Our specialty at Jenni Bick Bookbinding is personalizing our beautiful leather books and albums with inscriptions, titles, initials, and logos. The technique we use is called embossing. We are often asked what exactly the embossing process is so we have set up this page of photos as an explanation. We have also added a list of frequently asked questions at the bottom of the page. You might find the answer to your questions below.
First the letters are picked from a tray of old-fashioned individual letters. This is a little bit difficult to learn, because everything is spelled backwards.
Once the inscription is spelled out, it is placed in the embossing machine's head, which holds the letters in place with bronze clamps. The head and letters are heated until the temperature reaches about 200 degrees. At that point the letters are ready to press into the leather.
The book to be embossed is positioned under the letters - we use a platform with a printed grid, to make sure the embossing will be straight. On the side of the embossing machine is a lever which when pulled, lowers the letters. Depending on how much pressure is applied the impression is deep or shallow. When a blind emboss is done on a leather book the letters are held down for a longer time so that their impression is lightly burnt into the leather like a brand. If the embossing is done in gold or silver, a strip of foil is placed over the spot the embossing will go and the heat from the letters melts the foil onto the book. This is tricky because the machine must be at the right temperature. If is is too cool. the foil will not stick and if is is too hot, the foil will melt into places it is not supposed to.
The heat of the letters and the pressure permanently emboss the inscription into the leather. And voila--the inscription is finished!
Frequently asked questions
What colors can you use for embossing?
Generally, our natural color-ed leathers are done with blind embossing. For some dyed leathers and for cloth materials, we use gold or silver. Some examples are shown below:
What is blind embossing?
Blind embossing means that you will see only the impression of the letters. There will be no gold or silver to fill them in. Often on the leather books the heat from the embossing process will burn the leather like a brand and the impression will appear a few shades darker. The effects of this can be seen on the lighter leather particularly well, such as British Tan. The Italian Distressed leather also comes out very nicely. Black leather will have the most subtle outcome.
Can I have more than 20 characters in my embossing?
The answer to that is "yes," but not all the time. We limit the inscriptions to 20 characters because in general that fits on all our books where there is less space. The Kolo albums can be embossed with as many as 35-40 characters and they are a good choice if you need a longer inscription. We also limit the characters because we feel that putting to much or too long of an inscription on a book can compromise its beauty. "Less is more" is often a good rule of thumb when choosing an inscription.
What font is used? What size will it be?
The embosser will choose what size the lettering will be. She will choose the font of the largest size that will fit on the book without looking too cramped. Our goal is always to keep the inscrpition proportionate to the size of the book.
Where does the embossing go?
The embossing will typically be placed in the lower right hand corner of the book, or centered beneath the window opening on the front, if there is one. We can put the embossing in the "optical center" which is where a book title would go. Some of our books have flaps or other obstructions which do not allow for the embossing to be done in the right hand corner in which case it will be done in the left hand corner. When you place your order, please let us know if you have a preference for a certain position. If there is a problem with your idea, we'll contact you to discuss options.
Can the embossing be done on the spine?
No, we can only do embossing on a flat surface, and book spines will not fit into our equipment.
Can you emboss a logo or design?
Yes, absolutely! Please visit our corporate gifts page for more information.
