pdf tool
PDF booklet maker
A booklet is printed in a special page order so that, once the sheets are stacked and folded, the pages read 1, 2, 3 in sequence. Choose a PDF and this tool works out that order, places two pages on each side of a landscape sheet, adds blanks to reach a multiple of four, and saves a print ready PDF.
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- Runs on your device, nothing is uploaded
- Free, no sign in
- No watermark, no file limit
How it works
- 1
Choose the PDF
Pages in normal reading order: cover first, back cover last.
- 2
Pick the sheet size and spine
The sheet is what goes in the printer. Choose the spine on the right only for languages that read right to left.
- 3
Check the page map
Each sheet's front and back are listed with the pages they carry, and any added blanks are named.
- 4
Save and print
Print double sided, flipping on the short edge, at actual size. Stack, fold and staple on the fold.
Why booklet order is not reading order
Fold a sheet in half and you get four pages: two on each side. In a stapled booklet, the outermost sheet carries the first two pages and the last two, the next sheet in carries pages 3, 4 and the third and fourth from last, and so on into the middle. For an eight page booklet, the first sheet's front has pages 8 and 1 side by side, its back has 2 and 7, the second sheet's front has 6 and 3 and its back has 4 and 5. The page map in the tool lists exactly this for your document, so you can check it before printing.
A multiple of four
Every folded sheet holds four pages, so a booklet's page count is always a multiple of four. A 10 page PDF becomes a 12 page booklet with two blank pages. The tool adds the blanks at the end, which places them just before the back cover. If you would rather have them on the inside of the front cover, or a blank page between sections, add those blank pages in your document before making the booklet, and the tool will not need to pad it.
The duplex setting that matters
Booklet sheets are landscape, with the fold running from top to bottom. To print both sides correctly, the printer has to flip each sheet along its short edge. The LibreOffice guide to printing brochures gives the same advice: use the duplex short edge setting. Flip on the long edge and the back of every sheet comes out upside down. Print one sheet as a test, fold it, and check that page 2 follows page 1 the right way up before printing the rest.
Sheet size and the finished size
Each page is scaled to fit half the sheet. An A4 document printed on A4 sheets makes an A5 booklet, roughly 71% of the original size, so small text gets smaller. To keep the page size, print an A4 document on A3 sheets, which makes an A4 booklet. Letter sheets make a booklet of 5.5 by 8.5 inches. The tool keeps each page's proportions and centres it in its half, so a page that is not the same shape as half the sheet gets a margin rather than being stretched.
Programmes, handbooks and zines
Booklets suit event programmes, short handbooks, menus, order of service sheets, recipe collections and zines. A document built in the document builder exports as a PDF, which can be imposed here and printed on an office printer. Keep the cover and the back cover simple, check the page count before designing so the blanks fall where you want them, and set inner margins a little wider than the outer ones so text near the fold stays readable.
Folding and stapling
Stack the printed sheets in order with the first sheet on the outside, fold the whole stack in half together, crease it firmly, then staple through the fold from the outside. A long reach stapler makes this easy; two staples a third of the way from the top and bottom are standard. For more than about ten sheets, the stack resists folding and the inner pages creep outward, which is the point to split the booklet into sections.
Limits
- Saddle stitch only: one stack folded in the middle and stapled. Thicker books bound in sections need each section imposed separately.
- Creep, the way inner pages stick out further on a thick booklet, is not compensated. Keep text away from the outer edges on booklets over about 40 pages.
- Each page is scaled to fit half the sheet, so an A4 PDF printed on A4 sheets becomes an A5 booklet.
- Set the printer to print on both sides, flipping on the short edge.
What it does not do
- It does not add crop marks or bleed.
- It does not change the content of the pages.
- It does not upload the PDF.
Questions people ask
How do I print a PDF as a booklet?
Make the booklet PDF here, then print it double sided with the flip on the short edge, at actual size rather than fit to page. Stack the sheets in the order they come out, fold the stack in half and staple along the fold. The page order is already worked out, so nothing needs reordering by hand.
Why must a booklet have a multiple of 4 pages?
Each sheet folded in half makes four pages, two on the front and two on the back, so every booklet has four times as many pages as sheets. A document with any other count gets blank pages added to round it up. Plan the page count early so the blanks fall in sensible places.
Which duplex setting do I use for a booklet?
Flip on the short edge. Booklet sheets are landscape with the fold down the middle, so the sheet must turn over along its short side for the back to print the right way up. If pages come out upside down on every other side, the printer is flipping on the long edge.
Can I make an A5 booklet from an A4 PDF?
Yes. Choose A4 as the sheet size and each A4 page is scaled to half the sheet, making an A5 booklet when folded. Text shrinks to about 71% of its original size, so a 10 point font prints at about 7 points. Increase the font size in the original if that is too small.
How many pages can a stapled booklet have?
A standard stapler handles about 10 to 12 sheets of ordinary paper, which is 40 to 48 pages. Beyond that, folding gets difficult and the inner pages stick out. Longer documents are better split into separate booklets or bound another way, such as with a comb or perfect binding at a print shop.
Write the programme to print as a booklet
Take what you made here into documents.
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Background reading: the question page on this.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .