Soft Cover Books

Soft cover book printing for self-publishers, trainers, and businesses: perfect-bound paperbacks with a square glued spine, a wraparound cover, and page counts from 60 to 500. The interior book block is ground square at the spine and bound into the cover with PUR adhesive — the standard trade-paperback construction, with a printable spine and a bookstore-ready finish. If it belongs on a shelf with a title on the spine, this is the format.

Sizes and quantities

Choose from 5 trims — 5.5 × 8.5", 6 × 9", 8.5 × 11", 9 × 12", and 12 × 12". 5.5 × 8.5" and 6 × 9" are the classic trade sizes for novels and memoirs, 8.5 × 11" suits workbooks and manuals, and 12 × 12" fits square art books. Print 100 to 1,500 copies: short-run digital makes a 100-copy first printing economical, and reprinting on demand beats warehousing inventory. Every order includes a free file review with a spine-width check.

Paper options

Paper is specified by weight — a higher number means a thicker, stiffer sheet. 60# text is a light novel-weight page, 100# text is substantial, and cover stocks climb to a rigid 130#. Your paper choice also sets the spine width, which we calculate for you.

• Uncoated text (60#–80#) — the book-interior standard: a soft, glare-free page that reads comfortably for chapters at a time.
• Silk text (80#–100#) — smooth and refined for illustrated non-fiction and premium editions.
• Gloss text (80#–100#) — saturated coated pages for photo books, cookbooks, and portfolios.

• Coated cover (80#–130# gloss or silk) — crisp, durable, and spine-friendly; 100# and up is the paperback norm.
• Uncoated cover (80#–120#) — a tactile, literary cover with a natural feel.
• Same as inside — self-cover for manuals and internal documents.

Cover finishing

• Matte lamination — the modern trade-paperback look: smooth, glare-free, fingerprint-resistant.
• Gloss lamination — vivid cover art with wipe-clean durability for workbooks that travel.
• Soft-touch — a velvety hand that makes a special edition feel special before it's opened.

Fast local printing, nationwide delivery

Digitappe prints soft cover books in as fast as 2–4 business days — author-event speed from a shop that's been binding books for over 40 years. Writers, schools, and businesses across Burbank, Los Angeles, and Glendale rely on same-week pickup from our Glendale facility, fast delivery across California and the western states, and nationwide shipping. Price your book instantly with the calculator above.