How to print a PDF as a booklet
- Drop your PDF on the box. Booklet is already selected.
- Choose the sheet size: A4 sheets make A5 booklets, US Letter makes half-letter booklets.
- Press Create PDF and download it. The plan line says how many sheets you need and whether blank pages were added.
- Print double-sided with "flip on short edge", keep the sheets in order, fold the stack in half and staple along the fold.
How booklet imposition works
When you fold a sheet in half you get four pages, but they are not in reading order on the flat sheet: the outer sheet of an eight-page booklet carries pages 8 and 1 on one side and 2 and 7 on the other. Working this out by hand is fiddly, so the tool calculates the saddle-stitch order for you, adds blank pages at the end if the page count is not a multiple of four, and places two pages on each side of a landscape sheet.
Booklets are great for zines, event programmes, recipe collections, short manuals, poetry chapbooks and children's stories. Pages are placed as vectors, so text stays sharp. Everything is done in your browser, without uploading your file.
FAQ
Which way should I flip when printing double-sided?
Flip on the short edge for booklets made from landscape sheets, or the back pages will be upside down.
How many pages can a stapled booklet have?
With ordinary paper and a long-reach stapler, up to about 48–64 pages (12–16 sheets) folds neatly.
Why are there blank pages at the end?
A booklet needs a multiple of four pages, so blank pages are added to complete the last sheet.