PDF Booklet Maker (Saddle-Stitch Printing)

How it works

A church bulletin, a wedding program, a 12-page club newsletter: printed normally they come out as loose sheets; printed as a booklet they fold in half and staple into a little book. Tap or click the box, choose the PDF and press Make booklet. The tool places the pages on the two halves of landscape sheets in the order that reads from 1 to the end once folded; a 12-page document fits on 3 sheets, 6 printed sides. If the page count is not a multiple of 4, blank pages are added at the end and the result line tells you how many. In the print dialog, turn on two-sided printing and choose "Flip on short edge"; with the wrong setting the back sides come out upside down. Stack the printed sheets, fold them in the middle and put two staples in the spine.

This tool is also known as pdf booklet maker, print pdf as booklet, create booklet from pdf, booklet page order, saddle stitch imposition.

What is Saddle-stitch imposition?

Saddle stitching is the binding where sheets are stacked, folded in the middle and stapled through the fold, the way magazines and programs are made. Each sheet carries four booklet pages, two on the front and two on the back. So the pages are not printed in plain order but in the order that reads correctly after folding: in an 8-page booklet the front of the first sheet holds pages 8 and 1, its back holds 2 and 7.

What is Flip on short edge?

In two-sided printing, the printer turns the sheet around either its long or its short edge to print the back. Booklet pages sit side by side on a landscape sheet, so the sheet has to flip on the short edge; if the long edge is chosen, every back side prints upside down. Printer dialogs call it "Flip on short edge", "Short-edge binding" or show a small notepad icon.

What is Half-letter booklet?

A Letter sheet folded in half gives two 5.5 × 8.5 inch leaves, so every page of a booklet made from a Letter document is half-letter size. The tool shrinks each page to about 65 percent: 11 pt text looks like roughly 7 pt, still readable for programs and bulletins. If you design the document at 5.5 × 8.5 in to begin with, nothing is shrunk.

What is the difference between booklet printing and 2 pages per sheet?

Both put two pages on each side of a sheet, but in a different order. With 2 pages per sheet the pages simply sit side by side in sequence, 1 with 2, then 3 with 4; the sheets are read one by one and never folded. Booklet printing shuffles the order so that the sheets read correctly once they are stacked and folded in the middle, which is why 8 and 1 sit side by side on a single sheet. Choose booklet if you will fold and staple, and 2 pages per sheet if you only want to save paper.

Getting the printer settings right

Open the downloaded PDF and, in the print dialog, turn on two-sided printing with short-edge flipping. Set scaling to "Actual size" or 100 percent; "Fit to page" shifts the margins so the fold no longer lands in the middle.

If your printer cannot print on both sides, print only the odd pages first (1, 3, 5 …), turn the stack over, put it back in the tray and print the even pages. Test with a single sheet first: which way the stack goes back in differs from printer to printer.

• Two-sided: on
• Flip: short edge
• Scale: actual size (100%)
• Paper: Letter landscape, the tool already produces landscape sheets

How many pages can a booklet have?

Each sheet carries four pages and the sheets nest inside each other. With 20 lb (75 g/m²) copy paper, 10 to 12 sheets, 40 to 48 pages, still fold well and an ordinary long-reach stapler holds the spine. Thicker stacks push the inner sheets outward and the edges need trimming.

To print a longer document as several booklets, first split it into 16- or 32-page parts with the split PDF tool and make a booklet from each part.

Frequently asked questions

How do I print a PDF as a booklet?

Choose the PDF on this page and press Make booklet. Print the downloaded file double-sided with short-edge flipping, stack the sheets and fold them in the middle. The pages then read from 1 to the end.

Why were blank pages added?

Each sheet carries four booklet pages, so the total has to be a multiple of 4. A 10-page document is padded to 12; the two blank pages become the back cover and the inside of the back cover. The result line tells you how many were added.

Will my pages get smaller?

Yes: a full Letter page is scaled to about 65 percent to fit half a sheet, with the proportions kept and nothing cut off. Text stays vector, so it prints sharp even when smaller.

Is my file uploaded to a server?

No. Ordering the pages and writing the new PDF happen inside your browser; the document never leaves this page.