what are chicago screw posts and a screw post binder portfolio?


What are Screw Posts?

Essentially a screw post binder consists of 3 elements (4 of you include the contents). The first is a hollow metal tube that has a screw thread at either end. The second and third are screw caps that fit at either end of the tube.


what are screw post binders, they are metal tubes that fit screw caps either end.


The diameter of the tube is the same as a normal hole punch or that found in page protectors.
The tubes come in a wide variety of lengths from the very short of 10mm to the longest, 120mm. You can also get extension tubes.



the length of screw posts vary from the very short to the every long 

How Do They Fit Into a Binder or Portfolio?

Below are a series of photos using a hidden screw post, explaining how to use them.
We are using the Hidden Screw Post Binder as an example, but the process will be similar across the range.


how do screw post binder portfolio work inserting the post



how do screw post portfolio binders work, post inserted
how do screw post portfolio binders work step 3


Having placed the spine cover over the posts (above) the next step it to simply place your pages or plastic page protectors through the posts (below)
At H&Co the distance we place the holes for the posts is based on standard hole punch distances. For an A4 landscape binder we use 2 or 4 holes, for anything larger it is a 4 hole paper punch. For the United States sizes of 8.5 x 11" and 11" x 17" we use 3 hole punch distance.

inserting pages into a screw post binderhow does a screw post binder portfolio work?How does a screw post portfolio work? the final step

What is the main feature of the screw post binding system?

A screw post binder works pretty much like a book in the way it is read. Unlike a ring binder or lever arch binder, the left hand edge of the pages are held firmly in place - just like a bound book.
The reader or viewer of the portfolio, is therefore not having to physically lift and manoeuvre the pages over the rings of the binder. 


screw post portfolio with page protectorsscrew post portfolio laid open with plastic page protectorsscrew post portfolio with page protectors laid open in the middle to demonstrate usability


What are the options for Photographic and Design Work?

Screw post mechanisms are, as you can hopefully see above, quite easy and straight forward to use, but add a certain element of style and sophistication to a presentation.




How do I know what length posts to order?

measuring how long the screws in the portfolio need to be


What are Screw Post Binders NOT good for?

If you are regularly adding or taking pages out of a portfolio, the post lengths have to change, which limits you to the Exposed Screw Post Portfolio as it does not have a fixed spine.

Our custom made Screw Post Binders can be found here.