When you have a stack of papers you want to put in a 3-hole binder, you use a 3-hole punch to make the properly distributed holes. But if you’re a professional / commercial printer producing thousands of sheets to be placed in thousands of binders, you use an automated drilling machine. Drilling, in the printing world, refers to the use of these machines to produce holes in printed items.
Automated Drilling Machines
A drilling machine uses rotating bits to produce clean round holes through large stacks of printed pieces. The machines can be set up to drill a single hole or multiple holes, evenly distributed. These machines obviously save time on the labor it would take to manually punch holes in high-volume jobs as well as producing perfectly shaped and perfectly spaced holes.
The sizes of the holes depend on the sizes of the drill bits, typically ranging from 1/8” to 1/2” wide. Smaller holes may be used to thread wire, strings, rings or chains through for hanging or attaching to something (single holes) or for wire or coil binding (multiple holes); larger sizes are used for items intended to be hung on walls via screws or hooks, or be placed in binders or even for decorative purposes.
Designing for Drilling
If your printed piece is to include punched holes it’s important to include spacing for the holes(s). The general rule of thumb is to place holes a minimum of a 1/4” from the relevant trimmed edge, but it never hurts to check with your printer in advance to avoid unpleasant surprises.
If you have any questions about print drilling give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
Photo by Bernard Tuck
