Tips and Tricks for Velobinding

For years, Velobind has been the binding style of choice for organizations that wanted both a professional look and a secure bind. However, understanding your Velobind system can sometimes be a little bit difficult. This article is designed to provide you with some simple tips and tricks for binding documents with a Velobind system. Here are five things to keep in mind when velobinding.

1. There are actually several different types of Velobind strips available on the market. It is essential to choose the right supplies for your machine since most of them are not cross compatible. The easiest way to determine the type of Velobind supplies that you need is to punch a sheet of paper and count the holes. If there are eleven holes you will need either 11 pin hotknife strips or GBC One Eleven compression binding strips. If you have ten holes you will need GBC Surebind binding strips. If you have six holes then you will need six pin reclosable binding spines and if you have four holes you will need four pin reclosable spines.

2. With all the different types of Velobind systems there is always a finished side of the spine attached to the comb and an unfinished side that is part of the receiving strip. The finished side is designed to go on the front of the book while the receiving strip is designed to go on the back of the book. This helps to provide a more professional look for your velobound documents.

3. Inserting the comb portion of the strip (the one with the pins) through the pages of your document can be made easier by using the edge of a countertop or table. You can simply hang the binding edge of your book over the edge of the table so that you can see a clear path through the holes on the edge of your document. Hold the document firmly in place with one hand and use your other hand to thread the pins through the holes. This is significantly easier than trying to hold the document in the air when trying to insert the velo comb.

4. Velobind binding strips are available in sizes up to three inches thick. This means that these systems offer the ability to bind documents that are thicker than any other type of desktop binding system. However, if you are going to want to bind documents using three inch spines you are going to need a Velobind System Three hot knife binding system. Smaller systems will not bind documents with the larger sized spines.

5. You can actually use your Velobind system to bind hard cover books. You simply need to order custom hard cover cases to use along with your system. These hard cover cases will include a binding case and two adhesive fly leaves. You will bind the fly leaves into your document and then peel off the adhesive backing and adhere the fly leaf into the book.

These are five tips for binding documents with GBC Velobind. Give them a try and see if you can save some time when binding with your Velobind system. Good luck and happy velobinding.

by Jeff McRitchie