From left to right: cover coordinating (white with white) metal double wire/Wire-O (sometimes considered a comb), single metal coil, cover coordinating plastic coil.

Though it can increase the production price several dollars each, coil bound books with black ink may be personalized on the front or back cover or with an extra frontice piece.

All binding/cover services are available as part of a complete publishing package, POD (small quantity charges may apply), and binding only. However, Gregath does not wholesale raw binding supplies for other binderies or individuals.

Available coil bindings are a soft binding technique for ultra-small publishing projects. For a coil bound book, the collated text block has separate front and back covers applied. The front and/or back cover can be imprinted with your choice of cover art. The book block is then punched with the holes along the binding edge that the coil is fitted through. This type of softbinding is a true "lay flat" binding. Unlike a comb bound book, ideally, the coil allows a book to lay entirely flat for reading. The coil may cause the same copy problems for book users near the spine as any other bound book. Neither plastic nor wire coil spines can be imprinted.

Wire and double wire coil spines are available economically in quantities beginning at 200. Plastic coil are available for much smaller publishing's and don't bend with use, as wire spirals can do.

Covers that are coil bound may be coated with UV protection, or clear plastic sheets can be added on the outside of the paper cover giving the covers extra protection.  Wanting to make your soft bound book resistant to tears and spills? A vinyl cover product is now available - it has much the same look and feel of a matte cover but is a bit more rigid, tear resistant and will not take on any liquid (the book interior would still be paper and prone to stains).

Coil/Spiral binding is an option for yearbooks where supplemental pages may be introduced infrequently. Though it is tedious, and much harder than comb binding, a book owner can add punched pages to an already coil bound book without any special tools. The number of punched holes utilized in coil binding produces a much more sturdy book than 3-ring binding. Coil binding is a great soft binding option for other transitional (short use) items and fund raisers (due to economy and flexibility in production). While plastic coil is economical in quantities of at least 26, the fact that the paper involved has been hole punched will reduce the lifespan of the item, due to use stress on the holes. For long-term preservation and usage goals, different binding methods are suggested.

The cost for coil bound soft cover varies with the size of the job. There are projects and options where this method can be more expensive than a hardbound book. However, if smaller publishing projects of this type of binding is desired, they can be produced - sometimes costing more than the same quantity in hard binding, due to flat set-up fees. Set up fees increase the fewer books produced.

Standard types of soft bindings include:

• perfect binding

• traditional tape and staple binding

• plastic comb binding

• coil (spiral) binding

• 3-ring binding

• wire saddle stitch binding

• post/Chicago Screw