Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Bookmaking III. Cutting the Cover Board


III. Measure and cut two pieces of board to cover your book.
I'm using an old cardboard box to make my book's covers.
You can use anything: art supply stores sell special book board, which is great.
You can use scrap wood, old license plates, whatever, though you might have to get creative about how to bind the paper to the covers, if you use a nonporous material (one that won't take glue).


1. Mark up your board.
You want your covers to be a little bit bigger than the inside book block (folded-up paper), so they will protect the edges of the paper.
I just trace around the paper onto the cardboard, and then cut generously around the pencil marks.

And you probably want your covers to the same size, though that's optional, so I use the first cover as a template to trace out where to cut the second cover.
(Almost everything is optional, if you can think of a way to make your option work.)


2. Cut your boards with an x-acto blade, or whatever sharp cutting object you have on hand.
Set the covers aside, for now.

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