What’s the Difference Between Wire and Spiral Binding?

Spiral Bound and Comb Bound coil bound booklets spread out.

Last updated on August 8th, 2024 at 01:11 pm

What is the difference between wire-o and spiral binding?

The main difference between these 2 products are the look and the capabilities of the booklet. In general, the printing product you need with a wire or spiral binding will either need to be very professional (wire binding) or something that is referred to constantly (spiral binding).

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What is spiral binding?

Spiral binding is the process of binding pages together with a plastic coil that is inserted into holes along the edge of paper pages. There are also a variety of colors available for spiral binding when requested. It is effective for documents from 1 up to 300 pages.

Spiral bound printing is generally used for booklets or catalogs that need to lay flat and referred to often. Cookbooks or manuals are generally products that would use spiral binding printing.

Although spiral binding might not look as professional or clean as wire-o binding, it’s a lot more durable than wire binding. If you need to constantly refer to a booklet or catalog, you’ll benefit from a spiral binding for your product. The plastic, spiral coil allows for frequent use and does not damage the binding.

Here’s a picture of what spiral bound printing looks like:

Spiral bound booklet is a plastic coil that is spun into sheets of paper to form a booklet.

Spiral bound printing is generally associated with printing catalogs or booklet printing.

What is wire binding?

Wire binding is a form of binding pages together, by punching holes into the sheets then lacing a wire comb. Wire binding is also commonly known or referred to as “wire-o binding” and comes in two types:

  • Double loop wire binding
  • Wire Comb binding

Wire binding or wire-O binding is available in many different color options, as well as many different wire lengths. It all depends on the type of printing project you have. However, wire-o booklets have a lower page count limit than spiral bounds.

Wire binding gives a much more professional look than spiral binding does. Because the binding is made up of metal for wire binding, it’s generally used in formal presentations or very professional settings.

Here’s a picture of what wire binding looks like:

Wire-O binding is made with a metal wire coil that is inserted into sheets of paper to create a wire-o booklet

What’s the difference between wire and spiral binding?

Spiral bound and wire-o booklets share capabilities that you cannot find in other binding options. These capabilities are 360 degree page rotation, no minimum page count requirement, and able to be bound with cardstocks

The difference between wire and spiral binding then, is the type of binding used to put the documents together. Many people that look for printing services aren’t sure of the difference between wire and spiral binding, but the difference comes down to:

  • Spiral binding uses a plastic coil as binding
  • Wire binding uses a metal wire as binding

You can easily determine which type of binding you need by asking yourself whether the product you need is for formal use (wire binding) or for reference, everyday use (spiral binding).

Three Ring Binders

Three-ring binders are one of the new and different kind of coil binding offerings at Printivity. Binders offer two different products that, when combined, create an infinitely interchangeable binding option that includes three-ring binders and binder documents.

Open three ring binder with binder documents three-hole punched inside

All three ring binder offerings hold 8.5″ x 11″ documents, but you can choose different spine thicknesses, depending on how much you need it to hold. The spine thicknesses offered are 0.5″, 1.0″, 1.5″, 2.0″, and 3.0″. You can also choose to print custom front and back covers and a spine to match your brand and purpose of the binder, which are showcased in the clearview pockets.

Printivity’s binder documents let you choose between black-and-white and color copies. A three-hole punch is included to add to your binder easily. Add divider tabs to your order to find the exact section as fast as possible. These divider tabs extend 0.5″ past the other documents to quickly thumb through the sections.

Contact us for information on the difference between wire and spiral binding!

You can rest easy knowing that your project is going to have the same quality and care that Printivity is known for!

We also offer a Rush Critical shipping option for your rush orders. Rush Critical is a next day or same day printing service that will get your project to you anywhere in the U.S.

Contact us today in order to get your wire binding or spiral binding project started!

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