When using wire binding, hardback wire binding, or coil binding, it’s important to understand how the physical structure of these bindings affects page alignment.
Why pages don’t sit perfectly straight:
Wire and coil bindings are circular, not flat. Because of this:
The front and back covers sit higher up on the wire/coil
These outer pages are naturally pulled further away from the centre of the book
The middle pages sit closer to the binding and appear more aligned
As a result, pages will never sit in a perfectly straight vertical line when the book is closed. This effect becomes more noticeable:
With higher page counts
When using thicker paper stocks
With hardback covers, which are more rigid than inner pages
Is this a defect?
No - this is normal, expected behaviour for circular binding methods and is a result of basic physics and book construction. It does not indicate a production error or fault.
What to expect:
Minor page stagger is normal
Covers appearing slightly offset compared to inner pages is normal
This does not affect usability, durability, or print quality
If perfectly flush edges are essential for your project, we recommend considering an alternative binding method such as our paperback books or case binding, which use flat spines instead of circular bindings.