Fabric Colour Guide

We've tried to be as careful as possible with calibrating cameras and screens when taking and processing these photos, but please bear in mind, what looks red on our screen, might look brown on yours! We are more than happy to post out samples of fabrics to you no matter where you are in the world, so if in doubt and colour is critical, please contact us.

Library buckram is a heavy duty cloth with an acyclic coating. As such it has a water resistant surface and is quite hard waring. This makes it an ideal material for outer covers.

Both Colorado and Windsor are Rayon book cloths. The difference between the two is that Colorado has a finer, almost silky texture to it. Windsor has a slightly heavier, courser weave of the two, but both are very tactile and have a quality feel about them.

The most important thing to consider about bookcloth is that, unlike Buckram, it doesn't have a coating and it can't be wiped clean with a damp cloth. If something is spilled on it, it will leave a stain or a mark

It is ideal as an inner cover material, providing a striking colour contrast to a darker or lighter outer cover. This is not to say that we outlaw using bookcloth as an outer cover (a trawl through our Blog or Be Inspired pages will prove it is used often!), we just recommend that if you choose it, consider investing in a buckram covered slipcase or purchase a portfolio bag. To try to minimise marking, we spray portfolios with bookcloth outer covers with a 3M water repellent coating (but please, this is no guarantee!)

Both bookcloths blind deboss very well, however foiling is a different matter. Colorado takes foil reasonably well, particularly pigment foils, but owing to Windsor's more textured surface it doesn't take to foil that well at all.

Linen book cloth is a strong traditional cotton bookcloth with a rugged, natural appearance. As with standard bookcloth, it is still not water resistent, so more vunerable than buckram when used as an outer cover.

It is not possible to succesfully foil emboss linen bookcloth and blind debossing is barely legible. We recommend that if you want linen products personalised, you consider doing it on either a plaque or an have an inset.

For those who want the look of leather, but prefer itnot to be actual leather, then this is the ideal alternative. 

This is the full swatch book for Classic Buckram. While some of the fabrics here are part of our stock fabrics, we are able to access any of the ones below. Please note though, there is a £30.00 Surcharge for these fabrics. When ordering, choose "non standard material" in the order menu.

This is the full swatch book for Winsor bookcloth. While some of the fabrics here are part of our stock fabrics, we are able to access any of the ones below. Please note though, there is a £30.00 Surcharge for these fabrics. When ordering, choose "non stock material" in the order menu.

For comparison, standard fabrics indicated with grey coloured dot.

This is the full swatch book for Colorado Bookcloth. While some of the fabrics here are part of our stock fabrics, we are able to access any of the ones below. Please note though, there is a £30.00 Surcharge for these fabrics. When ordering, choose "non stock material" in the order menu.

For comparison, standard fabrics indicated with grey coloured dot.