Programs, zines, event guides and short manuals look far better as folded booklets than as stapled loose sheets. Getting the pages in the right order by hand is surprisingly tricky, because the last page has to print beside the first. Booklet PDF does the arrangement for you, placing pages on A4 sheets so that, printed double-sided and folded in half, they read in order.
How to use Booklet PDF
- Add the PDF in normal reading order.
- Select Create Booklet.
- Print the result double-sided, flipping on the short edge.
- Stack the printed sheets, fold them in half and staple along the fold.
How the pages are arranged
- Four pages per sheet: Each landscape A4 sheet holds two pages side by side on each face, so every sheet carries four pages.
- A worked example: For an 8-page document, the outside of the first sheet shows pages 8 and 1 and its inside shows 2 and 7, while the second sheet carries 6 and 3, then 4 and 5. When the sheets are nested and folded, the pages read from 1 to 8.
- Scaled to about A5: Each page is scaled to fit half a sheet, roughly A5, keeping its proportions.
Page counts and blank pages
- Divisible by four: A folded booklet needs a page count divisible by four. If your document has 10 pages, two blank pages are added at the end to make 12.
- Plan your covers: Plan for that when designing: a back cover meant for the outside works best when the page count is already a multiple of four.
- Adjusting the count: You can add or remove content with Organize PDF or Remove Pages before making the booklet.
Printing successfully
- Flip on the short edge: Choose double-sided printing and flip on the short edge. Flipping on the long edge prints every other face upside down.
- Print one sheet first to confirm the orientation.
- Check readability: Pages are reduced to about half size, so check that body text stays readable, and consider Grayscale PDF for economical copies.
- For pages without folding order: For pages side by side without folding order, use N-up PDF.
- Where to read more: The print-ready guide explains duplex printing in detail.
When people use Booklet PDF
Event programs
Print a neat folded program for a concert, wedding or conference from a simple PDF.
Zines and newsletters
Produce small print runs of community newsletters and zines on an ordinary office printer.
Short manuals and guides
Turn a short instruction manual into a booklet that's easy to keep with a product.
Limitations to know
Booklet PDF produces saddle-stitch layouts on A4 landscape sheets only, adds blank pages to reach a multiple of four and shrinks pages to about half size. It uses the whole document, with no cover options or creep adjustment for thick booklets.
Booklet PDF: common questions
Which way should I flip the pages when printing?
Flip on the short edge. The sheets are landscape, and short-edge flipping keeps the back of each sheet the right way up.
Why were blank pages added?
Folded booklets need a page count that's a multiple of four, so blank pages are added at the end when needed.
How many pages can a booklet have?
There's no fixed limit. As a rule of thumb, saddle-stitched booklets much thicker than about 40 to 60 pages become hard to fold neatly, depending on the paper.
Can I use A5 or Letter paper?
The output uses A4 sheets. Printing on US Letter with fit to page works, with slightly different margins.