Print a PDF as a folded booklet

Zines, manuals, event programs: re-order pages so two land on each sheet side, fold the stack, and the page order comes out right.

Tools used in this guide

The job

Printing pages 1-2-3-4 in order and folding gives you a mess — page 2 ends up on the back of page 3. Booklet imposition re-pairs pages so each sheet shows the right neighbors when folded.

Impose it

Choose the PDF and sheet size (A4 or Letter). The tool computes the saddle-stitch order — for 8 pages: 8/1, 2/7, 6/3, 4/5 per sheet — scales each page into half the landscape sheet, and pads with blanks when the count is not a multiple of four.

Print double-sided, flip on the SHORT edge — long-edge flips the back side upside down.
Fold the printed stack in half; the pages now read in order.

Worked example

A 12-page zine becomes 3 sheets × 2 sides. Sheet 1 front shows pages 12 and 1, back shows 2 and 11; the middle sheet carries the centerfold (6 and 7 facing). Fold, staple the spine, done.

Limits

Reordering only — pages are not rotated; portrait pages letterbox inside landscape cells. Up to 200 pages / 25 MiB. Thick booklets need spine creep compensation, which this does not model — keep booklets to ~20 sheets or fewer.