The first mass-market perfect-bound books, which came to be known as paperbacks, were produced in the early 1930s. It was only in the 1950s, however, that they reached widespread popularity.

Perfect binding can be done from the computer desktop, too, but the old-fashion page presses and glue still are needed to complete the volume. It is far simpler and cheaper to produce saddle-stitched (stapled) small press books (chapbooks) since this all can be done on the computer with a printer and an oversized stapler. To produce a perfect bound book, however, the computer part is the same. The book is laid out and designed in the computer, then printed to sheets of paper in signatures. The signatures then are placed in the correct order and placed in a vice or press that squishes the pages together while leaving the signature spines exposed. You apply glue to the spines, after that attach the cover. The cover must be big enough to cover the spine and both sides of the book. Once attached, the entire book with covers again is placed in the press or vice for sometime to give the glue time to try without undue pressure from the book itself.