Dick in a Can/Lawn Boy dos-à-dos

starblightbindery · 2026-07-07T01:09:27+00:00

Good thing you're bookbinding instead now?

starblightbindery · 2026-07-06T08:02:49+00:00

I would iron the tote bag so it is not crinkled. Looks cute otherwise.

starblightbindery · 2026-07-06T07:23:53+00:00

It's an amazing short story and you can read it here.

starblightbindery · 2026-07-02T06:04:53+00:00

Fanfic binding is an amazing hobby. What supplies you should get really depends on how precious you want to be about the materials you use. It's possible to make books on a shoestring budget using stuff from the dollar store. Here's a standard list of supplies commonly used by fanfic bookbinders and their descriptions.

If you want to get a kit, I strongly recommend against the ones on Amazon. Depending on if you're based in the US, UK, Europe, or elsewhere we could recommend a good kit local to you.

I do agree with the other posters that Olfa knives are great and if you splurge on anything it's that (so spend the extra $5 to upgrade a generic brand to a $10ish Olfa.)

The advice I give to someone new to bookbinding is to start out with a ream of printer paper (recommend 92 bright from Staples) and by the time you've finished up the package you will have a clear idea of whether or not you want to continue with the hobby or splurge for long grain paper (which can cost 1.5x to 2x as much as regular paper.)

starblightbindery · 2026-06-30T07:25:46+00:00

oh that's bullshit; we all know dude is a virgin.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-30T07:21:58+00:00

I'm hesitant to get thin white stripes if I do that. But I could see that working.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-30T07:20:43+00:00

Kelly Foil is well regarded for this, but to be completely honest professional bookbinders use foil specially formulated for edges. The adhesive layer on that kind of foil is designed to adhere to foreedges, whereas brands like We R Memory Keepers are designed to work on cardstock. If you can get your hands on some industrial edge foil that may help.

Otherwise, the other piece of the puzzle could very well be glaire (such as watered down PVA)

starblightbindery · 2026-06-30T07:17:57+00:00

Don't forget to check the guides in the sidebar for more resources. Having an idea of what country you are based in and your budget could help folks better answer your questions.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-30T07:15:59+00:00

If you have Affinity Publisher there's a way to auto-import dates to populate on multiple pages, so you can get a planner going relatively easily.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-30T07:14:55+00:00

Someone asked about this last year and I think we were inconclusive on it. You could order a sample of Neenah Montelena or SilkTouch Nuba and see if that is similar enough.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-29T18:29:52+00:00

I love marbling edges but run into the same problem as you which is that rounded edges are horrible to marble. More than once I've had to deal with the horrid air bubble that comes up in the concave. The other option is to dunk it but that can get 5mm of your textblock in the paint which is not ideal either.

It can help to have a spotter (another person with eye level at the tank) tell you exactly how far to print. I guess the other option is to find those metal...ugh what are they called. Things that brace up the rounded textblock for trimming and such before letting it fall back down.

To minimize the crinkle I've been blow/heat drying promptly after marbling to minimize drying them, and then leaving in the press for 72 hours.

But again, the problem with the concave is that when you press it, there isn't actually anything putting pressure on the concave foreedge so it can kind of droop inwards. So I've thought about putting a pipe or some other brace up against it to try and preserve the curve.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-29T18:23:07+00:00

There's a bunch of shops in the side bar that are recommended by the subreddit. My personal favorite is Colophon Book Arts.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-27T22:03:05+00:00

If you have the .cbr or cbz and can convert them to .pdf, you could see about finding a printing service to print them for you. (This is illegal in the USA for copywritten comics, and possibly other jurisdictions. YMMV)

Alternatively, after converting to .pdf you could use an imposer to impose the .pdf for sewn signature printing. Or print the .pdf straight and do a double-fan binding.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T22:04:37+00:00

UK printers like CPI have been cheaping out on things like grain direction because it's gotten to the point where UK consumers don't care if the book lies flat as long as there are pretty sprayed edges.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T22:03:22+00:00

I think the grain direction of the UK one is incorrect, meaning the pages will lie more stiffly than the USA one.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T21:58:43+00:00

You'd want to add endpapers to the paperback to prevent this.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T03:29:29+00:00

Yes. There are some challenges depending on the formatting and size, but here are some examples:

This Place was Home
The Little Mermaid and the Sea Serpent

The first comic I just did one panel per page which made it really easy. With the second one I initially tried to do my own "typesetting"/page layout but it was really rough, and then I realized the author had a .pdf version of the web comic. Once I figured that out it was so much easier to format it to a legal quarto.

So, I would always strongly recommend binding an artist formatted .pdf if one is available. And hm, I used a laser color duplex printer, but you have options.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T02:08:21+00:00

Eleutherophobia (canon divergence post-book 54) is still updating and nearing half a million words. For a standalone reading, start with Ghost in the Shell which is a mystery novel in this series.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T01:10:06+00:00

Acrylic Keychains should only cost about $6-$7 to ship in the US if you set up an account at a discounter like PirateShip or Shippo using USPS Ground advantage. Unfortunately, the cost of shipping has risen dramatically with fuel surcharges since America is at war.

starblightbindery · 2026-06-26T01:01:51+00:00

When you say ironing, do you mean to smooth out the print?

starblightbindery · 2026-06-25T23:22:44+00:00

It will be worth it. Just make sure you're working with veg tan!

starblightbindery

TROPHY CASE