Presco Blog - news, views, offers and knowledge — Knowledge Base

Do you already hold a credit account with Presco and receive invoices and monthly statements? It's easier than ever to order online using this credit account, no payment necessary at time of order and you'll still receive full tax invoices and statements.  To get started, simply visit presco.eu/start and follow the easy steps to order online.  No complicated linking up of account numbers, just place your order and we'll do the rest for you.  show me now

Q. What is the difference between Presco Padding Adhesive and Fanapart Padding Adhesive? A. Fanapart glue is a specialized glue. It is required for carbonless invoice sets commonly known as NCR sets. NCR (no carbon required / Non-Carbon Reproducing Paper) paper has a coating of carbon on its surface eliminating the need for separate sheets of carbon to be inserted between the top and subsequent copies. Fanapart glue is much more watery than padding glue. The fanapart glue takes approximately 1 hour to dry and does not require slicing with a separating knife as you fan the paper apart. Fanapart...

When we saw this image today of an old roll of Scotch tape it reminded us of few things! A few decades ago there was no such thing as a 'self' adhesive tape - most sticky tapes were glue coated paper or plastic tapes that had to be activated with heat or moisture and then stuck onto the required surface.  As far back as the 1920s an American called Richard Drew began experimenting with putting adhesives onto tapes but it took many years for Scotch tape to really take off as a product, and up until the 1980s water activated...

Paper drill bits are an expensive consumable item and there are several ways you can extend the life of your drill bits so they don't break or wear out too fast. We sell a complete range of drill bits and paper drilling accessories like silicon sprays, waxing paper and drill sharpening kits. Standard paper drill bits are made of a hardened worked steel and supplied sharpened, lubricated and ready to use. They do not have any sort of coating on them, so after intensive use they will heat up fast. The two biggest problems with drilling are the build up of heat through...

We've been asking you what you think about our minimum order level and you gave us a lot of ideas. We've always operated a £25.00 minimum order level for our trade customers and we wanted to find out how this was working for you today.  From what you told us we are very happy to announce that from today we are now discontinuing our minimum order level policy. You can now order as few items as you want to with a next day delivery rate of £9.95 for any order under £25.00. Any order over £25.00 qualifies for our reduced £7.95...

We occasionally get calls from customers who have ended up in the middle of a taping job with the sticky side up on their roll of double sided tape, so the tape is effectively 'upside-down'. This can happen when too much of the liner has come away and is quickly corrected by separating the tape from the backing paper and pulling one circuit of the tape off the roll. We have put a quick clip of this and some step-by-step instructions on our tape hints and tips page, click here to view.

GUARANTAPE STANDARDThe traditional standard tape for general printfinishing work.  Ideally suited for everydayuncoated stock that has been litho printed.  Typical usages would be be with uncoatedpaper to paper or card, files and folders,lightweight envelopes and other low stressuses with firm uncoated surfaces   GUARANTAPE AGRESSORAn advanced double sided tape with a moreaggressive adhesive for work with digital print andmany coated materials.  High adhesion rubberbased adhesive at great value.  Typical usages forthis products would be folders or boxes with firmmaterial fixing showcard struts, stock with aslightly loose surface and semi-gloss coatedpapers.    GUARANTAPEULTRA STICKA superb acrylic tape for the most demandingapplications.  Particularly ideal for laminate...

Burst binding is very similar to perfect binding where the spine is glued with hot glue and a cover attached. Burst binding improves on this process by perforating, fine-cutting or ‘roughing’ the paper spine before binding to allow greater glue penetration and thereby higher spine strength in the finished document. The scoring or roughing up of the spine is usually done by an attachment on a perfect binding machine – methods can vary depending on what process you are intending to use.

Saddle stitching is a very common magazine and booklet binding method where pages are ‘stitched’ together with metal wire and folded along the stitched line to form a booklet. It is a fast production way of stapling documents, with the end result being very similar. Stitching wire is the main consumable of the saddle stitching process, Presco stocks this in many different sizes and thicknesses. Supplied on wound spools it is usually a plain silver metal finish but can be requested in black or bronze coloured versions. If you have It is called ‘saddle’ stitching as the pages are stitched...

PUR binding is simply perfect binding using a much stronger PUR adhesive which gives a stronger spine strength to the book or document. This binding method is commonly seen in user guides, reference manuals or high use study books where there is a need for long-term spine strength. PUR binding is also more resilient in extremes of temperature where documents are used inside refrigerated warehouses for example or in countries with hot or humid climates.

Perfect binding is a glued spine binding method for books and large documents with a short life span or limited use. The spine of the document or book is coated with hot melt glue and a cover is usually added at the same time. The process is achieved with a machine, from small desktop models up to very large production lines. After final trimming the end result is a square bound book. Limitations can include pages falling out after heavy use as the glue does not penetrate very deeply into the paper. After repeated heavy use the binding can fail...

A full Canadian bind is a standard wire bound document with a cover wrapped around the outside of the document, giving a completely finished look with no spine binding visible, while still retaining the lay-flat properties of a wire bound document. Covers can then be fully personalised and there is now the option of a printed spine which is not possible on plain wire bound documents.

A half Canadian bind is where a wrap around cover is bound into a wire bound document, meaning that you have a full cover and spine but the wire is visible from the back of the book. There are many different ways of finishing your wire bound document, if you are unsure about what would work best for you simply get in touch and we’ll do all we can to help.

Thread Section Sewing or Sewn Binding is where a book is printed, collated, divided up into printed sections and then pages in a section are sewn together with thread. The individual sections are then either sewn into each other or bound enmasse into a bigger spine binding. This is probably the strongest and most thorough binding method, pages cannot be loosened or pulled apart easily and offers far greater long-term strength than most modern gluing methods. Threading or sewing documents is one of the oldest and most failsafe binding methods, going back to the first days of print. When Shakespeare’s...

Loop stitching is a staple or wire stitching binding method where the wire is stitched through the document as normal but with extra protruding loops of wire on the spine to enable the document to be bound in a ring binder or later threaded together. Loop stitching can either be achieved with the necessary saddle stitching attachments or by using special ‘loop’ staples with a regular stapling machine. Loop staples are marked by ‘Ri’ at the end (standing for Ring staple).

Screw binding is a simple binding method where punched or drilled documents are held together by a post binding screw threaded through the hole and fastened. This can be used as a temporary binding, or by using 2 – 4 screws it can become a full spine binding method with a traditional or contemporary look depending on the screw or fastener used. Rivets can also be used to bind a document like this although they are permanent and non-removable once closed. Metal binding screws are the most common fixing used with this, in a standard brass finish or a nickel...

Q: Do you sell postal tubes? A: Yes, we sell a lot of postal tubes. Due to their bulk nature we do not keep all sizes in stock but can still offer a next day or 48 hours service. Ask us for a quote and see how competitive we can be.

Q: Do the prices on your website include VAT? A: No, the prices shown on our website are excluding VAT. VAT will be calculated shown during the checkout process. 

Q: What is fastback binding? A: Fastback binding is a thermal binding system that uses a machine to heat and apply ready-glued strips to the spine of a book or document, creating a strong and permanent binding. Fastback binding strips are available in 3 widths for different thickness documents, and a range of standard colours. The strips we stock are genuine Fastback branded products from Powis, the original manufacturers. The strips wrap around the spine giving a finished look like spine tape, but with a much stronger bond. Fastback strips are often used in conjunction with a range paperback or hardback covers....

Q: Do you sell any supplies for 3D printing?   A: Not yet, if this is something you are interested in please get in touch as we are looking at a range of 3D print products and value all your feedback to get this right. Send us a message here.