September 2005: Eyeleting and High-Die Cutting

Products such as this wheel chart take advantage of eyeleting to allow bound sheets to pivot freely.

When most printers and their customers think of the services they need from a bindery, they often focus on core capabilities such as perfect binding, hardcover case binding, mechanical binding, folding or die cutting. The services that help create value for printed products, however, are often “behind the scenes” capabilities that are performed in conjunction with these core binding and finishing processes.

At The Riverside Group, we call ourselves a full-service post press provider because of our capabilities in these areas. Eyeleting and high-die cutting are two of these unsung bindery heroes:

Eyeleting
In the eyeleting process, a hollow metal cylinder is driven through collated sheets, allowing them to pivot during use. Wheel charts, comparison guides and swatchbooks are popular eyeleting applications that take advantage of this pivoting feature. Eyelets can also be applied to single film laminated sheets, providing a durable method of hanging posters and displays.

Planning tip – Eyelets are available in a variety of diameters and lengths, and they must match the bulking thickness of the project. Involve The Riverside Group during planning to be sure the proper eyelets are available for your project.

High-Die Cutting
While large-format, automatic die cutting equipment is great for most projects, it’s not often the most efficient method for die cutting smaller products, even if they’re printed multiple-up on a large sheet. An alternative solution is high-die cutting, a process in which a circumferential cut is made to a stack of products. High-die cutting is popular for labels, paper and plastic membership cards and coupon books. This high-speed process can cut through two inches of material per lift, allowing for fast production of quantities of a million or more.

Planning tip – Keep in mind that high-die cutting can only perform a perimeter cut. If your design requires a knockout cut, it may not be a candidate for high-die cutting. Let The Riverside Group help you determine the best die cutting method for your small-format applications.

The Riverside Advantage
Eyeleting and high-die cutting are just two of the many behind-the-scenes processes that make The Riverside Group a true under-one-roof post press resource. We offer a full complement of hard- and soft-cover perfect binding and mechanical binding capabilities, as well as folding, gluing, collating, die cutting, film laminating, UV coating and much more. Call us today to begin planning your next project.