Customer Reviews

Bookbinding Techniques and Projects (Decorative Techniques)

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Wow, this is a great book. I should know as I own quite a few books on the subject by now. I have also taken two courses at an old bookbinder master for two seasons, so I know a tiny bit about the subject.

The average books on this subject are very detailed on all the steps on the production of a book. And the long and tideous process it is can be very discouraging to the beginner. This book on the other hand, dives into the fun of it and don't dwell on too many details.

The book is beautifully illustrated with lots of good photos and comments. It has a lot of relevant cases and it is really inspiring. It has an easy going feel to it witch makes you feel you can follow the examples yourself.

The book is not a complete "how to" on more professional bookbinding, but then again, "all" the other books on the subject covers that. "Bookbinding Techniques and projects" is the book on bookbinding that really shows the fun of it, and for me that is the most important thing.

Thanks for reading this
:-)

I very nearly missed out on this book, because of the three reviews existing when I was considering it, two were extremely negative. Big thanks to my public library for having the book on the stacks, allowing me to try it out directly! So I had to add my two cents for the sake of those who might be in my position.

The book contains an amazing array of processes, techniques, and projects for its size. It explains them cogently through a combination of text and pictures. The verbal instruction, it is true, is a bit minimalist, but in my opinion, pictures do a much better job at describing the steps, and they are plentiful in this text. I am a novice book-maker, currently midway through my first semester-long book arts class at my local community college. While the text may have been a bit confusing to me some weeks ago, even the little I have learned is sufficient to make the instructions readily understandable. Someone more artistically inclined than I (which means pretty much anybody) may not need even this much. The only explanation I can think of for the discrepancy among the reviews to date is that without a minimal level of familiarity with vocabulary and basic technique, some may find the text accompanying projects too skimpy--but by no means everybody. (This might also be the case if you skip the sections on processes and techniques and jump ahead.) The explanations are not heavily detailed, but precise, and supported by clear and abundant graphics. Complete beginners who prefer plenty of verbal explanation might want to combine this book with a class or a detailed, beginning level text. Amazon's "Look Inside" feature will give you a good sense of the style of instruction.

This book lays out the basics of bookbinding in a manner that makes complete sense to me. The initial sections, on the history, materials, standard processes, and complementary art techniques, are stand-alone building blocks. I used them to familiarize myself with the basics, and now return to them as needed to remind myself of the techniques as I practice them--the only way I actually learn this stuff. From there, the projects are creative, inspiring, and fun ways of using the building blocks applied to new techniques. The end products are lovely and wide-ranging. The instructional text weaves in the historical and functional aspects from earlier sections as it discusses the creative projects. I find this enriching and supportive for my budding knowledge. I can see that I will rely on this book for quite a long time. That said, a significantly advanced book artist may find the techniques fairly standard. But the intent of the book, I think, is to lay a good solid foundation from which to experiment with a number of elegant projects of varying degrees of complexity, such that one can move on to still more challenging adventures.

I think this is one of the best books in bookbinding, it not only has lots of photos, easy projects with explanations and some more difficult projects too, but it also talks about bookbinding story, it teaches you how to make different kinds of papers and it gives you a little insight into the world of book conservation. I have already made one of the books in the projects and it turned out perfectly. I recommend this book 100% Also, I love in Chile and this book arrived safely and fast for and international shipment (in three weeks exactly).

I love bookbinding. There are two books in particular that I really love to reference by Josep Cambras. This book : "Bookbinding Techniques and Projects" and "The Complete Book of Bookbinding". If you're interested in trying bookbinding, get your hands on a copy of the first one. It explains how to do lots of techniques and projects in a way that that the modern everyday Joe can understand. (The second one is way expensive, and goes into intensive techniques that aren't so layman friendly, though still very interesting.)I love this book and use it all the time.

Here is one of the few books on binding that delivers 100%. Too many how to books tease with breathtaking beautiful pictures and no clear path to finished results. Here, the straightforward photographic depiction and descriptions of various binding techniques are exactly what I have been searching for. I have only one bone to pick and it is a very small bone. Pictured in the materials section is the wooden Spine Rounding Form. I surely could make good use of one of these if I could only find one. Alas no resources are mentioned.

This book is full of beautiful pictures of beautiful projects and little instruction on how to get the job done. The author assumes knowledge where none is present and uses too much jargon and technical language without offering definitions. The book is laid out presenting tools and techniques first which is a wonderful idea. HOwever, he shows me a picture of a press of some sort, he names that press and then doesn't tell me what it is for and if I will need one for the projects in the book. In techniques, he shows me how to determine the grain of the paper but doesn't say how this will impact my work and how I should orient the paper grain. If you already know a good bit about bookbinding, this might be a book for you. If you are a beginner, like me, look elsewhere. All you will find between these covers is frustration.

The fact that this book recommends using gasoline shaken up with paint to marble paper makes it a book I will never recommend for students. Outright dangerous!