Layflat or casewrap? Choosing the binding for a baby photo book

The binding changes how a photo book opens and how a picture looks near the center of a spread. Here is what layflat and standard hardcover mean. Visit book editions for the editions currently offered by Volume One.

Casewrap: the standard hardcover

A casewrap (sometimes "perfect bound hardcover" or "case bound") is a stack of pages glued along the spine and wrapped in a hard cover. It is how most books on your shelf are made. It is sturdy, it is inexpensive, and it is what most print-on-demand services build by default.

The cost is the fold. Because the pages are glued, the book does not open flat: the inner edge of every page curves down into the spine. Roughly 10 to 15 mm on each side of the fold is hard to see, and anything printed there, a face, a caption, a milestone date, is partly lost. Printers ask designers to keep text out of a "gutter" for exactly this reason. A photograph that runs across two pages loses its middle strip.

Casewrap books also open at a shallow angle, so reading one in a lap means holding it open with a hand. A baby book gets read in laps.

Layflat: the album binding

A layflat book is made from thicker pages, mounted so that each spread is one continuous sheet folded at the spine. Opened, it lies completely flat, and the two pages meet at the fold with nothing lost between them. A photograph can run across the whole spread, edge to edge, without a face falling into the gutter.

The pages are stiffer, often board-mounted, which is why layflat books feel like albums rather than novels. They cost more, they are heavier, and they have a lower maximum page count (most layflat lines stop somewhere between 100 and 130 pages, where a casewrap can run to several hundred).

What this means for a baby book

Three things decide it.

Panoramas. If you want a photograph across two pages (the shake-off on the porch, the first steps across the kitchen), you need a layflat. A casewrap will eat the middle. A good engine will refuse to send a panorama to a casewrap at all and print it as a full page instead; that is what Volume One does for its Everyday Edition.

Full-page photographs. Both bindings print a photograph to the edge of a page (the "bleed"). On a casewrap, the inner edge still curves; on a layflat the whole picture is visible. If your photographs are the point of the book, layflat shows more of them.

Handling. Think about where you will read together. A standard hardcover feels familiar and makes a useful family copy. Layflat keeps the spread open across the center. Both are keepsakes to enjoy with an adult; neither is a baby toy.

What each costs

Prices depend on the printer, page count and destination. Volume One's standard hardcover starts at $59 for 40 pages, with extra pages priced in packs. Saving memories is free; printing is a separate choice. The app shows the book price before checkout, where shipping and any applicable tax are added.

How to judge a binding before you buy

Ask three questions of any service:

1. Does the book open flat? If the product photographs only show the book closed or opened at an angle, assume it does not.
2. Can a photograph run across two pages? If the answer is "yes, but keep faces out of the middle," the answer is no.
3. What is the page count included, and what does a page beyond it cost? Layflat pages are expensive; a service that includes 20 pages and charges per page after is not the price on the box.

The short version

Choose a standard hardcover for a familiar book of photos and words. Consider layflat if uninterrupted images across two pages matter to you and the edition is available. Either way, keep faces away from the center and review every page before ordering.