About Ink & Bind

What this site is

Ink & Bind catalogues the tools, materials and processes of relief printing and hand binding, and explains the reasoning behind them. Every tool page gives the working range rather than a sales specification, every process page explains what can go wrong, and nothing here is sponsored.

The site exists because most of the practical knowledge in this craft is transmitted by apprenticeship or not at all. The information is not secret — it is just scattered across out-of-print manuals, forum threads and the memory of people who have been doing it for thirty years. Collecting it in one place, with the arithmetic shown, seemed worth doing.

What this site is not

• It is not a shop. Nothing is sold, there are no affiliate links and no manufacturer has any input into what is written here.
• It is not a substitute for the instructions that came with your press, your cutter or your solvent. Those instructions were written for your specific equipment and they win every time.
• It is not medical, legal or regulatory advice. Rules on lead, solvent and waste disposal vary by country and region, and you should check your own.
• It is not a guarantee of any result. Letterpress and binding are physical processes with a great many variables, and the outcome depends on your equipment, your materials and your hands.

How the numbers were arrived at

Specifications are the conventional working ranges for each class of tool, drawn from standard trade practice rather than from any single manufacturer. Where a figure depends on the specific machine — maximum impression pressure, blade angle, extraction airflow — the range given is typical and your own equipment should be checked against its own documentation.

The simulators are models, not measurements. They implement the relationships that actually govern the process — impression depth against pressure and packing, thread length against section count, ink volume against area and coverage — but they simplify everything else. Use them to understand the direction and rough magnitude of an effect, not to predict a specific result.

Accessibility and performance

The site is static HTML, CSS and plain JavaScript. The 3D library is loaded only on the four simulator pages and never on the rest of the site. Every simulator has a static diagram fallback for devices without WebGL, phones get the fallback first with an option to switch, and reduced-motion preferences stop all animation.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, the contact page is the place to say so. Practical corrections from people who do the work are the most valuable thing this site can receive.