Q & A: Wavy Page Edges
Tom Tickenoff sent me a question I think quite a few people would be interested in discussing. Here goes:Q. What is it in the binding process that sometimes causes that pesky wave effect on the outer page edges? It seems to be kind of common even on some upper end bibles. What do you think?
A. The pages are printed on larger sheets and cut to size by a machine that basically operates on the guillotine principle. I've seen it done -- not on Bibles, but on regular print jobs -- and the wave seems to be a result of the stack of pages not being perfectly even in the machine (or the blade not cutting evenly). I don't know how it's done on Bibles, but when I observed it at the printer, it was a hand-operated machine, so the results depended on the individual. My first-ever Cambridge, a wide margin bound in Berkshire leather, had quite a wave, while others are perfectly smooth. My guess is that, the smaller the run, the more risk of this kind of imperfection exists. I've never seen it, for example, on mass produced Bibles.
Am I right, or have I missed it? Let me know in the comments.
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.
Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.
Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.