Western Trade Printing (WTP) has in-house saddle stitching and book printing equipment to produce a wide range of wholesale saddle stitched books and saddle stitching services for commercial printers, quick printers, print brokers, and agencies. Our in-house digital saddle stitched book printing and our offset printing equipment with Muller Martini saddle stitching means we can handle your book printing jobs from a few to a few hundred thousand.
Key Benefits of Saddle Stitched Books at Western Trade Printing - Fresno, CA
Our in-house digital and offset capabilities give you significant competitive advantages.
Rapid Turnaround
One of the key benefits of WTP's in-house saddle stitching and printing service is rapid turnaround. We have both digital and offset printing capability which means our trade clients can economically print from a few pieces up through hundreds of thousands.
Digital saddle-stitched books
WTP's digital press and booklet maker is top-of-the-line. This capacity allows for fast turnaround, variable data capability, and consistent high quality products produced with WTP's use of G7® print methodology. It also lets us pass along aggressive cost-savings on digitally printed saddle-stitched books to you, our trade clients.
There are many reasons why clients are loving digital saddle-stitched books:
✅ Rapid turnaround—print, collate, stitch and 3-side trim all in one pass.
✅ Appearance—our “square bind” technology keeps stitched books flat so they don’t look like they came off a copier. [image below]
✅ Variable data capability
✅ Can do very low volumes
✅ Can't be beat on short runs – better pricing than offset on quantities up to about 750 copies
WTP's 'square bind' technology lies much flatter (right) than books produced on a copier (left).
Our use of G7 printing methodology guarantees a color match and consistency from book to book and on any substrate.
As a result, clients are finding that digitally printed books are frequently the wiser choice.
Offset Book Printing and Saddle Stitching to the Trade
For longer runs, our 40" Heidelberg offset perfectors with inline aqueous coating gives you high-volume capacity.
WTP's Muller Martini Saddle Stitcher with 4th and 5th knife means that we deliver fast turnaround on a wide range of saddle-stitched book products.
Some types of print projects that are suitable for saddle stitching include:
• Magazines
• Booklets
• Directories
• Catalogs
• Trade publications
• Annual Reports
• Calendars
• Sports programs
• Theater programs
• Training manuals
Our 4th and 5th knife option means we can automatically produce saddle-stitched books one or two up. The Muller stitcher's quick set up capability means we can handle nearly any volume of books.
Tips on Saddle Stitched Book Design and Preparation
One of the most important tips about working with saddle stitched books is this—start at the end and work backwards. As versatile as saddle stitching is, there are physical limitations that can show up in the book binding process. And you don't want your client working on a stitched book project for weeks only to find that it can't be done the way they want. Here are some of the key design and bindery considerations.
Design considerations for saddle stitched books
❑ Use consistent margins and bleed areas. Allow 1/8" of bleed area to trim off.
❑ Allow for "safe space" - avoid printing critical text or design elements near the trim
❑ Allow for creep. This is super important for thicker saddle-stitched books, especially as the page count grows. A lack of creep compensation means important elements could be trimmed. All design software has a built-in function to figure this out and automatically compensate. Of course, we always check for this, but you want to avoid extra prep time having to fix the files.
❑ Internal margins. As saddle stitched books get thicker, design elements or text can disappear into the internal margins. You can check for this by making a saddle stitched book mockup (dummy) using the actual paper to be used for the job.
❑ Page count must be divisible by 4
❑ Fonts. For best results, convert vector files to outlines. Avoid font sizes under 8 pts.
❑ Resolution. For best results, image resolution should be 300 dpi (dots per inch) with the image at 100% of the printed size.
❑ Thick books. As the thickness of a saddle stitched book approaches 1/4", there is a tendency for the top and bottom of the spine to nick at the edge. It's a physical limitation of the product. The amount of nick depends on the thickness, the paper, and the grain direction. For problematic books, a good alternative is to switch to the perfect binding process.
File submission
❑ Be sure the file is in an acceptable file format for printing at WTP. You can read more details about WTP's file preparation requirements here.
Packing, Shipping, or Fulfillment
❑ Books can take up a lot of physical space, so be sure the shipping, storage, or fulfillment needs are known in before the job is produced.
3 Ways WTP Can Produce Your Wholesale Saddle Stitched Books
Since we cater to print resellers only, there are three convenient ways WTP can help you produce your saddle stitched books.
1 – Send us the full saddle stitching job for printing, cutting, folding, stitching, and trimming. We'll take care of it all.
2 – You print, then send us the printed flat sheets and we'll cut, fold, stitch, and trim.
3 – Send us your folded signatures and we'll do the automatic stitching and trimming.
Various shipping, mailing, and fulfillment options are available for all saddle stitching jobs.
Sustainability at Western Trade Printing
We've built sustainability into all of our prep, printing, and finishing operations at WTP. When you work with us, you can offer these important eco-friendly measures to your clients as part of your printing process.
We practice G7® methodology to promote minimal waste from proofing through delivery. We also work in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Chain of Custody Standards and WTP is FSC® certified.
Vegetable and soy inks are used whenever possible. We also have a good inventory of economy and premium recycled papers and synthetics manufactured to exceed USA regulations and quality standards.
Our digital workflow, computerized press and bindery controls, digital printing, and use of non-toxic long-life consumables also demonstrates our eco-friendly printing practices.
Where to Buy Wholesale Saddle Stitched Books in CA
Western Trade Printing produces saddle-stitched books from their Fresno, CA facility. WTP serves the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento areas as well as all of Southern California, Northern California and beyond.
To get a quote on your saddle stitching project, contact Western Trade Printing's estimating department at 559-251-8595 ext. 1. We can help you price both digital or offset to determine the best way to go. Competitive mailing discounts and fulfillment are also available.
Or you can also get a free no-obligation quote here on the WTP customer portal. You’ll need to know your options for paper, size, number of pages, quantity, and any other special print or finishing options. Either way, we'll get you the most efficient method and the best possible pricing in the area.
