In this one-day workshop, students will explore the symbols and signs of ancient and modern African scripts, to awaken fresh insight into form.

Learn about the history and technique of East Asian bookbinding and make two books in one day: the side-stitch binding and the Japanese multi-section book.

If you've been looking for a book with a nearly indestructible cover, or just a unique binding, this is your answer! Straight out of a 1970s Italian phone booth, this 360-degree flexible binding offers many advantages because it bends and does not break.

Need a bit of storage in book form? Created by Hedi Kyle, the blizzard book is useful for holding coupons, recipes, business cards and many other small treasures.

To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, we begin at the beginning. This, the first of our Core Bookbinding series, introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding.

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking. It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them work in our bindery.

In this second Core Bookbinding class, students will create what most of us refer to as a hardbound book. In bookbinding terms, it is known as a case binding; where a sewn textblock is glued into a separate structure known as a case.

The final class in our Core Bookbinding series uses skills learned in each previous class to create a beautiful and classic rounded back cloth binding.

Protect prints and books in elegant clamshell presentation boxes. Day 1: Students will construct a full cloth clamshell box from a provided template. Day 2: Students will design and construct a custom clamshell to their own specifications and using their own materials if they choose.

Discover the possibilities of brush lettering. By learning some of the fundamental techniques and principles of letter formation, sign writing, and calligraphy, students will learn how to create their very own letter designs using watercolor and gouache painting methods.

A book structure with personality built into the cover, buttonhole books allow for exposed sewing and decorative cuts that give a window from the outside in.

What kind of book provides all the surprise of a pop-up, and the “wow!” factor of a tunnel book? Carousel books, that’s what! Also known as a “star” book, this structure provides endless opportunities for design and experimentation.

Dig in to the tradition and history of letterpress printing and get your hands dirty. Learn about the process and practice of setting type, mixing inks and pulling impressions. In this class you will learn how to print your own cards!

Dig in to the tradition and history of letterpress printing and get your hands dirty. Learn about the process and practice of setting type, mixing inks and pulling impressions. In this class you will learn how to print your own cards!

The four class Cylinder Core Certificate Program allows students to move quickly through the press basics while also addressing relief printing in general. After this class students are qualified to rent press time as well as move on to more advanced classes and techniques.

Build your letterpress skills: learn advanced justification, typesetting, and composition. Put it all together to print a broadside of your own design.

Design and aesthetic. Increase your letterpress versatility: learn to set up the press, refine you registration skills, and run an edition. Learn more about packing, roller height, and make-ready. Come ready to run an edition of your own small poster!

Bring digital back into analog in this final core course and learn to print from photopolymer plates. Apply your letterpress skills to artwork created digitally to make fantastic plates for printing. Walk away with a stack of stationery printed from polymer plates.

Create a magical artists’ book in a day from your own deconstructed drawings.

If you’ve been seeking an interesting and elegant way to house your book and paper structures or you’re just looking for a beautiful, non-traditional box for storing things, this workshop is your answer. Spend a day learning to construct a charming and functional hatch-top box with a bottom drawer.

Eco Printing is not just for paper! Take a weekend and learn to incorporate this amazing process onto other natural materials while experimenting with the range of printing options including some edible plants.

Learn the technical aspects of the Kensol foil stamper in this one-day class. The Kensol can be used to stamp invitations, business cards, and stationery, in addition to the more traditional uses of stamping book covers and title labels.

Spend the day exploring and creating patterns for surface design on paper. Get your hands dirty and experiment with a variety of patterns and traditional monoprinting techniques with a contemporary twist.

Learn to create an exciting, one-of-a-kind book from instant film, using a Coptic style stitch.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

This extension of our popular Introduction to Western Marbling workshop will help students take their marbling skills to the next level as they learn to marble on fabric that can be used for covering books and boxes.

Step up your mixed media techniques and new layers of content to your collage and book arts projects with this introductory course to image transfers. Students will learn a variety of transfer techniques and leave with samples to take home and incorporate into their own art processes.

The Iron Hand Press is a workhorse from the nineteenth century that welds modern printing to its earliest incarnations over five hundred years ago. This class covers an overview of the practices and principals of doing edition work on this venerable printing press.

This class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press.

This class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press.

This class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press.

This class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press.

This class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press.

This 4-hour version of our popular Introduction to Letterpress class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press with more hands-on time for students to work with typesetting and printing. Come play with us!

This 4-hour version of our popular Introduction to Letterpress class introduces the process, the materials, the machines, and the satisfaction of printing by hand on a Cylinder proof press with more hands-on time for students to work with typesetting and printing. Come play with us!

For any student interested in using handmade paper to create sculptural forms with armatures, this is a class for you!  Students will learn building methods for armatures and ways to wrap and dip their armatures in handmade paper prepared in a way that is called "high shrinkage".

