Five Tips for Choosing a Booklet Making Machine

If your company creates a lot of saddle stitched booklets or manuals you could probably use a bookletmaker. Booklet making machines are designed to take your printed documents, fold them in half and staple them in the center creating a booklet. Without a booklet maker, creating these types of booklets would require using a long reach stapler and then hand folding the pages of your document. You can definitely save a great deal of time using a booklet maker. However, choosing the right booklet maker for your needs can be somewhat difficult. Here are five things to look for when choosing a booklet maker.

1. Paper Size Compatibility: One of the first things to look for when choosing a booklet making machine is the size of paper that it can handle. Most booklet makers will accept letter size paper and 11” x 17” sized paper for making half letter sized booklets and letter sized booklets. Some booklet makers are also capable of handling legal sized paper or custom sizes of paper.
2. Maximum Booklet Thickness: A second thing to look for when choosing a booklet maker is the maximum thickness of booklet that the booklet maker can produce. Some booklet makers can only handle a few sheets while others can staple up to thirty sheets at a time to create a sixty page booklet.
3. Speed: One of the biggest differences between booklet makers is the speed at which they operate. Every booklet maker manufacturer will publish a maximum number of booklets that the bookletmaker can create per hour. Unfortunately, there is no universal standard for measuring the productivity of booklet makers and most manufacturers exaggerate the numbers. Still the numbers provided by the manufacturers can be used as a general guideline to compare booklet making machines.
4. Capabilities: The best booklet makers that are available on the market are capable of not only creating booklets but can also just fold or just staple documents. This versatility is great for times where you might simply need a paper folder or a saddle stitch stapler. Many larger organizations or print shops may have separate equipment to handle these tasks. However, smaller companies can use this extra functionality.
5. Stapling locations: When looking for a booklet maker it is important to note the number of stapling locations that the booklet maker offers. Some booklet makers offer just two staplers while others offer three or even four stapling heads. With some booklet making machines these stapling heads are fully adjustable and with others they fixed.

These are five simple things that you can look for when purchasing a booklet making machine. As you look at the options that are available on the market you will find that some have the features that you want and others do not. Ultimately, you will need to find a balance between the features that you want and the budget that you have. Good luck and happy booklet making.

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Written by Jeff McRitchie
©2006 www.MyBinding.com