How to print a PDF as a booklet you can fold and staple
By the PdfDady team · Updated · 7 min read
To print a PDF as a booklet, the pages have to be rearranged before printing so that, once the sheets are printed on both sides and folded down the middle, they read 1, 2, 3 in order. You then print double-sided with "flip on short edge", fold the stack in half and staple along the fold.
The rearranging is the only tricky part, and you don't have to work it out by hand. Our Booklet PDF tool does it in your browser and gives you a ready-to-print file. Below is how it works, the printer settings that matter, and what to check when the pages come out in the wrong order.
Why a booklet needs a special page order
Take one A4 sheet, turn it sideways and fold it in half. You now have four small pages: the front cover, the inside left, the inside right and the back cover. Each half is A5, because A-series paper keeps the same shape when halved.
Now stack several folded sheets inside each other, like a magazine. The outermost sheet holds the first two pages and the last two. The innermost sheet holds the middle four. So the first side of the first sheet carries the last page on the left and page 1 on the right.
For an 8-page booklet printed on two sheets, the layout looks like this:
| Sheet | Side | Left half | Right half |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (outside) | Front | Page 8 | Page 1 |
| 1 (outside) | Back | Page 2 | Page 7 |
| 2 (inside) | Front | Page 6 | Page 3 |
| 2 (inside) | Back | Page 4 | Page 5 |
This is called saddle-stitch order, after the staples that sit in the fold. Printing "2 pages per sheet" in the normal print dialog does not produce it. That puts pages 1 and 2 side by side, and the stack reads out of order once folded.
Make the booklet file
- Open Booklet PDF and add your PDF. It takes one file of up to 100 MB. Portrait pages give the best result.
- Choose the paper you will print on. With A4 sheets, each page of the finished booklet is A5. You can also pick Letter, A3, A5 or Legal.
- Download
booklet.pdf.
The pages are placed as vector content, not turned into pictures, so text stays as sharp as in the original.
The page count must be a multiple of 4
Every sheet carries four pages, two on each side. A 10-page document therefore needs 12 page slots, and the tool adds the two blank pages at the end. Those blanks end up as the inside back cover and the back cover, which is usually where you want empty space anyway.
If you would rather control where the blanks go, for example a blank page right after the cover, put that blank page into the document where it belongs (in Word or Google Docs, before you export the PDF) and then make the booklet. Once the count is a multiple of 4, nothing is added at the end.
Print it double-sided
Duplex, flip on the short edge. The booklet sheets are landscape, with two pages side by side. When a landscape sheet turns over on its long edge, the back prints upside down. Choose "flip on short edge" (sometimes called "short-edge binding" or "flip up").
Actual size, not fit. Set scaling to 100% or Actual size. The file is already laid out for the sheet, and shrinking it again only adds white borders.
Print one sheet first. Print just pages 1 and 2 of booklet.pdf (that is, the front and back of the first sheet), fold it and check. Page 1 should be the cover on the right, and when you open it, page 2 should be the right way up. Printers label these settings differently, so a single test sheet saves a whole ream.
Without a duplex printer
You can still do it manually:
- Print only the odd-numbered pages of
booklet.pdf(1, 3, 5 and so on). These are the fronts of the sheets. - Put the printed stack back in the tray. Which way it goes depends on your printer, so mark the top of the first sheet with a pencil before you start.
- Print the even-numbered pages, which are the backs.
Test with two sheets before printing the full set. Most failures come from the stack going back in rotated or in reverse order.
Fold and staple
- Fold each sheet separately, then nest them. Folding a thick stack at once makes the inner sheets stick out at the edge.
- Run a ruler or the back of a spoon along each fold for a flat booklet.
- Staple through the fold from the outside. A long-arm stapler reaches the centre of an A4 sheet. Without one, open a normal stapler flat, staple into a rubber eraser or a folded cloth, and bend the legs over by hand.
- Keep it thin. Saddle stitching suits thin booklets. A thick one will not fold flat, and the middle pages push outward at the edge. For something thicker, consider splitting it into two booklets.
At a print shop
Hand the shop booklet.pdf and say: "A4, double-sided, flip on short edge, actual size". That is all they need. Ask them to print and fold one copy before running the rest, especially if you want 50 copies of a wedding card insert, a school event programme or a puja booklet.
If the shop has its own booklet setting on the copier, don't use it on this file. The pages are already in booklet order, and reordering them a second time scrambles everything.
Problems and fixes
The back of each sheet is upside down. The printer flipped on the long edge. Switch to short edge.
Pages read 1, 2, 3 on the sheet but jump around when folded. The file was printed with normal 2-up, not booklet order. Print booklet.pdf itself, with the printer's own pages-per-sheet set to 1.
Everything is smaller than expected, with wide margins. Check that scaling is at 100%. If the original pages have big white margins, trim them first with Crop PDF and make the booklet again.
Links or filled-in form values have disappeared. Links, form fields and comments are not kept on the new sheets. If filled-in answers or comments must appear in print, run the file through Flatten PDF first.
Landscape pages look tiny. Each booklet page is portrait, so a landscape chart is shrunk to fit inside it. Turn that page in the original first if it reads well sideways.
Booklet or pages per sheet?
They solve different problems. A booklet is for something you fold and read like a small book. If you just want to save paper on notes or slides that stay as a flat stack, use Pages per sheet instead. Our guide on printing multiple pages on one sheet covers how small the text gets at 2 and 4 per sheet.
Questions people ask
What size is a booklet made from A4 paper?
A5, which is 148 × 210 mm. Each A4 sheet folded in half gives four A5 pages.
Can I make an A4 booklet?
Yes. Choose A3 as the paper. Each half of an A3 sheet is A4. Check that your printer or the print shop can take A3 first.
How many sheets will I need?
Divide the page count by four and round up. A 20-page programme needs five sheets per copy.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The booklet is made in your browser and the file stays on your device.