Thread Sewn Binding
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Thread Sewn Book Binding
A premium, long‑lasting binding style commonly found in bookshops — perfect for professional publications.
What Is Thread Sewn Binding?
Thread sewn binding is one of the highest quality book binding methods available and is widely used for professionally printed books sold in bookshops.
Your pages are printed in folded sections and stitched together with strong thread before being bound into a cover. This creates an exceptionally durable book that opens fully unlike perfect bound books, which can crack or resist opening over time.
Thread sewn binding is also known as Smyth‑sewn binding or section sewn and is ideal for books that will be handled frequently, such as cookbooks, manuals, journals, textbooks, and special editions.
Why Choose Thread Sewn Binding at Book Printing UK?
- A premium, bookshop‑standard binding method
- Extremely durable, ideal for long‑term and frequent use
- More flexible spine for a superior reading experience
- Suitable for both full colour and black and white printing
- Available with softback or hardback covers
- Suitable for a wide range of book types and page counts
- Sizes
- Colour
- Pages
Sizes
At Book Printing UK, we can produce thread‑sewn books in a wide range of sizes, including A6, A5, A4, Royal, and custom sizes.
Choosing the right size depends on your content. Most novels are printed in A5, while workbooks, reference guides, and training manuals are often better suited to A4.
Our instant online price calculator allows you to quickly calculate the cost of printing your thread‑sewn book in standard sizes. If you require a custom size, please contact our team on 01733 898 102 or email info@bookprintinguk.com for a bespoke quote.
Softback vs Hardback Covers
Thread sewn books can be finished with either a paperback or hardback cover.
Paperback (Softback)
- More cost effective
- Faster production turnaround
Hardback
- Premium, luxury finish
- Stronger and more protective cover
Both options are available in most sizes and support full colour or black and white printing.
Need Help Preparing Your Files?
Our experienced design team is here to help you every step of the way. You can use our downloadable Book Printing UK templates to supply print‑ready PDFs, or take advantage of our professional formatting services to ensure your book meets all print requirements with confidence.
Why Print Your Thread Sewn Book with BookPrintingUK?
As a member of the Bonacia family, we have been printing books for more than 20 years. And we would like to think that we are pretty good at it.
We have a team of amazing account managers, talented designers, and experienced production staff. Add to that our state-of-the-art printers and you find yourself in pretty good company.
2. We Guarantee Outstanding Quality
When you print with us you can rest assured that every single person who works on your book is a part of our stringent quality control process.
The designers who prepare your files check that the layout is correct and the images are a high enough resolution. The print managers ensure that your pages have printed properly on paper and the binders check every book for binding errors.
On the rare occasion that a mistake is made, whoever spots it is responsible for ensuring that it is rectified. Even if that means that the books have to be discarded and the print project starts again.
3. We Keep Our Costs Down
We put a lot of work into providing an outstanding service and producing top quality products. But we know that price still matters, which is why we keep our prices competitive.
We do everything we can to make our processes more efficient, as doing so saves you time and money. For example, we offer our free file assessment service. This ensures that your files will print without issue, reduces design time and minimises print errors, making you happy, and saving us time and therefore money. Processes like this mean that we can keep the cost of printing low.
Use our online calculator to get an instant quote.
4. You Don't Have To Feel Guilty About Printing On Our Paper
As a printer who uses a lot of paper, we take our environmental responsibility seriously.
All of the paper we use is FSC credited, which means that it has been sourced responsibly by organisations who ensure that they are re-planting trees to replace those that they use.
If you’re interested, you can find out more about FSC accredited paper here FSC .
5. People Who Use Our Service Tend To Love Us!
We don’t want to seem arrogant, but we think we are pretty good at what we do. And our customers seem to agree.
Putting our innate British modesty aside for a moment, we work very hard to ensure that the entire process of printing with us is an enjoyable one, and that we provide amazing quality printed books at an exceptional price. So when we are told that we’re doing a good job we like to shout about it.
You can see all of our independent reviews on our Trust Pilot page. Here are a few of the most recent: