly every document, presentation, proposal, cookbook and training manual was bound with plastic combs. However, over time the novelty and elegance of plastic comb binding has worn off. Documents bound with plastic combs have become common and don’t have demand the same attention that they once did. Yet hundreds of thousands of offices across the country still own plastic comb binding machines. For these offices there is a new solution.

GBC Zipbind binding spines use the same hole pattern as traditional comb binding spines. However, zip bind offers a brand new look and new functionality for your documents. This article is designed to offer a few simple tips and tricks for binding your documents with GBC Zipbind. Here they are…

1. If you plan on using the little zipper tool that comes in the package with the spines you are going to want to click the first few loops closed by hand. You will also want to crease the spine slightly in order to make the closing process easier. You can give the zipper tool a try or simply close the loops by hand and use the zipper to open spines to edit your documents.

2. Every pack of Zipbind spines comes with a blue plastic piece. This is designed to slide over the comb opener on your binding machine. The blue plastic strip will hold your Zipbind spines while you insert the pages onto them. This can come in really handy for the inserting process.

3. Proclick spines are only available in two sizes and two colors. If you are going to need to bind documents with other sizes or need another color you will need to use plastic combs. One of the beauties of using Zipbind is that you can always use combs for thicker documents, odd sizes and special colors. Keep this in mind.

4. One of the great things about Zipbind is that you can very easily edit documents in the field. If you get stuck in the field without a zipper tool you can always use a pen to open the loops and click the loops shut manually. It might also be a good idea to equip your sales representatives with a small comb binding punch such as the CombBind c50 in their car or briefcase. This way they can punch additional pages or sales sheets to add into the documents on the fly.

5. Binding documents with Zipbind is also ideal for organizations that don’t own a binding machine. They can simply buy prepunched comb bind paper and covers and put your documents together without ever touching a binding machine. This presents one of the lowest cost methods of binding available on the market.

These are just a few tips to remember when binding documents with GBC Zipbind. Give zip binding a try and find out just how flexible this new binding style can be.

by Jeff McRitchie