PDF Booklet Maker

A booklet looks simple: a stack of paper folded in the middle and stapled on the fold. Printing one from an ordinary PDF is not. Each sheet carries four pages, two on the front and two on the back, and the page that sits next to page 1 is the last page of the booklet. Working that out by hand for a 24-page program is where most home booklets go wrong. This tool does the reordering and shows you every printed side first.

How booklet ordering works

Take an 8-page document. You need two sheets of paper:

• Sheet 1, front: page 8 on the left, page 1 on the right. Back: page 2 and page 7.
• Sheet 2, front: page 6 and page 3. Back: page 4 and page 5.

Put sheet 2 inside sheet 1, fold, and the pages read 1 to 8. The booklet PDF contains these sides in print order, so your printer only needs to print them one after another, double-sided.

Choosing the paper and the finished size

The finished booklet is half the paper you print on:

• A4 paper makes an A5 booklet, the usual size for programs and leaflets. A4 pages shrink to about 71%.
• US Letter makes a half-letter (5.5 × 8.5 in) booklet.
• A3 or Tabloid makes a full-size A4 or Letter booklet, if your printer takes large paper.
• Twice the page width keeps your pages at exactly 100%, which is ideal when the PDF was designed at booklet size or when a print shop will print it.

Blank pages and the back cover

Every sheet holds four pages, so the total must be a multiple of four. A 10-page document needs two blanks. By default they go just before the last page, which keeps a designed back cover on the outside. If your last page is simply the end of the text, put the blanks at the end instead. The tool states how many blanks it adds.

Thick booklets and signatures

Paper is stiff. Beyond about 12 sheets, a single folded stack bulges, the staples struggle and the middle pages stick out at the edge. Professional printers solve this with signatures: small folded stacks that are placed one after another. Choose 3, 4 or 5 sheets per signature, fold each signature separately, stack them in order and staple or sew them along the spine.

Printing and folding at home

1. Create the booklet and check the sheet diagrams: sheet 1 front should show your last page and page 1.
2. In the print dialog choose double-sided printing with flip on short edge. Long-edge flipping prints every back side upside down.
3. Print at 100% or “Actual size”.
4. Keep the sheets in the order they come out, fold the stack along the middle and press the fold flat with a ruler.
5. Staple through the fold from the outside with a long-reach stapler, or open the booklet flat and staple through the centre onto a piece of cardboard.

If you plan to staple, a space at the fold of 6 to 10 mm keeps text away from the staples.

Right-to-left booklets

For Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Urdu documents, or for manga, choose the right binding edge. The pages swap sides on every sheet, so the booklet opens from what a Western reader would call the back.

Before you print 50 copies

Print one copy, fold it and check the page order and the margins. Tiny mistakes multiply quickly. If your document has wide margins already, you can trim them first with Crop PDF so the content fills the booklet page; if it has none, add some with Add PDF Margins. To put the content on separate note pages instead, see Insert Blank Pages.