Cover To Cover 20th Anniversary Edition: Creative Techniques For Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums

I found the book great for getting me through my first book bind. I followed the directions for the Noble bind. I had to rip it out a few times as I kept, somehow, screwing up and always in the same spot. I eventually rewrote the directions for myself in a shorthand that I understood and then all went fine. Her directions were good, but what was happening is that she'd put what I considered to be two steps in one steps paragraph and I'd miss it.The book has many photos of handmade books, most in color, that are great to look at for inspiration. The directions are sketches.There are many other bindings in the book but I have yet to try them so I don't know if those directions do the same thing or not.The downfalls to the book are that it doesn't talk about tension or knots. After I finally mastered the Noble bind steps, I'd find that the finished bind was too tight or too loose. I assume I'll get that with practice but it would be nice if she mentioned what type of tension to look for and how to get it. Should I pull tight? should I leave it loose? how loose? etc.There is also no mention of the knot to finish it. It simply says "tie and knot." I did a basic overhand but then that left a knot you could feel on the back. I tried to hide it in a hole but that didn't work either. I have no clue how or where to tie my knot so that you can't see or feel it. This is an issue I'll have to resort to Google to fix.Also, in places, the inspiration photos do not tell you what binding that particular book has. The photo's only show artist's name. Sometimes they match up to the binding being discussed, but other times they do not.

Thank you, Shereen! I decided I wanted to make my own watercolor journals/sketchbooks because the premade kind have too many pages for my needs, because I wanted to use my own paper, and because I wanted to make collections of smaller paintings - which I do often. Besides, they also are expensive for what they are. In other words, I am not interested in bookbinding as an art form other than how I may "dress up" my journals. I tried another book that was $5 on my Kindle and it was way too arty in its intention and directions. One of those reviewers recommended this one - for good reason as It turns out. First of all, it was only $5 for a new hard copy! The focus is on technique with enough arty suggestions (in well done photos) to get your own ideas flowing. I skipped to the section on "stab and stitch" binding and found a very generous amount of options, all in clearly expressed directions with good diagrams and photos. The diagrams are arranged so that once you have become familiar with the process and don't need to read again, you can easily refer to them directly - they are not lost in the text. It's great for absolute beginners as well as those wanting to expand their repertoire of techniques. Have kids that need a new art project? Check out the "folded book" section! Oh - and even an idea about greeting cards. Even at full price, this book is a gem!

This is a great instructional book for what I wanted, which was detailed picture-based instructions on how to sew different styles ofHardback books. The pictures help... but if this is your first time learning to bind books, the written instructions and step by step illustrations may be a bit confusing. The pictures help... but you’re left to figure out a lot of the step yourself.If you are an experienced bookbinder with stitches like Coptic and kettle stitches, you may find this book makes a lot more sense to you and it’s easy to follow.I researched this book and another book on amazon, and I’m glad I chose this one. I am comfortable with Coptic and kettle stitches so I was able to make sense of the hand-drawn illustration steps. For myself, I wish more pages devoting to other hardcover books. I deducted one star because the steps can be a bit confusing and the number of case bound books is relatively small. But if you are a beginner, then you might find more uses for this book

Very clear, easy to understand explanations for even the most complex books in this volume. The author's top priority actually seemed to be to teach the reader rather than for her own personal gain. I truly believe this was an investment in my hobby and not a waste of money by any means.

Looking through this book is like looking at nicknacks at your grandma's house. Interesting, but quite dated. I'm not sure there was a single photo that I found inspiring, everything was just too chintzy.In terms of being an instruction manual, it is a bit all over the place. The written instructions are mostly decent, but not complete. I've found that I've had to use multiple sources to complete any new book project as none of the introductory books cover things quite thoroughly enough with illustrations or photos to match the written process. I'm fine with illustrations used instead of photos, but these illustrations are not clear enough to follow.

After reading the reviews, I expected a book that was easy to understand, and that would go through a project step by step. Instead I got a mish-mash of "explanatory" drawings that often didn't make sense. I also expected tips on binding books, not folding cards or making notepads by stringing them together with decorative ribbon or twine. There was nothing about using cloth as a book cover, and little explanation about attaching endpapers that made any sense to me. There was a lot about goofy folds and accordion folds, making "books" that may be pretty to look at, but otherwise would be totally useless. Frankly, I've had far better instruction watching youtube videos or downloading instructions for free.

Quite a lot of great ideas for a variety of bookmaking creativity!

I bought this for class. great book

the updated version of the original is a pleasure to read and good to have pictures of variations of each model.

Covering so many aspects - it's a great buy. I'd recommend this for anyone who is learning bookbinding for pleasure.

Have bought this for a present, looks like a good informative book.

Soltanto belle fotografie, con scarse istruzioni sulla rilegatura. Avrei voluto vedere l'interno delle opere realizzate, materiale pubblicato reperibile anche sulla rete web.

This is a truly lovely book - food for the mind and food for the hands.