Edit & compose · guide
What Create PDF booklet does
Create PDF booklet arranges pages onto A4 printing sheets: two to sixteen pages on each sheet to save paper, a foldable booklet that reads in order once printed double-sided and folded, or one page enlarged into a poster across several sheets. Pages are placed rather than flattened into images, so text stays sharp and selectable, and the result says how much each page was scaled. The layout is worked out in your browser, and the file is never uploaded.
How to lay out a PDF as a booklet, several pages per sheet or a poster
- Choose one PDF Select the PDF to lay out. It opens in this browser tab and is not uploaded.
- Choose a layout Pick Several pages on each sheet and how many per sheet: 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 or 16; Foldable booklet; or Poster across several sheets and how many sheets across and down, the same number both ways: 2, 4, 6, 8 or 9. A poster is made from the first page.
- Create and print Select Create the layout, save the PDF and print one sheet to check the text size. For a booklet, print double-sided, flipping on the short edge, then fold the stack in half; print a poster at 100%.
Worked example
Print an eight-page handout with two source pages per sheet.
- Starting point
- Choose the eight-page PDF and decide between ordinary N-up and folded booklet printing.
- What to do
- For the handout, select 2-up and inspect sheet order. Use booklet mode only when you intend to fold and print the required sides.
- Result
- Expect source pages arranged into new sheets. Print one test sheet to confirm scale and orientation.
If the result is not right
If the reverse side is upside down, check printer duplex orientation using a test sheet before printing the whole document.
Limits worth knowing
- Booklet order differs from reading order. Form fields, comments, links and bookmarks may not retain a meaningful place after imposition.
Questions and answers
How do I print a PDF as a booklet?
Choose Foldable booklet, create the layout, then print it double-sided, flipping on the short edge, and fold the stack in half. On screen the pages look scrambled; that is the folding order, and it reads correctly once folded. If the page count is not a multiple of four, blank pages are added at the back. An A4 document comes out at about two-thirds size, two pages to each side of a landscape A4 sheet. Above about 40 pages the inner pages stick out once folded, so trim the open edge.
How do I print a PDF as a poster on several sheets?
Choose Poster across several sheets and set how many sheets across and down; a 2 × 2 poster of an A4 page comes out at about 185%, roughly 39 × 55 cm. The first page of the PDF is the one enlarged, so take another page out with Extract PDF pages first if you need it. Each sheet repeats about 6 mm of its neighbour: trim along the inner guide lines and butt the sheets together. Print at 100%, not fit to page.
How small will the text be with several pages on a sheet?
Each page shrinks to fit its share of the sheet, and the result says by how much. For A4 pages, 2 per sheet prints at 66%, so 11-point body text comes out at about 7.3 points, and 4 per sheet at 47%, about 5.2 points. The sheet turns to portrait or landscape, whichever makes the pages largest. Print one sheet and read it before printing the rest.
What paper size does it use?
A4, for all three layouts; there is no Letter option. A printer loaded with US Letter can scale an A4 sheet to fit, about 6% smaller, which is fine for handouts and booklets. Print a poster on A4 paper at 100%, because its tiles only line up at full size.
Why are form answers, comments or links missing from the layout?
Imposition copies what is drawn on each page, and form fields, comments, links and bookmarks are separate objects laid over the page, so they are left out. If filled-in answers or comments need to print, run the file through Flatten PDF first so they become part of the pages, then make the layout. Layers are not kept either: anything on a layer the PDF keeps hidden, such as an answer key, is drawn on the sheets.