Make PDF Booklet
Arrange a PDF as a fold-and-staple booklet
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This toolArrange pages in folding order and add blank pages automatically
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About Make PDF Booklet
Fold one sheet of paper in half and you get four pages. That is why a saddle-stitched booklet needs a page count that is a multiple of four, and why the outer face of the outermost sheet holds the last page next to the first. This tool works out that order (printers call it imposition) and places two original pages on each side of a landscape A4 or Letter sheet.
The output is already in folding order, so print it with ordinary duplex. Turning on the printer driver's own booklet option as well scrambles the order a second time.
Where blank pages go when the count isn't a multiple of four
If the page count is not a multiple of four, blank pages are added to the end before the order is worked out. They land on the back cover and the inside back cover, so it is normal for the left half of the first side to be empty. If you want something on the back cover, add that page to the end of the original to reach a multiple of four first.
When several sheets are nested and folded, the inner sheets push out a little further at the fore-edge (creep). This tool does not compensate for paper thickness and imposes the whole document as one signature, so for booklets of more than a few dozen sheets, split the original into sections, make each separately and bind them together.
Size and duplex direction
The output sheet is landscape A4 or Letter, and each original page is scaled to fit its half, keeping its proportions. An A4 original on landscape A4 with zero margin shrinks to 70.7%, exactly A5, so the folded booklet is A5. Adding a margin makes the pages smaller still.
Duplex printing usually needs short-edge binding. Drivers word this differently, so test one sheet and check that the back isn't upside down. Form fields are not carried into this layout and are left out.
Worked examples
A 10-page document
- Input
10 original pages, left binding- Output
3 sheets (6 sides): [blank|1] [2|blank] [10|3] [4|9] [8|5] [6|7]
The document is padded to 12 pages with 11 and 12 blank. The left half of the first side is the back cover (page 12) and the right half of its reverse is the inside back cover (page 11). Stack the three sheets in order, fold down the middle, and pages 1–10 read in sequence.
An 8-page leaflet
- Input
8 A4 pages, A4 paper, zero margin- Output
2 sheets (4 sides): [8|1] [2|7] [6|3] [4|5], each page at A5 size
A multiple of four, so no blanks. The first sheet's front carries the front cover (1) and back cover (8); the second sheet holds the centre spread (4|5). Put the first sheet outside, nest the second inside and fold.
How to use it
- Add the PDF and choose paper (A4 or Letter), margin and, if needed, a page range.
- Duplex-print only the first sheet to check the direction.
- Print everything with normal duplex, stack in order and fold down the middle.
Frequently asked questions
Can it make right-to-left books?
No. It only works out the order for left binding, with pages turning from left to right.
The back side printed upside down.
The duplex setting is probably long-edge binding. For landscape sheets, switch to short-edge binding.
The fore-edge of my folded booklet is uneven.
That is creep from the inner sheets. The tool doesn't compensate for it, so trim the edge or make the booklet in smaller sections.
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