Spend a joyful afternoon learning this centuries old process that produces exciting, intricate designs, and offers endless possibilities for decorating paper. Colorful and fun, this method is easy to learn and the papers created can be used for many purposes.

Gather your drawings and get ready to transfer your imagery into scratchboard illustration. Learn the basics of this accessible direct engraving technique in this one-day workshop.

Learn the ins-and-outs of the Risograph, a marriage of silkscreen meeting photocopier. In this class you’ll create and edition print a 2-4 color poster.

Learn the ins-and-outs of the Risograph, a marriage of silkscreen meeting photocopier. In this class you’ll create and edition print a 2-4 color poster.

Learn the ins-and-outs of the Risograph, a marriage of silkscreen meeting photocopier. In this class you’ll create and edition print a 2-4 color poster.

In this introductory class, student will gain a basic understanding of the history, techniques, tools, and styles of European marbling.

In this introductory class, student will gain a basic understanding of the history, techniques, tools, and styles of European marbling.

Revisit and refine your leather paring techniques in this special class for those who have completed the Bookbinding Core and Orientation to Leather.

Make your own decorative paper and amaze your friends and family! This workshop is a fun introduction to printing on a cylinder proof press, introducing creative techniques such as pressure printing, overlapping print runs, and ghost printing.

'Tis the season to send some cards! Spend an evening getting an introduction to letterpress printing on cylinder presses while creating personalized and original holiday stationery.

Based on the Nag Hammadi codex, this single signature book is made from handmade cotton rag paper and leather over thin boards. Once assembled, students will embellish their books completing a personalized, pocket-sized journal/sketchbook.

Create a watercolor sketchbook small enough to travel with you on any artistic adventure. Students will create an exposed spine sketchbook with magnetic closures, on which they can apply basic design and watercolor techniques.

Fold a little paper, decorate it with your own drawings, use a blade for cutting, and a glue-stick to piece it all together – et voila, a miniature pop-up theatre!

In this technical workshop, we’ll explore the possibilities of letterpress as a means for producing successful four-color continuous tone imagery.

Evening Open Studio is an opportunity, for those who qualify to work on their own projects with an experienced instructor on hand.

Evening Open Studio is an opportunity, for those who qualify to work on their own projects with an experienced instructor on hand.

Evening Open Studio is an opportunity, for those who qualify to work on their own projects with an experienced instructor on hand.

Weekend Open Studio is an opportunity, for those who qualify to work on their own projects with an experienced instructor on hand.

Weekend Open Studio is an opportunity, for those who qualify to work on their own projects with an experienced instructor on hand.

This introduction to the secondary track in leatherwork for bookbinding helps students cross the frontier of those remote and mysterious tools and techniques commonly used in leather bookbinding today.

Have you been dreaming of honing your marbling skills but are unsure of doing it on your own? This workshop will allow you to do just that! Guided by Italian marbler Pietro Accardi, students will have a day to practice techniques learned in SFCB’s Introduction to Marbling workshops and leave with a stack of their own marbled paper.

Learn the fundamentals of digital design for letterpress! Students will learn key skills for software applications like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. We will explore best practices for handling photographic and vector images as well as setting digital type for photopolymer plate production.

After taking Polymer Core 1, learn how to make detailed, high-quality photopolymer plates from digital files and film for letterpress printing.

Learn the alternative printing technique of pressure printing on the cylinder proof press. Students will create one of a kind designs from a variety of handmade plates.

Learn the process of woodcut printmaking, in and out then enter a new realm by introducing collage! We will be making one of a kind prints and discover the magic in experimentation. No experience necessary.

After completing the Introduction to the Risograph Class, you can now work on your own Risograph project. Consider a poster or series of postcards, pamphlet zine or single-page structure.

Discover how to dampen paper, use bearers, and finesse rubber-and oil-based inks on Cylinder and Jobbing Platen Presses for better ink coverage and control.

Fill your empty books in 2 evenings of sketchbook play! Explore color through various mixing techniques, add imagery with simple image transfers, combine texture and text using collage, and work with prompts for creating imagery and writing.

This class will present a brief history of Surrealism and discuss the principles and techniques of the Surrealist methods as a “way of working” that can “crossover” and be applied to your own arts projects. Each participant will create a collage/assemblage using the principles and practices of Surrealism identified in the class.

Do you have stacks of old books lying around that no longer have monetary, cultural, or personal value and are just taking up space? Transform them into works of art!

Make a lovely, layered, 3-dimensional book in this course. Learn another use for the accordion fold, and create an in-depth scene using postcards and photographs.

Print illustrations like it's 1789! Learn to engrave a wood block in the classical style from the 1780’s.