How to print a booklet that folds the right way

Why the pages need rearranging

When you fold a sheet in half, each side carries two pages, and they are not next to each other in reading order. The last page sits beside the first. On an eight-page booklet, the sheets look like this.

That is why the page count must be a multiple of four, and why a file printed in reading order comes out jumbled. Word’s Book fold, a booklet option in your PDF reader, or our free booklet maker will all rearrange the pages for you.

The settings that work

1. 1

   Open the PDF

   Use your PDF reader, and open your print window.

2. 2

   Choose your paper

   Choose A4. Your folded pages will be A5.

3. 3

   Print on both sides

   Look for two-sided or duplex printing.

4. 4

   Flip on the short edge

   This one matters most. The usual default is the long edge, which turns the back upside down.

5. 5

   Choose Actual size

   Not Fit to page, which shrinks everything and widens the margins.

6. 6

   Print one test sheet

   Fold it and read it through before you print the rest.

When it goes wrong

None of these means anything is wrong with your booklet. Change the one setting and print another test sheet.

If your printer only prints one side

You can still make a booklet, by putting the paper through twice.

1. 1

   Print the first side

   Print all your copies of the first side, at Actual size.

2. 2

   Mark one sheet

   Pencil a cross on one sheet, so you can see which way it comes out.

3. 3

   Turn the stack

   Put the paper back in the tray, turned so the second side lands the right way up.

4. 4

   Test, then finish

   Print one sheet of the second side to check it, then print the rest and fold.

Paper, folding and staples

• •Ordinary copier paper is 80gsm. 100gsm shows less through from the other side and feels better in the hand.
• •Knock the sheets square before you fold them, and fold a stack of two together, not one at a time.
• •Up to two sheets will often stay together without staples. For more, use a long-arm stapler, which reaches the middle of the fold.
• •If you print a lot, a bone folder or the back of a spoon gives a crisp crease.

Use the free booklet maker

Our free booklet maker takes any PDF, adds blank pages if it needs them, leaves room for the fold and gives you a file ready to print. It works in your browser, so your PDF never leaves your computer.

Questions people ask