Articles : Product Features

 

 

How It Works: 
The books are specially designed with a steel spine and a 'super' resin. When the book's spine is placed on the 1" metal plate in the machine (as shown in the image above) a red light appears. This means the machine is on and heating. You do want your book and pages to fan open, this will help them settle into the melting resin in the correct position. After a few seconds, the red light will turn green which means no more heat, the resin will begin to cool. Let your book stand in this same position for a couple minutes, approximately 2-4 minutes is good. Once the book's spine is cool to the touch, the pages are secure in the cover. 

How Many Pages Can the Book Hold? 
The smaller books hold around 40 pages and the larger books can hold up to 75 pages. Of course, it depends on the type of papers you use in your book, thinker paper like cardstock will take up more room than very thin vellum for example. A good tip to note is that when gathering your pages and fitting them into the book before setting on the machine to bind, you want the pages to have some some breathing room in the spine or they won't be able to sink into the heating resin appropriately. If you have to cram and shove the group of pages into the spine, you probably have too many and if you try to bind the book that way, most often you'll find that the front and back pages will not be able to sink into the heated resin. 

How Secure Are The Pages? 
Unibind has actually done a stress test on a completed book and found that the pages will rip before they can be torn from the cooled resin! I even tried it on my sample book too, the pages would no budge from the resin. You will not loose your pages! 

Can Pages Be Removed or Added After Creating a Book? 
If for any reason, you find that you want to remove or add pages to a completed book, simply place the book back in the machine. When removing pages, wait until the resin is melted and slide the page out from the side of the book so as not to smear resin across the neighboring pages. If you want to add additional pages, place them in the book where you want them to show, then place the book onto the machine. As the resin begins to melt, gently tap the new pages down into place until they are flush with the other pages. Continue with the steps to let the book cool and you're done. 

What Type of Paper Can You Use? 
Unibind offers a very nice double sided photo paper for printing. But what 'WOW'-ed me the most was the idea that you could use ANY type of paper. The example (shown below) has photo paper, vellum, cardstock, embossed paper, patterned paper, glittered and flocked paper, and adhesive-backed cork paper. No kidding, I asked if she had even tried chipboard and she admitted that yes, chipboard and acrylic pages will bind though obviously they will be a little stiff, not as flexible as thinner papers. I personally admired the idea to include patterned vellum sheets between the double sided printed photos, I may just use up my old stash of vellum after all!  

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

•  What kinds of paper can I use with the PhotoBook Creator?

You can bind any type of paper in the PhotoBooks.

•  What kind of software do I need?

The PhotoBook Creator comes with software that can help you design your pages for your PhotoBook. This software is compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems.

Alternatively, you can also use any desktop publishing or layout program such as Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, or PhotoShop Elements to create your pages.

•  How do I turn on the machine?

The machine is fully automatic, there is no ON/OFF SWITCH. Just plug in the machine and place the book on the heating element spine down to activate the machine.

After the light turns green, leave the book standing in the machine until it has fully cooled (60 seconds) to ensure the resin has hardened. This will prevent pages from slipping out.

•  What brands of covers can be used with the PhotoBook Creator?

PhotoBook Creator will only work with covers made from Unibind.

•  How many times can the PhotoBook Creator be used?

The PhotoBook Creator binding machine can be used over and over again to produce PhotoBooks.

•  Where can I get the PhotoBook Creator?

PhotoBook Creator and other supplies are available here at A Cherry On Top!

•  Does the PhotoBook Creator have a warrantee?

PhotoBook Creator comes with a 90 day manufacturer warranty.