In book printing field, to make the book’s edge look more unique and texture. After completing the book printing, we will use the brush edge process to fulfill this effect. Below I will introduce the brush edge processes.
When it comes to beautiful books, we always talk about how complicated the hot stamping on the cover is. How vivid the colorful veneer is made with an almost lost technique. How unique the marbled paper texture of the inner pages is. Or how it is hand-stitched with silk thread. How exquisite is the head cloth of the ferry head. But we pay little attention to the three sides of the book. An exquisite book, if there is no decoration around the book, it will definitely lose its color.
1. Hot stamping book edge
The original purpose of gilding the book edge was to prevent dust from falling into the book. Thus preventing damage and acidification of the inner pages. Now, not only the book edge, but also the three sides of the book will be hot stamped. And many exquisite decorations will be done, such as hot stamping patterns, coloring and so on.
Hot stamping book edge is very common in hardcover book printing. Like hardcover bible. Usually, hot stamping can divide into ordinary hot stamping and pattern hot stamping.
The process of book edge hot stamping is very complicated. And requires precise control of each step, to make a perfect gold edge. Before hot stamping, the edge of the book needs to be polished for a long time. Until the mirror effect is produced before hot stamping can be started. At the same time, the price of pure gold leaf is high. The hot stamping decoration on the edge of the book has always been relatively rare in book binding. Which can be called the luxury book process.
There is also an interesting way of hot stamping: hide the painting in the gold border. The surface looks like an ordinary gold border. After folding the book page, you will see the hidden painting. Before hot stamping the edge, the book printing factory need to print the picture on the edge. After the ink of picture is drying, we can print the gold film on the edge.
Foil-stamping requires the pages to be trimmed and then sanded. So the pages are reduced by a few millimeters. For very rare inner pages, some bibliophiles want to keep the pages as original as possible. So they choose to do “raw edge stamping”: gold foil is only stamped on the top of the page. Compared with conventional hot stamping. Rough edge stamping presents irregular edges. The feeling is more interesting.
At the same time, raw edge hot stamping needs to be supported by a blank paper lining in the middle of each inner page. So the production is more cumbersome than conventional hot stamping.
2. Spray color on the book edge
The book edge can do some simple coloring or dyeing. The color echoes the decoration of the cover, which has the beauty of harmony and unity.
3. Painting on the book edge
When the pages are placed left and right, two different patterns will appear. This method of decoration was often used in Bible books before the twentieth century.
What’s more interesting is that in some books. With the slight undulation of the pages, the characters in the pattern on the edge will move. When the person on the left walks to the right, the puppy on the right also runs to the left.
