From the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, there was little change in the work. Technological progress really began with machine typesetting. In truth can the bookbinder take credit for the outward appearance and form and internal physical condition of the book and their quality and durability. Even while modern publishing has developed into a large industrial process using automatic machine binding, the bookbinding trade has retained and even expanded its variety in the area of individualized production. Due to the diversity of the bookbinding field, the profession's area of knowledge has not been reduced to operating machines, rather it has been expanded by the addition of this knowledge to the tradtional areas.
Bookbinders learn the old procedures of bookbinding.
They become knowledgeable about the different characteristics of various paper and cardboard types including the modern products of recycled paper. They know about such classical materials as linen, leather and parchment and know how to shape them three-dimensionally. Unconventional materials such as plastic and metal can in part be handled using the old procedures but also have led to the development of new ones. The book as a cultural asset had already achieved a mature stage some 1600 years ago in the form of codices. Since then, no other form of information storage has surpassed it.